The Cumberland County BOE will meet this Saturday in a “Retreat” type meeting at the Central Office on 4th Street, 9am.  This is a previously scheduled meeting before the Board voted to not renew DOS Billy Stepps contract last week. There will be a public comment section on item three of the agenda.  The public is encouraged to attend this meeting to voice concerns over the release of Stepp’s contract.  The BOE voted 5 to 4 to not renew Stepps contract which caused an uproar in Cumberland County.  This is the first time in the history of the county that there was such an outcry by the county teachers, parents, students and staff opposing the BOE’s decision.  There is some speculation that the five members of the Board who voted for the dismissal of Stepp had some type of personal agenda motivating their vote – not related to Stepp’s performance.

There is an investigation underway to determine what those private agenda’s may have been. There is a Tennessee Comptroller’s office report of an investigation into misappropriation of funds by Glenn Martin Elementary School from as recent as November 2024 that may have bearing on possible ulterior motives for some BOE members voting to oust DOS Stepp. Further investigation into the Comptrollers report is underway.