CENTRE — Cherokee County Career and Technology Center administrator Mitchell Guice and 11 other teachers affected by the closing of the campus showed up at last night’s Board of Education meeting with legal representation in-tow, according to a report this morning on WEIS Radio News. 

The meeting was scheduled in the wake of the Board’s July 5 decision to close the Career and Tech Center, fire several teachers at other campuses around the county, and relocate Tech Center teachers to fill those vacancies. 

WEIS on-air talent Marc Summers reported this morning that Guice’s Albertville-based lawyer, James Berry, laid out what he described as an “elaborate plan” by Superintendent Brian Johnson and Board Chairman Don Stowe to “get revenge” against Guice because he twice ran against Johnson for superintendent and prevailed in an earlier matter against Johnson and the Board involving a formal reprimand. 

Berry asked Stowe to recuse himself from the proceedings against Guice and to withdraw previous votes cast in matters involving Guice as part of a allegation that Stowe could not be impartial because the two have been involved in a lawsuit over a matter not related to education.  

Mr. Berry claimed that because of the previous conflicts the Board’s decisions regarding the Career and Tech Center have been personal and/or political, and not based on budget shortfalls as the Board has maintained.

Stowe declined to recuse himself and the meeting continued.  

At one point, according to WEIS Radio News, Stowe told Berry that although he could make any claims he wished he would not be allowed to offer any evidence to support those claims. The board’s attorney, Huntsville-based J.R. Brooks, informed Stowe that he was incorrect and some evidence was then presented. 

However, several witnesses who had come to support Guice’s claims, including WEIS Radio owner Jerry Baker and former county commissioner Lori Owens, were not given the opportunity to testify. 

The other eleven teachers in attendance each made emotional pleas to the Board members to keep the Career and Tech Center open. Several teachers warned that without the Tech Center the drop-out rate in the county may increase dramatically, WEIS reported. 

At the end of the meeting, the Board voted to enact its current reduction in force plan. Board member Lynn Rochester made the motion, with Stowe and Mark Gossett voting in favor. Lisa McKissick and Dewandee Neyman voted against the plan. 

Contacted by The Post in his office the following day, attorney Kenneth Wilson, who is working with Berry on behalf of the teachers involved in the transfers, declined to comment on the outcome of last night's meeting. 

Reached in his office this morning by The Post, Johnson explained the necessity for the meeting.  

“Until last night, the transfers had only been proposed,” Johnson said. “Statute states that the transfers are not voted on until the teachers involved are given an opportunity to come before the Board. So we gave them that opportunity last night.” 

Johnson said he and the Board are open to working with the County Commission to find a funding solution to keep the Career and Tech Center open. But he said time is running short.