An estimated 300 people packed a meeting room at the Buford Board of Education building on Sawnee Avenue Monday night, many demanding to know why Geye Hamby was allowed to resign as superintendent, rather than being fired.
Hamby, the subject of a racial discrimination lawsuit, turned in his resignation Friday, two days after being placed on administrative leave. The first order of business on the agenda for the board was a vote to formally accept Hamby's resignation.
According to a report from CBS 46 in Atlanta, one man pointed the finger at board members - and School Board Chairman Philip Beard - saying they had knowledge of Hamby's actions.
"Shame on each and every one of you at that table and shame on you Philip Beard. You have known about this recording and Mr. Hamby's words since they were first uttered by him on the now infamous tape," he said. "You were the unidentified voice we hear speaking with Mr. Hamby."
Beard did not deny the allegation, but said he was unsure if his voice was the other on the audio.
"If I'm guilty, I'm guilty, and it will come out," Beard said, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Beard said the audio tape was cobbled together and that attorneys for the school system are analyzing it.
Attorneys for the plaintiff in the lawsuit are now saying the audio tape was recorded some two years ago.
The meeting lasted more than three hours, according to media reports.
Among those in attendance at the Monday night meeting was Mary Ingram, the former school system employee who filed the lawsuit. The 66-year-old Ingram, an African-American woman, claims in the suit she spoke up about the inclusion of school colors from the former black high school in Buford in the current school system color scheme. She said once she made her comments, system officials began retaliating against her and she was eventually fired.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2018/8/706780/parents-pack-buford-city-school-board-meeting-demand-answers-on-superintendents-resignation