Public urges DeSoto County school board to remove member over character letter support
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Summary
Speakers at the Dec. 4 DeSoto County Schools board meeting demanded the resignation of board member Michelle Henley, saying she wrote a letter supporting a person who "pled guilty to ****** battery." Speakers presented courtroom evidence and asked the board to act; no response from Henley is recorded in the transcript.
Pam Hickram and other members of the public used the board’s public-comment period on Dec. 4 to demand that board member Michelle Henley resign after she wrote a character letter supporting an individual who "pled guilty to ****** battery," according to statements the speakers read into the record.
"Miss Henley wrote a letter willingly wrote a letter of support for an individual who pled guilty to ****** battery, and she continues to sit on this board refusing to withdraw her letter," Pam Hickram said, urging the board to prioritize child protection over protecting positions. Hickram told the board Henley’s continued presence had "betrayed the trust of the community" and asked that she step down.
Later in the public-comment period, Katie Sasso delivered a prepared statement that repeated the request for Henley’s resignation and said court records ("over 65,000 pages of evidence," as Sasso put it) and community pressure supported the call. Sasso told the board: "You are not the victim in this. You are simply suffering the consequences of your actions," and criticized Henley for invoking her board role in the letter.
Transcript speakers who raised the resignation demand emphasized protecting children and criticized what they characterized as victim-shaming. The speakers asked other board members to sign or forward a resolution seeking Henley’s removal or to write supportive letters to legislators; the transcript does not record any response from Henley herself during the meeting.
The board moved into a later executive session for student- and personnel-related matters; the transcript does not show any formal response, censure, or motion related to the resignation requests during open session. The meeting proceeded with routine business and votes on contracts, finance reports and personnel items before adjourning.
What happens next: the transcript records that the board entered executive session later in the meeting to discuss student matters, residency and personnel contract issues; the public resignation requests were not resolved on the public record in the portions of the transcript provided.