Austin’s Daily Commentary – October 10, 2023

Austin: There is simply no denying the Columbia County School system gets overwhelmingly positive reviews from most of the parents and students involved in the system. And most of those parents and students get incredibly attached to their teachers and administrators and support staff because of the great product that the county continually puts out.

Well, folks, every now and then that goes a little bit sideways because a very popular teacher or administrator will leave under circumstances that are not necessarily happy. And parents and students are very upset and they want to know what happened. That happened last week at Stevens Creek Elementary School, where the beloved principal, Grace Meyer and her right hand person, the secretary and bookkeeper at the school, a lady named Donna Hickman, also just disappeared. A letter did go out a couple of days later saying Ms.. Meyer was being transferred with no explanation and no mention at all of Ms.. Hickman.

Now, I started getting rumors flying my way and reports flying my way of all kinds of ridiculous and over the top stories, none of which apparently were founded in the truth. However, the truth is a little bit hard to pin down because Columbia County School board officials absolutely refused to say what happened. And there's no reason for that secrecy to exist. I've put together behind the scenes what sounds like the explanation as to what happened.

Again, Columbia County School board officials will not confirm it. I can say that no illegal activity took place, nothing sordid or scandalous in any real sense. I put the explanation as I discussed it yesterday on the Austin Rhodes show page on Facebook. We actually recorded a clip specifically for this reason. Folks kept saying, Please tell me the story, please.

Well, I've told the story four or five times. It's a little bit complicated, but the bottom line is it sounds like a procedural mistake involving alcohol. But don't get too many wrong ideas may have led to the dismissal or the well, the dismissal of of Hickman and the transfer of Meyer. Again, it is so absolutely over the top ridiculous that the school board has not given us an explanation. I'm calling them out on it, and you should too.

The truth needs to come out in this case, and it doesn't need to come from a talk show host. It needs to come from our supervising bureaucrats at the Columbia County Board of Education. You enjoy a great reputation for what you do. Now get off your duff and quit being silly and ridiculous. Tell the world what happened, please. And that's not just a comment. It's a heartfelt request. I'm Austin Rhodes, AM 580/95.1 FM News Talk WGAC.