Lesa Keith Attends First MPS Board Meeting, New Pres. and Vice Pres. Selected
Lesa Keith attends her first Montgomery County Schools board meeting as a board member. In an exclusive interview last night, Keith told Alabama News Network that she could be sanctioned if she spoke out of line.
Tonight we asked board members about that and how they believe Keith will fit in with the board.
Lesa Keith told reporter Ashley Thompson that Tuesday night’s board meeting went much better than she expected. She says she’s still green and has a lot to learn.
A new face was at the table during Tuesday evening’s Montgomery County School board meeting. Lesa Keith made her first appearance as a board member.
“I’m not one to sit back and rubber stamp things and I hope that’s not going on,” she says. “I’m going to read, just like tonight you saw that I questioned a date, I’m just going to question things.”
Keith told Alabama News Network she learned at a recent training session that there could be repercussions if she spoke out of line. She says the board could sanction her and if the board as a whole appears dysfunctional, the Alabama Association of School Boards could sanction them. Montgomery Public Schools Superintendent Margaret Allen says that policy isn’t meant to silence board members.
“People are people,” she explains. “The idea behind what we learned at training is that there are processes. There are ways to work things out. This is human nature kind of work and people are people so there’s just a way to do it.”
In fact, Allen says she encourages Keith…and others to make their voices heard.
“There’s no way for me to know what’s going on in some situations unless somebody speaks so I have no offense to anyone.”
Board Vice President Robert Porterfield tells us board members must follow certain protocol when speaking out.
“There’s no problem with discussing or bringing issues or discussing issues. It’s just that we must understand our roles and responsibilities as board members.”
Lesa Keith is known to speak out and she tells me she will continue to but she says she hopes she will be speaking out more about the good things going on with the school system.
Along with a new board member, the Montgomery County School Board has new leadership tonight. At tonight’s meeting, school board members selected Melissa Snowden to be the new board president and Robert Porterfield to be vice president.
