Louisville newspaper files complaint against school board that hired Yearwood
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Louisville Courier Journal filed a complaint on Friday against a Kentucky school board that hired former Columbia Public Schools Superintendent Brian Yearwood.
Jefferson County Public Schools said in a social media post on Thursday that the Board of Education voted 5-2 on Thursday to offer a contract, though it did not initially announce who it would hire. A state representative in Kentucky had congratulated Yearwood in a social media post, which local media including WDRB indicated was a sign for the hire.
The school district on Friday eventually named Yearwood in a social media post of its own, stating that it was in contract negotiations with him.
The complaint filed by the Courier Journal claims the district violated Kentucky’s Open Meetings Act by voting in a closed session, holding a “sham vote in open session to ratify a decision made during a closed session,” and refusing to disclose in a public meeting which candidate it hired.
JCBOE OMA Complaint Letter(1354673.1)Download
Yearwood’s Columbia departure
Yearwood stepped down from his position as CPS superintendent in November and was paid $667,268.90 in a contract buyout. Yearwood was hired by CPS in 2021. He was under contract through June 2027, making about $260,000 per year. Chris Belcher was named the district’s interim superintendent before Jeff Klein was hired.
CPS announced in November that Yearwood would step down immediately “to spend time with family in Texas,” previous reporting indicates. Yearwood announced in August that he had been diagnosed with cancer. That diagnosis was not mentioned in his resignation letter.
Yearwood’s separation agreement with CPS states that he agreed to the mutual public statement between the two parties and cannot make any further public statements.
In an interview with ABC affiliate WHAS11 last week, Yearwood stated, “”I did nothing unethical, I did nothing immoral and I did nothing illegal. I’m a man of faith and I would do nothing to dishonor my family. I would do nothing to dishonor myself. And there are times where there are differences of opinion and things like this do happen. But I assure you, it was nothing that touched on any of those.”
Yearwood was also a finalist for a superintendent position in Kansas and Delaware.
At a community forum held by the Garden City, Kansas, school district in January, Yearwood was asked what his most-vocal critic would say about him as a school leader.
“They would say he doesn’t have much patience for red tape that slows down the process of getting things done to benefit scholars. I’ve had to sort of temper because there, there, there are rules you must follow,” he said in a video. “And again, I’m not talking about circumventing rules or doing anything. That’s not it. But sometimes, when we know something is great for a scholar or scholars or school, sometimes the process gets bogged down.”