The following “Letter to the Editor” ran today in the Winston-Salem Journal in a response to previous editorial concerning the WSFCS financial situation that was critical of lawmaker Donny Lambeth’s response to the school board’s request for help. And while there is plenty of blame that has yet to be placed on those involved in … Continue reading Hyperbole & Context: About That Recent LTE In The Winston-Salem Journal
The following “Letter to the Editor” ran today in the Winston-Salem Journal in a response to previous editorial concerning the WSFCS financial situation that was critical of lawmaker Donny Lambeth’s response to the school board’s request for help.
And while there is plenty of blame that has yet to be placed on those involved in this financial fiasco, this hyperbolic response deserves some context because it sorely lacks it.
It states,
“This all started in 2018. What happened in 2018? Let’s think … oh, the Democrats got control of the Board of Education for the first time in more than 20 years. “
Well, no.
When the state audit of the WSFCS finances was released in response to the budget crisis of 2025 this past August, it combed through years of financial statements.
What was found was not a one time incident that set the district astray, but a series of mistakes that compounded upon each other to create this storm of a deficit.
It didn’t start in 2018. It started in 2017. Three years before the pandemic. Four superintendents ago. Three school boards ago. Four Chief Financial Officers ago. And lots of turnover.
Just check out who was on the board at that time and you will see that is was under the control of a different party if that means anything. (Obviously it does to the writer of the LTE).
By the way, the chairperson of the board in 2017 is now a state representative and the vice-chair? He’s on the board as of now. That leads us to this next claim:
“In May, when two of the Republicans moved to terminate the superintendent, Richard Watts started pounding the table like a petulant 2-year-old and began yelling, “Posturing … posturing … political posturing.”
Actually, it was one person who made that initial motion to terminate – the same man who was vice-chair in 2017. And he would know that making such a motion in a school board meeting be valid would have meant that it had to be on the agenda beforehand and just couldn’t be thrown out there. He is a multi-term school board member and he knows the protocol.
Then the writer states,
“The board did nothing and Tricia McManus was allowed to retire and now all of us, including those who were fired in the reductions in force, get to pay her pension.”
This makes it sound like there was some “golden parachute” that the former superintendent received when she “quit” before the next school year started.
Hardly.
McManus was hired in the spring of 2020. She was barely vested in North Carolina. She spent 30 years in Florida’s public school system. She is not even 60 years of age. If she is receiving any pension from North Carolina, it is minimal at best. The vast part of her retirement pension would be coming from another state.
“According to one of the lawmakers, Chair Deanna Kaplan was afraid to ask because the lawmakers might demand their resignations.”
Which lawmaker? One of the ones who can’t even pass a budget for the state and refuses to uphold the LEANDRO decision? Granted, transparency has not been a strong suit with the school board throughout this budgetary debacle, but there is probably much more to the story than just “fear of asking lawmakers for help.”
“If you are serious about a solution, you should first demand that the board hire a superintendent and CFO that the lawmakers recommend and all school board members then resign and recommend that the lawmakers name their replacements.”
So the board that the writer wants to resign is supposed to appoint a superintendent and CFO that “said undetermined lawmakers” recommend before they are forced to resign and be replaced without a democratically elective process?
A search has already begun for a new superintendent. Those take time for large school systems no matter how financially healthy a school system is.
And there are elections coming soon. School board seats are up for election. And so are many of the nebulously named lawmakers that the writer of this Letter to the Editor seemingly refers to.
