Residents and parents press Florence board on Sandra Poston termination and alleged financial irregularities

Florence — During the public-comment portion of the Florence School District 1 meeting, several residents urged the board to act on personnel and financial concerns.

Jane Quick told trustees she was speaking about the "injustice" of the termination for racial harassment of Sandra Poston, saying Poston "loved her job" and asserting that the activity in question involved an entire team of 77 people. Quick said the district’s treatment created an appearance of impropriety and asked the board to move promptly to correct it.

"She was part of a team...Do they look familiar? They could be your children's teacher," Quick said, urging the board to reassure the public that it is performing its duty.

James W. Williams said he had repeatedly sought records from the superintendent’s office and received a status letter declining to release the information; Williams said the materials are not personal and warned he would pursue legal channels if the district does not provide them.

Barbara M. Moses described a culture-and-diversity incident at Royer Elementary and alleged that staff were denied due process. Moses also alleged the district allowed two board members who do not live in their districts to continue serving, referenced a plea deal involving a 'C3' board member, and said the superintendent uncovered credit-card misuse totaling $72,732 over three years while a separate alleged misuse of over $1,000,000 involving a former charter director remains unresolved.

The board acknowledged the comments but took no immediate public-action resolution on the named personnel matters during the meeting. Trustees reminded speakers during public comment that personnel issues are generally not permitted topics in the public-comment portion, as noted at the start of the session.

The transcript records assertions and requests by members of the public; none of the allegations was resolved on the record during the meeting.