A special session of the Hillsboro Board of Education will be held at 8 a.m. Wednesday to approve a resolution setting a date, time and location for a contract termination hearing for Choral Director David White.
Superintendent Tim Davis said the special meeting will probably last five minutes or less and the only business that will be conducted is setting the dates for the termination hearings. He said the hearing dates will be held sometime next month, and that they will not be open to the public.
“My understanding is it is more of a meeting with a referee appointed by the state,” Davis said.
On April 22, White, the school district’s choral director for the past 17 years, was placed on unpaid leave after the school board approved by a 3-2 vote a motion by Davis to consider the termination of White’s contract.
Board President Bill Myers, Larry Lyons and Beverly Rhoads voted in favor of the recommendation, while Tom Milbery and Jerry Walker voted against it.
The vote was called after the board deliberated for one hour and 56 minutes in executive session. Most of the a large crowd that showed up for the meeting, the vast majority in support of White, waited out the executive session and responded in disapproval after the board’s vote.
At issue is a decision by White to have himself and some of his male students get off a tour bus they were on during an outing in New York City and move a smart car about 12 inches that was illegally parked, blocking their path, and causing a large traffic jam.
According to Davis, that decision put White’s students in danger.
Davis read a long statement on his decision to recommend the school board consider White’s termination at the April meeting. In part, it said, “Mr. White’s disciplinary record during the past five years reflects seven separate incidents where the district administration has critically identified actions by Mr. White that reflect inappropriate actions and/or incidents of poor judgment.”
White said at the April meeting that he has hired a Dayton attorney and plans to file an appeal to the board’s decision.
“No one wants to see me leave and I do not want to leave. I want to continue making great music with the children of this community,” White said, adding that he was overwhelmed with the support shown toward him from current students, former students, teachers, administrators and community members.
Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522.
