Dublin divided: School board split widens at tense meeting

Any progress shown in the Dublin City Board of Education’s proposed budget and latest financial report was overshadowed by name changes, name-calling, insults and insinuations at its meeting Monday night.

The school board agreed to names for the new magnet and alternative schools, but the controversial decision to switch their campuses continued to divide the board and some in the community. The board voted 4-3 in April to move the schools to the new locations, with its four white board members in favor.

Monday meeting’s tone turned ugly early, during time allotted for public comments, when resident Peter Lipski targeted chairwoman Amanda Smith, board members John Bell, Jeff Davis and James Lanier and interim Superintendent Marcee Pool.

“You five whiteys crossed the line,” said Lipski, who also is white.

Lanier objected to being addressed that way and Smith instructed Lipski to “be respectful.”

“You give me three minutes on the clock (for comment), and you try to shut me up!” he said. “I say whiteys and blackies because that’s what it is, isn’t it?”

Another tense exchange, this time between board members, came late in the meeting as members made their comments before an executive session to discuss personnel.

Smith suggested when board members discuss holding someone accountable that they “look within.”

“I think some on this board may struggle with competency and retention issues sometimes when we are not reviewing things properly,” she said.

“I beg to (differ) on that,” said board member JoAnna Glover. “Did you just call me stupid?”

“No,” Smith replied, “I did not name names.”

Glover and fellow black board members Kenny Walters and Peggy Johnson continued to echo several residents’ requests that all cost-cutting recommendations made by the state during the district’s most recent financial crisis be published. In April, the three members tried but failed to delay the vote on moving the alternative school from Moore Street to make way for a new magnet school, saying they wanted more time to review the information. 

The other four members approved the plan, which they contend was among the state’s recommendations. Since that vote, Johnson, Glover, Walters and some in the community have said or insinuated that the black board members are not getting the same information as their white counterparts.

On Monday, Walters attempted during board member comments to make a motion to publish all state recommendations. Smith said it is her understanding that the state recommendations have been posted online on the district’s transparency page.

Walters, who injected that not everyone is getting “invited to the picnic,” was asked if he would like to amend the agenda so to include his motion, but he instead passed the microphone. Glover announced during her comments that she was voting for Walters’ motion, though no vote was taken.

Earlier Walters, Glover and Johnson attempted to table a motion calling for a minor adjustment to salary supplement scale. The supplement scale was revised in April, with many of the supplements’ pay and additional days reduced. 

After the vote to table the item failed, the board voted 4-3 to add a $1,000 “band auxiliary” supplement for the high school.

District ends fiscal year with deficit, debt to state

Dublin City ended fiscal year 2026 with a much smaller deficit than when the year began.

According to a monthly financial report for June, the district finished the month and year with $1.2 million general fund deficit. It began FY26 with a $3.8 million cash shortfall.

The district also carries over about $5.2 million in liabilities owed in unpaid contributions to the State Health Benefit Plan. The board is making monthly payments of $300,000 to the state plan.

The state had projected last fall that the school district would finish with a $13.4 million deficit, which included more than $6 million owed to the health plan, but local officials appear to have cut that deficit in half.

The board expects to erase its deficit in FY27. It voted Monday night to advertise a $41.1 million budget, down from the approved $47.5 million budget last year, for fiscal year 2027 that would end with a $1.5 million total surplus and general fund balance of $821,314.

“Thanks to strict budgeting, we’re spending less than we receive,” Chief Financial Officer Teresa Lounder told the board.

The advertised budget increased by $2.5 million from the first proposed plan after it was amended to increase expenditures on capital projects. The district expects to receive $3 million in local sales tax proceeds that can only be spent on things like construction, equipment and technology.

The original budget included just $500,000 for capital projects.

Budget hearings will be held at 6 p.m. Aug. 3 and Aug. 10 in the high school auditorium.

Because it missed the July 1 deadline, the board approved a spending resolution for August, as it did for July.

New names for schools

Despite the controversy about their new locations, there was none when it came to choosing the new names for the alternative and magnet schools.

The alternative school, formerly Moore Street School, will be called WIN Academy when it reopens on the Dublin High campus. 

WIN stands for “What I Need,”  explained principal Catina Puckett. The name was chosen by a vote among stakeholders, Puckett said.

The new magnet school – Irish Academy – will serve as a feeder school for the high school’s international baccalaureate program.

The magnet school will replace the similarly named Irish Gifted Academy. The new name was also chosen through a contest and vote, The other four finalists were Emerald City Academy, Dublin City Magnet and Irish Excellence Academy.

Superintendent search

The school board was sure it had found its new leader when choosing Marietta City’s DeMarcos Holland as the sole finalist for the Dublin school superintendent. However, the board finally withdrew its offer when unable to meet Holland’s salary demands.

Smith said the board is still deciding on how to proceed in restarting the search. Pool has served as interim superintendent since last September, when Superintendent Fred Williams stepped down to take an early retirement once the severity of the school district’s financial troubles were revealed. 

Higher lunch prices for adults

Meals are free for Dublin City students but not for adults, and the price they pay for lunch is going up.

The board voted to raise the adult cost for lunch to $6. The increase, officials said, is to stay in compliance with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which funds the school nutrition programs.

The breakfast price for adults will remain at $3.50.

Personnel changes approved

The board approved the following personnel moves:

•Resignations: Tonia Spaulding, director of behavioral health, Central Office; Donita Howell, assistant principal of instruction; Raven Floyd Jackson, paraprofessional, Hillcrest Elementary School

•New hires: Brian Howell, school improvement specialist (49 percent), Dublin High School; Nancee Hall, assistant principal for instruction, DHS; Dr. Donna Malone, teacher, Irish Gifted Academy; Pamela Irby, teacher, Hillcrest; Lauren McGuire, music teacher, Hillcrest; Stefanie Wright, bookkeeper, DHS; Kasona Coates, SPED teacher, Susie Dasher; Daniqua Stephens, administrative assistant, DHS

•Substitutes: D’Andrea King, substitute teacher, all locations.

The local school board faces a hearing next month before the state Board of Education on whether its members should be suspended or removed from office. Monday’s contentious meeting casts serious doubt on whether the board