Superintendent’s critics again call on school board to seek new leadership

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Monday, June 19, 2017 — The leadership of Nelson County Schools Superintendent Anthony Orr came under fire again during public input part of Monday’s night’s board of education meeting.

Larry Adamson tells the board about the issues he saw as a former instructional assistant at Horizons Academy at the board’s meeting Monday night.

Larry Adamson, a former instructional assistant at Horizons Academy, detailed a list of issues that he had witnessed at Horizons. His contract was not renewed because he said he “blew the whistle” on practices in the school he didn’t agree with, he explained.

“Horizons has a great identity problem,” he said. “They didn’t know if they were project-based learning, credit recovery, discipline, and now there’s talk its going to be a career center.”

Adamson said an autistic student who was having problems in a district middle school was sent to Horizon, and he outlined a number of safety issues he observed as well.

Noting Adamson’s three minute speaking time had passed board chair Diane Breeding invited him to send via email additional problems he observed. After he continued to speak, Breeding asked him to leave the podium.

John Peterson, a retired district substitute teacher, called Orr a bully and named two former district employees he believed the superintendent had bullied, with the result those incidents were “swept under the rug.”

He suggested the board either approve a whistleblower rule or conduct an anonymous survey in order to let the staff express their thoughts without fear of retaliation. He called on Orr to resign his post as superintendent.

Former district substitute John Peterson called on the board to use an anonymous survey to allow district employees to express their thoughts without fear of retaliation.

When Peterson’s time to speak ran out, he told the board he would be back every month to speak until the board took some action.

“I think you’ve got enough evidence to do what you need to do, I’m not sure you’ve got enough guts.”

A final speaker explained how her daughter had lost her pride in her school and came home every day and begged her mother not to send her back to Old Kentucky Home Middle School. She also expressed concern for her daughter’s safety going to the school.

She called on the board not to renew Orr’s contract.

“It’s time for a leadership change,” she said.

-30-