BY KARISSA MILLER
Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education Chairman Bill Howell on Monday abandoned a plan to call for an investigation of board member Mike Kubiniec.
Howell, who led efforts to have Kubiniec ousted as vice chair and censured, removed an item from the agenda calling for the “investigation of a board member” during Monday’s meeting. I-SS sources previously told Iredell Free News that Kubiniec had improperly investigated district employees who filed complaints about Kubiniec’s conduct.
“It’s dead. It’s a non-issue. We took it off the agenda because we resolved it in closed session,” Howell said in an interview.
After months of divisiveness, the chairman said he was optimistic that the board could move forward in a new direction.
“I think we have reached some understanding,” Howell explained. “We’ve talked, and I think we’re going to be okay. You saw a bunch of 7-0 votes tonight. That’s a very positive step.”
Howell, along with board members Charles Kelly, Doug Knight and Abby Trent, voted to oust Kubiniec from his position as vice chairman in October for what they deemed improper conduct. Last week that group also voted to censure Kubiniec, who claimed he had done nothing improper.
Kubiniec, along with board member Anita Kurn, helped spark an unsuccessful effort to challenge Trent’s voter registration and qualifications to serve as the District 3 representative on the I-SS Board after she moved temporarily out of her home because it needs repairs, further dividing the board. The Iredell County Board of Elections dismissed that challenge after an evidentiary hearing.
With the exception of Kelly, the rest of the board is also facing a lawsuit claiming the members have repeatedly violated N.C. open meetings law by communicating secretly about school business via text message. Some of the text messages, which began shortly after Kubiniec, Kurn, Trent and Brian Sloan took office last December, included hurtful comments about Statesville High School, which has a large percentage of minority students, and the LGBTQ population.
More than 650 people have signed a petition demanding the entire I-SS Board resign.
During Monday’s meeting, members of the public again asked the board members to do the job they were elected to do.
“I hope that we don’t spend any more meetings focused on one person’s ego from here on out,” former Iredell County Commissioner Diane Hamby said during the public comment period. “I would like you to focus on the schools who are losing leadership teams because they are in trouble.”
Community member Tom Snyder told the board he’s tired of all the drama.
“I’m a little troubled by all that’s been going on in the past months, all of the fighting and the back and forth,” he said.
Snyder said he understands that some of the board’s business must be conducted in closed session, but he suggested that the board issue a statement to clear up the confusion about important topics that should be discussed in open meetings.
“The public deserves to have some answers,” Snyder said. “I’m a taxpayer. You all work for us, the taxpayer.”
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Another fabrication! Mr. Kubiniec never investigated anyone once this whole censure motion was put into place. He only responded to the evidence presented to him by written comment via the tracked packets he sent to all board members.
Why don’t you and the rest of the kubiniec clan find something better to do? Maybe encourage your leader to focus on the real issues at hand instead of the drama you have all willingly been a part of!
Voters have a chance in October 2024 to elect school board members who put the interests of the students, teachers, and school administrators ahead of their own personal agendas. It is time to return our school board to an informed, unbiased, thoughtful, deliberative body. It is disheartening to read, week after week, of loud, disruptive, vengeful eruptions that do nothing to further the advancement of education in this county. Vote accordingly.
I’m sure your readers are curious to know the “I-SS sources…who filed complaints about Mr. Kubiniec’s conduct” as stated in the article. If Mr. Howell hadn’t begrudgingly given him a measly 10 minutes to speak to his constituents about his defense, the public would have heard Mr. Kubiniec’s full rebuttal. Just because the board was given written responses to his charges does not mean he should be denied the rightful opportunity to fully address the public. Where is he to defend himself but within the confines of where this all began? Even community member Tom Snyder wants to know the facts surrounding this censure debacle.
This article would have you believe by the way its worded that Kubiniec and Kurn were the ones who “challenged” Trent’s voter registration at the Iredell County Board of Elections. Why this fabrication? Someone else from the community brought forth the challenge. There seems to be a continuous need to drag this guy’s name through the mud with no opportunity to hear the other side of the story. Wait until the truth comes out about Ms. Trent’s trumped up, baseless, and unsubstantiated allegations against him.
Everyone knows it was mommy puppet master Jill Schooley that went and brought the challenge forward. It was stated so in a previous article and publicly, Mrs. “Jill” Silence Dogood. 😂 And I am not sure how stalking another board member, when even Captain Krazy himself admitted it, is a “trumped up and baseless allegation”. You folks seem to have nothing better to do than worry about what this young woman is doing in her personal life, and that’s just sad. What is the obsession? And why don’t you all use your actual names and not these ridiculous aliases? Grow up!
What is your obsession, Josh, for only pushing one narrative put forth by IFN and for criticizing those who know otherwise? You think you’re so clever. Don’t quit your day job – you’re no detective. No, I am not Jill S., and show me the proof that Mr. Kubiniec “admitted” to “stalking” Trent? Your words only, not mine.