A procedural dispute at the close of the latest school board meeting has led to dueling public statements from a board member and the board president over governance and transparency.

As Board President Tiffany Pascoe adjourned the regular meeting, board member Latrica Schooley asked for a point of personal privilege to read a prepared statement. Schooley said the statement addressed what she described as a “serious governance issue” related to district contracts.

Schooley argued she should be allowed to speak at the end of the regular session. Pascoe responded that Schooley would need to make a separate motion in order to read her statement. No such motion was taken up, and Schooley was not permitted to speak before adjournment.

After the meeting, Schooley released her prepared remarks to LarryInFishers.

In her statement, Schooley said she attempted to address what she called “a severe breakdown in our board’s governance and financial oversight,” but was “interrupted by the Board President and prevented from speaking on the public record.”

Her concerns center on what she described as an admitted administrative oversight involving a contract that violated district policy D08.01. She said she formally requested a review of the matter and asked for access to all 2025 contracts exceeding $150,000 to ensure compliance with State Board of Accounts guidelines. Schooley noted that while state guidelines reference a $50,000 limit, district policy was amended in 2024 to raise the threshold to $150,000.

Schooley further alleged that the board president unilaterally removed the D08.01 contract violation from a committee agenda without full board review and claimed she faced hostility and retaliation, including removal from committee assignments, after requesting broader board participation on the district’s upcoming Budget Task Force.

She said she would “continue to fulfill my fiduciary duties to the taxpayers, staff, and students of this district.”

On Wednesday morning, Pascoe addressed the incident in a social media post, citing parliamentary procedure.

“Under Robert’s Rules, a point of privilege must relate to the rights or ability of the board to conduct its business,” Pascoe wrote. “When asked whether the matter was related to the agenda, as it was clear there was nothing prohibiting the meeting to proceed, the clarification was not established from Ms. Schooley.”

Pascoe added that because the meeting was already running over its anticipated time and was in the midst of recognizing staff and student achievements, she ruled that the request did not qualify as a point of privilege.

“Board updates at our next scheduled meeting would be the appropriate time for Ms. Schooley to share her statement,” Pascoe wrote.

Here is the Latrica Schooley statement in full, followed by Tifany Pascoe’s social media post:

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At the recent Board meeting, I attempted to address a severe breakdown in our board’s governance and financial oversight. Unfortunately, I was interrupted by the Board President and prevented from speaking on the public record. Because I was silenced in the boardroom, I am releasing my statement directly to the media and the community.

The role of a Board President is to facilitate the work of all seven elected members, not to act as a dictator or a gatekeeper for transparency. We are seven equal members elected by this community. However, recent actions by board leadership demonstrate a concerning pattern of hostility, lack of transparency, and direct retaliation against those asking legitimate financial questions.

Recently, I formally requested a review of an admitted administrative oversight regarding a contract that violated district policy D08.01. I also requested access to all 2025 contracts that exceed the $150,000 threshold to ensure our district is fully compliant with State Board of Accounts guidelines which has a limit of $50,000 but our policy was changed in 2024 and increased to 150,000.

Rather than supporting this standard financial oversight, the Board President responded with the following actions

• Unilateral Agenda Alterations: The President unilaterally removed the D08.01 contract violation from the committee agenda, declaring it “sufficiently addressed” without the input or review of the full board.

• Unprofessional Hostility: My requests for legal and financial transparency were dismissed by the President as a “spectacle” and a “horse and pony show.” I have been baselessly accused of breaking trust and creating tension simply for doing my job. This has been accompanied by ongoing petty behavior, including purposefully and repeatedly misspelling my name in official communications.

• Documented Retaliation: Because of our district’s massive financial constraints, I requested that the upcoming Budget Task Force be open to all board members so no one is left in the dark. In response, the Board President explicitly stated that she was using this request for transparency as grounds to unilaterally remove me from my current committee assignments.

I have made every effort to be diplomatic, following every established procedure and guideline to give this board the benefit of the doubt. However, I will no longer be silent regarding the pettiness, lack of communication, and undue aggression I receive on a regular basis for simply doing my job.

No single member has the authority to strike critical financial oversights from the agenda to protect the administration from questioning. Furthermore, no single member has the authority to strip committee assignments from peers as retaliation for asking difficult financial questions. We must return to proper, unified board governance immediately.

I want to assure the public that I will not be intimidated. I will continue to fulfill my fiduciary duties to the taxpayers, staff, and students of this district, regardless of the hostility or retaliatory actions from board leadership.

Respectfully,

Latrica Schooley

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