School board continue talks over Lee County superintendent’s role

Tension continues between school board members in Lee County regarding the superintendent’s ability to perform in his role. The decision of whether the school board will agree to fire him remains likely to be close.

The Lee County School Board did a public evaluation of all member’s individual evaluations of Superintendent Greg Adkins Thursday. If there was a vote to fire Adkins, it would be likely to fail 4-3 based on the evaluations.

“There’s going to be back-and-forth,” Chairwoman Gwynn Gittens said. “And that’s what’s all about getting those points out, getting those answers out and everyone understanding everyone’s point of view.”

The school board went over their individual evaluations. On a scale of 0 to 4, Adkins’ scores ranged from a 1.42 to a near perfect 3.92.

Board Member Chris Patricca gave Adkins a glowing a glowing review.

“Dr Adkins and his staff are fully capable of running this $1.5 billion operation efficiently, effectively and in many instances very, very well,” Patricca said.

Board Member Betsy Vaughn is not as high on Adkins.

“We need to be more timely in presenting information to the board,” Vaughn said.

Board Member Melisa Giovanelli originally proposed firing Adkins in her evaluations. She was not present at the meeting. She is expected to make a motion to fire Adkins at their scheudled meeting next week.

MORE: Lee County School Board member wants to fire superintendent

Adkins made a promise after hearing the present board members speak.

“With the restructuring that we are planning to do with my cabinets and also with our office, that will allow us to be much more responsive to meet a really different expectation relative to communication,” Adkins said.