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The Southampton County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Wednesday, Nov. 6, to engage a law firm to represent it as it seeks to learn more about the management and finances of Southampton County Public Schools.

The motion that Board Chairman Dr. Alan W. Edwards indicated was unanimously approved Nov. 6 was “to approve and ratify the engagement of the law firm of Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP to represent the Board of Supervisors of Southampton County, Virginia, for the purpose of conducting a review and inquiry concerning the management and administration of the Southampton County Public School division.”

On Aug. 27, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to pursue a forensic audit of the school division and requested the Southampton County School Board’s cooperation in this effort.

School Board Counsel Pamela O’Berry, of Sands Anderson PC, stated in a Sept. 19 letter to County Administrator Brian S. Thrower that “a forensic audit is an examination of financial records to derive evidence to prosecute a party for fraud, embezzlement or other financial crimes.”

In that same letter, she indicated that there exists no legal authority for supervisors’ desired forensic audit of the school division.

Edwards said in an Oct. 21 interview that the Board of Supervisors was still going to obtain the equivalent of a forensic audit of SCPS. 

In a Monday, Nov. 18, interview, he indicated that the Board of Supervisors’ engagement with a law firm was a result of the school division’s lack of cooperation with pursuing the audit.

“If the school system had cooperated, there wouldn’t have been this reaction from the board,” he said.

The Board of Supervisors’ unanimous Aug. 27 vote for a forensic audit followed a Citizens Comment Period earlier that evening during which 17 people spoke, all expressing concerns about the state of the school system.

The board’s decision also followed a period of about four years in which some members of the board have sought answers to specific questions regarding the school division’s finances.

During this same period, some School Board members have complained that the Board of Supervisors is trying to overstep its authority and should focus its attention on developing the county’s economy rather than trying to run the school system.

In the Nov. 18 interview, Edwards alluded to data that is listed on school-ranking website SchoolDigger.com that indicates Southampton High School has experienced a notable decline in quality across the last eight years, which is the approximate length of current SCPS Superintendent Dr. Gwendolyn P. Shannon’s tenure.

There were some dissenting votes, but a majority of the School Board voted Oct. 14 to extend Shannon’s contract through June 30, 2027.

Now that the Board of Supervisors has obtained the services of Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, Edwards explained what steps will come next.

“These people will be talking with people who have volunteered information who want to share their information (about SCPS) with the investigating group, and it’s going to be quite a number of them,” he said. “There’s probably going to be a lot of stories told that have not been out there before. 

“We want to look at hiring practices, firing practices, and one of the big issues was work conditions,” Edwards continued. “We interviewed teachers who left who said that the No. 1 reason they left was working conditions, not salary. Salary was up there, but it was poor working conditions.”

Again reflecting on the board’s decision to engage a law firm, Edwards said, “I think if the school system had sat down with us and cooperated, it would not have come to this, but you do what you have to do, and so we’re going to do it. We told the public we were going to straighten out the school system, and that’s what we’re going to do.”