No board resignations. No dismissals. And much like the latest City Council meeting, no members of the public stood during the allotted time to speak to or ask questions of the Athens City Board of Education during its meeting Thursday at Athens High School.

The event was the first regularly scheduled meeting of the board since former Superintendent Trey Holladay and Executive Director of Planning Rick Carter were charged as part of a federal indictment. Some members of the community have called for the BOE members to resign since they worked with Holladay, but Board President Russell Johnson said he has not been told of any members who wish to do so.

“I can only speak for myself. I have no intentions to resign,” Johnson said. “We have a lot of things we’ve got to do. We have to get Athens Elementary built and keep these schools open. We’re pushing forward.”

Holladay has been charged with 88 counts of wire fraud and 35 counts of aggravated identity theft, while Carter has been charged with 86 counts of wire fraud and 34 counts of aggravated identity theft. The men were also charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit mail or wire fraud.

The charges are part of what federal investigators say was a scheme to gain extra funds from the state of Alabama by falsely inflating the number of students who attended the system’s virtual school.

In the wake of the indictment, community members have asked how the board members did not know what Holladay and Carter were doing if found guilty of the charges.

“The better question is, how could we know?” Johnson said. “There is no mechanism in place. Our audits are good. We can only make decisions based on the data we were given by people we trusted.”

Carter, who was serving in the new position of executive director of planning, was placed on administrative leave late last month after news of the indictment broke. Holladay’s contract was bought out in October, so he was no longer an ACS employee.

Back to business

A number of personnel changes were approved unanimously by the BOE members. Among them were two new employments, three resignations, four retirements, one long-term substitute contract, two contracted services and 27 approved blended teachers. A full list of personnel changes can be found at bit.ly/ACBOEagenda under the last meeting.

The retirements were Angela Pettus, Joyce Barnes, Lori Thompson and Angie Willis.

“I don’t know how many years of experience that makes up, but it’s a lot, and those people will truly be missed,” Superintendent Beth Patton said.

In other business, the BOE approved a facility use request made by the Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association. Patton said it had to do with the upcoming fireworks show on July 4.