LUMBERTON – The Public Schools of Robeson County Board of Education voted on Tuesday evening to appoint Crystal Weindel Monroe as the representative for the District 6 seat during its regular monthly meeting.

Board of Education member Tre’ Britt made the motion to appoint Monroe, which was seconded by fellow member William Gentry.

Craig Lowry, who is also on the board, then made a substitute motion to appoint Caroline Sumpter to the District 6 seat. That motion was seconded by Linda Emanuel, but the board voted it down, 6-4, and the substitute motion did not carry.

Lowry, Emanuel, Terry Locklear and Henry Brewer voted in support of Sumpter, while the remainder of the board opposed her appointment.

That was then followed by the board vote on Crystal Monroe.

The original motion to appoint Monroe carried with Gentry, Vonta Leach, Melissa Ocean, Randy Lawson, John Simmons and Britt voting in favor. The remainder of the board voted against the motion.

The vote was 6-4 in favor of Monroe.

“Motion carries,” chairman Lawson said. “Miss Monroe will be appointed in January.”

“She can actually take the oath at any time now,” Board attorney Richard Schwartz interjected.

The District 6 vacancy was due to Mike Smith’s retirement and resignation from the Board of Education “some time ago,” Gentry said.

His resignation was received on Oct. 3, and effective Oct. 10, 2023.

Earlier in the meeting, the agenda item on the District 6 vacancy was moved to an action item from the information items for the board to tackle.

Douglas McBroom, a parent who has addressed the board on numerous occasions, addressed the educational body during the public comments part of the agenda.

McBroom said he had been told by board attorney Richard Schwartz that Smith did not have to be sworn in and, instead, could be grandfathered in. But the law – 115C-37d – which McBroom cited, states “that newly elected members shall qualify by taking the oath of office. The word ‘shall’ in legal purposes means you really have no choice in the matter.

“I have contacted the county Board of Elections, the county commissioners, the state Board of Elections,” he said, “and there is no grandfathering clause at all. So it appears your attorney did not give you sound legal advice on that. You cannot say the attorney told us, and you do nothing. If you’re not sure about it, it’s your responsibility to find out for yourselves. … And if you don’t check for yourselves, you are negligent in your duties.”

McBroom said the board voted to replace the seat vacated by Smith. “Why don’t you all explain why you voted on someone who appears to not be a U.S. citizen,” he said. “They had a lot of legal issues? Do you guys vet people? You do background checks on every teacher before they get in the classroom. So why can’t you do that before someone is on the board? What would you have done if he had gotten the votes to win?

“You even had a judge ready for swearing in,” he added. “You would look even more ridiculous than you do now. You do nothing for over a year, then try and vote in someone who is not qualified? The saddest part is you can’t make this stuff up.”

According to McBroom, Policy 2342 states that voting will be by voice on all action items. Any member may call for a division which is a show of hands. In either event, the minutes will reflect the vote of member voting and the abstention of any member present by not voting, unless the vote is unanimous.

“I have given you a copy of the October minutes action votes. Everything is ‘motion carried’ with nothing else. … Where is the vote of each member? Once again, the board secretary (who is the superintendent) has failed in his duties concerning the minutes. When you’re not doing this, it makes you look like sovereign citizens.”

Then for what he called clarification for the board members, Schwartz, the board lawyer, said he had done some research on the matter.

According to Schwartz, he had spoken to the Board of Elections.

“When Mr. Smith did not take the oath of office, that did not mean there was a vacancy in that office because he was the incumbent,” he said. “And a vacancy occurs when there’s not an incumbent who has the legal right to exercise the functions of the office. Until a successor is elected and qualified, the incumbent does stay in office.”

Schwartz said there is case law on this and the Attorney General’s opinion on this. And the law is clear. With Mr. Smith not having taken the oath of office, the previous incumbent for the District 6 seat remained in that office until Mr. Smith took the oath. And Mr. Smith was the previous incumbent.

“I don’t know who the speaker spoke to,” the attorney said of McBroom, “but I’ve also cleared this with folks with the state Board of Elections who agreed with the opinion that I gave.”

Smith was last elected to the board in May 2022. That term is set to expire in 2026.

Gentry then went over the rules that regulate how a board member should be replaced when it comes to a vacancy. He read directly from Schwartz’s memo concerning that action and the order and method how Smith should be replaced.

Gentry read, based on state policy 2125, that all vacancies on the Board of Education caused by death, resignation or otherwise will be filled by the person appointed by the remaining members of the board. That newly appointed board member will serve until the next election of board members.

“At which time,” Gentry read, “the remaining unexpired term will be filled by election. In the case of a district seat vacancy, the board must appoint a resident of that district. In the case of an at-large seat vacancy, the board will appoint a resident of the county without regard to districts.”

Smith’s vacancy must be filled by an individual who resides in District 6, Gentry read, and that appointment must be made by the remaining members of the board.

Smith’s replacement – appointed by the school board – will serve until May 2024, at which point an election will be held to fill the seat for the remainder of his term, Gentry said in citing state law.

As a result, the District 6 seat on the Board of Education should be added to the ballot to the 2024 election. At that time, the person appointed to Smith’s seat will serve the remainder of his term. After that, there will be another election for that seat.