As of yesterday morning, Dr. Yvonne Stokes officially resigned as the superintendent from Hamilton Southeastern.
There has been a lot of speculation as to why she decided to resign.
The board that accepted her resignation is not the one that hired her. Some people believe the board forced her to resign.
Norma Johnson addressed this with emotion in her voice as she approached members of the Hamilton Southeastern School Board on Wednesday.
“(You’re) a bunch of racists. To do what you did to that woman? That is not right. You have made her life miserable ever since she took that position, it is no secret you did not want her here.”
Johnson added, “I’m upset because of the way they did this to her. It is not right, you know, they forced her to resign, they made it impossible for her to do her job.”
People are also concerned about what this is going to do to the teachers in that area. Fishers resident Stephanie Hunt claims the new school board is creating a toxic work environment that is spilling over into the classrooms.
“(Teachers) are fearful of the policies and procedures this school board has clearly come in with a pre-planned agenda to do and they don’t have a voice in this matter. They have silenced the teachers, they don’t care what the teachers have to say,” Hunt said.
Hunt is right. Teachers are frustrated at the suddenness of the resignation announcement of Dr. Stokes.
They’re especially frustrated the board’s decision to keep this information quiet until just before the Wednesday meeting, held at an inconvenient time, said Abby Taylor, president of the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association.
“An unexpected meeting with no context or agenda was announced with an unusual start time, preventing many of our community from attending especially teachers who were directly impacted by this time frame, resulting in a series of rumors and speculations and contributed to the continued distrust in our board members, which impacts all teachers, students and community members alike,” Taylor said.
People do not seem to be happy with Dr. Stokes’ resignation. Whoever the board decides to hire next better do a great job, or else they will be under more fire.
To hear Craig Collins’ thoughts on why Stokes resigned, click the link below.
