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Most of us are only too familiar with the cronyism that goes on at the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education. Now the board members are on the verge of violating Alabama law and ethics codes in order to give a job to former board president Brett Whitehead, who seems to be aggressively lobbying the board for their support.Whitehead has been spotted on multiple occasions having lunch with several board members at various restaurants around town. Presumably, Whitehead’s goal in these meetings has been to gain the four votes required for the board to hire him. If Superintendent Frank Costanzo knows that the votes are there, he will recommend Whitehead for the position.The position that Whitehead is after is one that he, as a member of the school board, voted to create, fund, and approve the job description. Now several members of the board are looking to hire Whitehead to this position without advertising the job or opening the job search to the public.If the County Board hires Whitehead without properly posting the job vacancy, the board will be violating Alabama law. Section 16-22-15 of the Code of Alabama requires all boards of education to post personnel vacancies “not less than seven days before the position is to be filled.” Furthermore, vacancies that are supervisory, managerial, or newly created require postings of at least 14 days. The County Board posts job vacancies on its website. Yet, there currently are not any jobs posted on the website. If the school board hires Whitehead, they will have failed to meet the posting requirement, and will be violating Alabama law.Hiring Whitehead may also be a violation of state ethics law. As a recent member of the school board, Whitehead is prohibited from certain activities related to the school board by the “revolving door” provision of the ethics law. Whitehead serving in a position that he voted to create and fund is questionable ethically, and may be a violation of state ethics law. It certainly raises ethical doubt about the school board, and perhaps subjects the board to unnecessary legal liability.As stated earlier, Whitehead and the school board voted to create this position, fund this position, and approve the job requirements. They did this in the same meeting where they voted to eliminate 16 positions, including school nurses. Also in the past two years, the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education has voted to lay-off 71 additional support personnel. It can be assumed that some of the savings the school board gained from these lay-offs will be used to fund the position Whitehead is after. Whitehead is looking to personally profit from the misfortune of the people he voted to lay-off. If the school board votes to hire Whitehead, they will be complicit in his scheme to benefit from the lay-offs. If Whitehead is hired, it will show that the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education values their cronies more than they value the education, health, and safety of Tuscaloosa County students.I cannot silently stand by and watch while hard working educators lose their jobs or are forced into early retirement so that friends and family of the school board members can take those positions. I’m asking you to help me fight back against the cronyism. Write a letter to the Tuscaloosa News to help raise awareness about what’s really going on at the County Board. Call the board members and ask why this position has been vacant for so long, and has not been advertised. Demand that they post this position to the public, and hire the most qualified candidate. Or call our local representatives in the state House and Senate and ask them to investigate the hiring practices of the County Board.You can call the board members at the following numbers:John Hinton: 205-292-0339Gary Bonner: 205-310-5034Bill Copeland: 205-936-1357James Barnett: 205-469-7993Joe Boteler: 205-361-2192Schmitt Moore: 205-553-4110Mark Nelson: 205-750-0010 or 205-349-
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