School board will not renew contract with controversial Coast superintendent. Here’s why.
The Jackson County School Board chose not to renew the contract of Superintendent John Strycker at Monday night’s meeting.
“The Jackson County Board of Education is tasked with making decisions they feel are in the best interest of students, staff, and the community,” said Keith Lee, school board chair. “Last night, the board made its decision not to renew the contract for the superintendent and felt this was best for the Jackson County School District.”
Strycker’s three-year tenure was plagued with controversy. He started his position with a pending racial discrimination lawsuit filed by six employees at his former school district in Butler County, Alabama.
Some school board members previously told the Sun Herald they were not made aware of the lawsuit before approving Strycker’s contract.
“Certainly it would have been really an alarm (that) would have went off if we would have been aware of that at that particular time,” said Kenneth Fountain, who served as board chairman until the end of 2019. “I’m fairly comfortable that if that would have been known at the time, it might have had an impact on the interview process.”
The Jackson County School District in 2022 settled a discrimination lawsuit against Strycker and the school board.
In her lawsuit and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint, former assistant superintendent Mary Tanner alleged Strycker had discriminated against her on the basis of her age and gender. That suit was also settled for a “substantial amount.”
Another former Jackson County schools employee filed a lawsuit on similar grounds.
Melissa Rayborn, who resigned her position as board secretary and assistant to Strycker in June 2021, filed suit in Jackson County court accusing the superintendent and the school district of a series of workplace violations including “intentional infliction of emotional distress,” hostile workplace environment, and discrimination based on gender, religion and age.
Attempts to reach Strycker for comments went unanswered.
Monday’s decision not to renew Strycker’s contract was made in executive session after a long deliberation. “Such a decision is not taken lightly,” Lee said. “And the board deliberated for several hours in the process.”
Lee said the board would start its search process for a new superintendent in the coming months.
This story was originally published January 10, 2023 at 3:39 PM.
