Apology now, but school board should adopt tough conduct rule

The newly revealed details of a confrontation between Charleston County School Board member Arthur Ravenel Jr. and Superintendent Nancy McGinley say that the least the former congressman can do is give the superintendent an unequivocal, public apology.

The board also should adopt a proposed amendment to its code of ethics that would subject a member who engages in similar conduct in the future to serious consequences.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ravenel should consider whether his verbal attack on the superintendent, which has sparked community protests, has irreparably damaged his effectiveness on the board.

A package of documents, including a memorandum from the superintendent and notes taken by staff members about the confrontation, was released late last week in response to Freedom of Information requests. Two other board members, Ray Toler and Nancy Cook, were present during the meeting where Dr. McGinley says Mr. Ravenel threatened her job.

The two instances in which staff notes say Mr. Ravenel used the term "bitch" in reference to the superintendent were relayed to, but not heard by, Dr. McGinley. The staff notes indicate Mr. Toler was with Mr. Ravenel when he made all the controversial statements.

It appears from the notes that Ms. Cook was only present during the meeting with the superintendent.

When the story broke more than six weeks later, both Ms. Cook and Mr. Toler denied to our reporter that they heard the profanity or the job threat. Neither has responded to the latest report. Mr. Ravenel initially denied the use of the term "bitch," but acknowledged a day later he had used the term several times while at the school board office but couldn't recall the context.

What the public now knows is that Dr. McGinley advised school board Chairman Hillery Douglas of the explosive events within a few minutes of the meeting with the three board members and expressed her concerns in a letter to the chairman the next day, along with a time line of events. She said she felt "bullied and intimidated" during the meeting. She also said her staff heard "derogatory and obscene references to me and the former superintendent" and "was shaken by the whole scene."

Notes from the school board's secretary, Portia Stoney, detail Mr. Ravenel's comments to her about staff interference with the approval of the Charter School for Math & Science. "AR went on to say if not approved superintendent would be out of a job. He further stated that the first bitch [former Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson] was fired and would do the same with this one."

Mr. Ravenel was confronted with the superintendent's complaint to the board chairman during an April executive session. We're advised that he acknowledged the use of the term "bitch" during that meeting, with some equivocation. We're also told he did apologize during the executive session and his apology was accepted. After the story broke in late May, there have been calls for Mr. Ravenel's resignation, but the board has no apparent grounds under its existing ethics guidelines to force such a move.

That would change under a proposed revision to the board's ethics code that will be considered at a June 30 Policy Committee meeting.

The new ethics language, proposed by member Gregg Meyers, would require: That members conform "to a standard of civility in interactions with other board members, employees, students, and the public, so as to treat all persons with dignity and courtesy. Profanity, threats, threatening job termination, or abusive language is prohibited, and if used may subject a board members to public reprimand and, if repeated, constitutes cause of removal from office through the procedures as provided in S.C. Code 59-19-60."

A "for cause" removal under that code section requires notice of the grounds, the right to a hearing and the right to appeal to a circuit court.

While the new ethics rule isn't yet in place, there's little doubt, based on the first-person accounts, that Mr. Ravenel failed the civility test with the superintendent and should make his private apology public and without reservation. Fellow board member Brian Moody talked about the need for the board and superintendent to have a good relationship. The matter needs to be cleared up, he told us, and "appropriate apologies made, loudly and sincerely."

In our most recent news account, Mr. Ravenel contends that his actions on behalf of the charter school helped save it. Certainly, Mr. Ravenel had every right, and even the responsibility, to check on the status of an agenda item about which he had a concern.

But, as the superintendent pointed out in her memo, that could have been accomplished by a telephone call. Instead, he created a confrontational scene by heading an unofficial gathering of three board members in an apparent attempt to exercise unauthorized pressure. One of the proposed new ethics amendments stipulates that decisions can only be made in official board meetings.

Further, Mr. Ravenel's ill-advised showdown with the superintendent has damaged his good cause by giving opponents of the Math & Science charter school a high-profile reason to attack its chief proponent on the board.

The 81-year-old former congressman and state senator has had many accomplishments to his credit during his long political career, including the spectacular new bridge across the Cooper River that bears his name. But his recent medical problems and his inability, attributed to a faulty memory, to credibly defend himself against allegations that he made profane threats against the school system's top official should result in some serious soul searching about his continued public service.