Liberty County Board of Education member Marcus Scott IV has unofficially thrown his name in the hat for the Liberty County Board of Education’s chairman position.
Scott made the announcement during his “Education Hotline” program which aired Thursday on Facebook Live.
“Well it’s not official and I am going to wait until January to see if anyone else wants that seat,” he said on the program. “I just think it is time for new leadership in that position. I would prefer to stay in district five and run my district. But if the board keeps going as it is, it might need new leadership and I will run if necessary. I will know by January.”
Scott has had a longstanding feud with current LCSS BoE Chair Lily Baker. In an earlier broadcast, Scott called her an ineffective leader.
He has also claimed that Baker and outgoing school system Superintendent Dr. Valya Lee were retaliating against him for his stance on several issues opposing theirs.
As an example, Scott said he was singled out during the May 9 BoE meeting when the board discussed him being a no-show to a School Board Association which took place out of state. The expenses to cover Scott’s travels cost the school system $1,600.
During that meeting, Baker said she was suspending Scott from any future travels. Scott replied saying she didn’t have the authority to suspend him.
At the regular meeting held May 23, Baker requested that the minutes of the May 9, meeting be amended to remove the word suspended, conceding that she only has the authority to approve or not approve but not suspend.
Scott also pointed out that there was another BoE member, Verdell Jones, who also missed that same conference trip.
Jones, however stated her situation was different. She said she notified the board of a last minute emergency. The board, in turn, was able to find another member to fill in her spot, whereas Scott failed to notify the board, despite the expenses already being paid.
During Thursday’s broadcast Scott also spoke about incoming interim Superintendent Dr. Franklin D. Perry. He said he plans to meet with Perry and has invited him to be on the “Education Hotline.”
He noted that people have expressed concern about Perry being fired from the Superintendent position at Twiggs County. Scott said Perry was replaced by Dr. Lee.
He said he will reserve any judgement on Perry until he gets to know him better.
But Scott did say he thought the move to hire the interim was made too rapidly. He said the board could have easily moved just as quickly to find the permanent Superintendent and save the taxpayers money.