Bibb school board meets behind closed doors

The Bibb County school board met behind closed doors for about an hour Thursday before adjourning without taking any votes or making any statements.

School board attorney Warren Plowden and Macon lawyer Jerry Lumley were present at the meeting. When asked by The Telegraph earlier this week if Bibb County schools Superintendent Sharon Patterson had retained him, Lumley would not comment.

There has been speculation that the school board and Patterson are negotiating a settlement to terminate Patterson’s contract, which expires June 30, 2011.

“We are not commenting on anything that happened in executive session,” school board President Gary Bechtel said after the private meeting ended.

Patterson and two of her top administrators are the subject of an ongoing state ethics investigation on whether they failed to report principal misconduct to the state in a timely manner.

As a result of the school system’s continued lagging test scores and a recent Telegraph report of questionable hiring practices of principals, some community leaders have said it’s time for new leadership in the public school system.

At least two school board members, Lynn Farmer and Susan Sipe, have said Patterson should move on.

Patterson, who earns about $200,000 a year, has been superintendent in Bibb County for 10 years.

To contact writer Julie Hubbard, call 744-4331.