Why did Hancock fire its superintendent? Parents demand answers after abrupt termination.
Parents of children in the Hancock County School District are demanding answers from the school board after the decision to terminate Superintendent Teresa Merwin shocked the community Thursday night.
The school board made the decision to terminate Merwin, who has been on the job for less than two school years, in executive session at a special-called meeting.
It’s not clear if Merwin was at the meeting.
The school district has not yet said the reason for Merwin’s firing.
A three-sentence statement was sent to local media: “During a special board meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Hancock County School District held August 18, 2022, the Board voted to terminate the contract of Superintendent Teresa Merwin effective immediately. Such decision is not taken lightly; however, the Board is confident that our principals and District leaders are the collective team necessary to guide the District to greatness. The Board will immediately begin a search for an interim Superintendent and permanent Superintendent.”
Hancock County schools public relations officer Joan Seals did not have any additional comment on the matter when asked by the Sun Herald.
The Sun Herald has also reached out to School Board President Jennifer Seal for comment.
Superintendent known for transparency with parents
Parents who spoke to the Sun Herald on Friday said Merwin had a positive reputation and they appreciated her transparency on important issues.
Merwin instituted “Hancock Highlights” during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Facebook video series that kept the public in the know on what was happening in the district. Hours before her termination, Merwin was featured in a video that went over student conduct and dress code.
“I am so upset about this decision because she’s the only person who actually listened and did anything to help these kids,” said Jennifer Hoda, a resident of the Necaise community and mother of four. Two of her sons graduated from Hancock High in May.
Hoda sent an email to top administrators last year after becoming concerned about the lack of social interaction students were allowed to have in the second year of the pandemic. While other schools were eating lunch in cafeterias again, Hancock High students were still eating in classrooms.
“I reached out to everyone on the school board, principals, teachers,” Hoda said. “Mrs. Merwin was the only one to respond and set up a meeting with me, my husband and my step-son’s mom and step-dad.”
Merwin explained that roof repairs were causing the delay, and students were soon able to eat and socialize together again.
Hoda, who has a child in kindergarten and another in pre-k in the district, graduated from Hancock High in 2004. She hopes the school district will release more answers into Merwin’s termination.
“I pray they put her back to be the voice of these kids,” she said.
Rumors swirl on social media
The Sea Coast Echo newspaper in Bay St. Louis was the first to report Merwin’s termination Thursday night, and their post on Facebook generated dozens of shares and comments, with many parents demanding more answers from administrators.
Many parents on the Sea Coast Echo thread same thing: They felt as if Merwin was supporting children, parents faculty and staff across the district. Others on the thread asked the district to tell the public the specific reason the 23-year educator was fired.
“She actually cared,” one comment said. “Did ‘we’ the community have a vote in this?”
Another commenter wanted to know if the vote was unanimous.
“So first, I think she was doing a good job. Second, we need to have the reason she was let go. Third, was the vote unanimous? Let’s not go throwing all the board under the bus just yet,” the comment says.
The Sun Herald reached out to Merwin for comment on Thursday afternoon.
More on superintendent’s contract
It would take more than personal beef with a school board member to terminate a superintendent while under contract, according to a Mississippi attorney focused on employment law.
Merwin was hired July 1, 2021 on a three-year contract at $125,000 annually, according to the Sea Coast Echo.
Jim Waide, a Tupelo-based lawyer who often represents school employees, said the school board would have to prove Merwin breached her contract in order to terminate.
“They have to have cause; they can’t terminate her arbitrarily,” Waide, who graduated from Tulane Law School in 1974 and has been practicing law since the following year, said Friday. “They have to have evidence that the superintendent breached a contract in some way.”
Waide said it’s rare for a school board to terminate a superintendent early on in a contract term.
The next school board meeting is Aug. 29, and many community members are planning to attend in support of Merwin, according to Facebook posts circulating by parents on Friday afternoon.
This story was originally published August 19, 2022 at 4:31 PM.
