Floyd County School Board accepts resignation from Superintendent Harris

FLOYD COUNTY (WSLS 10) - The Floyd County School Board has accepted the resignation of Superintendent Kevin Harris, but one board member, who voted against his resignation, says she had no idea the vote was even coming in the first place.

King says this has never happened before and was very frustrated to be left in the dark with no explanation as to why the board wanted Harris out.

Now, the Assistant Superintendent, Dr. John Wheeler, will take over as Interim Superintendent, but King says she still wants answers.

Dr. Kevin Harris has served the Floyd County school system as Superintendent for five years, and had two more left on his contract.

Board Member Linda King says ousting him with no warning is not how government is supposed to work.

"We talk about transparency, we talk about communication. It was a shock to me to know that this board had decided to terminate his contract or to ask for his resignation. I had no idea that that was going on," said King.

King says the move is doubly shocking because by all accounts, Floyd County schools are doing well.

"This past school year, we were one of 53 that had all the schools fully accredited, so a lot of school systems would probably like to have that record, and I thought things were going well," said King.

Several other school system members shared in King's surprise Wednesday, like Floyd County High School Principal, Dr. Scott Watson.

"It was a tremendous surprise to everyone I think," said Watson.

King says right now, she's scrambling to try to understand what could have motivated the board to make the move, saying it could have been Harris' strong personality.

"He pushes to get pay raises and benefits and new buses and sometimes, with his passions, he can can be a little pushy with that I think, and sometimes that might rub people the wrong way," said King.

But Watson says those passions never got in the way of his job.

"His actions were for the best interests of our schools, our students, and the professional growth of our faculty," said Watson.

King says, with Harris gone, she's also planning to leave public service soon.

"I absolutely do not plan to run again and I'm not sure if I'll finish out my term," said King.

WSLS did reach out to both the Chair of the School Board, James Ingram, and Dr. Harris himself.

Harris did not respond, but Ingram sent me a statement via email.

Referring to Harris' resignation, Ingram says "The Board accepted it and wishes him the best of luck in his future endeavors."

There were several documented disagreements between Harris and parents in the school system last year, but right now, WSLS does not know if those contributed to his resignation.