Decatur school board to discuss possible resignation agreement with superintendent
The Decatur school board is holding a special meeting Sunday night to vote on a possible “resignation and release agreement” involving superintendent Joseph Coburn.
Trustees will also discuss naming an interim superintendent. This is the second meeting in less than a week the board considers Coburn’s employment with the district.
The meeting starts at 8:15 p.m. Sunday and it will be at the school administration building, 307 S. Cates.
According to the agenda, there will be an open forum before board members adjourn to an executive session to consider the superintendent’s employment.
The agenda also states that trustees will consider candidates for an interim superintendent before reconvening in open session to hold a public hearing.
Trustee Jennifer Wren told the Star-Telegram previously that Coburn is well liked by teachers.
“Dr. Coburn has made positive strides with our curriculum and preliminary STAAR results and is well liked by our teachers,” Wren said. “When your district is not stable, people look elsewhere. It’s harder to retain and hire quality employees.”
On Tuesday, trustees met behind closed doors for five hours to discuss Coburn’s employment status. But when they voted 4-1 to take action regarding the superintendent, they did not provide information to the public on what they voted to do.
In January, the school board voted unanimously to extend Coburn’s contract and approved a pay raise.
But in May, when several newly-elected board members began their terms, trustees met in an executive session which lasted four hours. No action was taken.
Then, in June, the school board held another specially-called meeting which lasted over 8 hours and voted to accept a resignation agreement with football coach and athletic director Mike Fuller.
Coburn came to the school district in 2019 where he guided the district during the pandemic.