Speakers praise, condemn Johnston County’s efforts to remove school board member
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Sex, blackmail and local politics: The extortion trial of JoCo school board member Ronald Johnson
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The debate over whether Johnston County school board member Ronald Johnson should be forced to give up his seat for violating school board policies played out at Tuesday’s school board meeting.
During the public comments part of the meeting, some speakers thanked the school board for recently censuring Johnson and asking Johnston County District Attorney Susan Doyle to look at whether she can remove him from office.
Johnson, whose term isn’t scheduled to end until 2024, rejected the board’s demand to resign when they censured him last month. He is accused of secretly recording conversations among board members and trying to have two special-education students removed from a school due to his personal issues with a parent.
“I wanted to thank the board for the censureship that you guys put forward for Ronald Johnson because that distraction needs to absolutely, positively be taken care of,” Jamie Stoltz told the board. “We need to focus back on the students and the grades, and of course the teachers, too.”
But some speakers accused the board of engaging in a “witch hunt” and demanded that they halt their efforts to remove Johnson.
“I remind this board that the residents of this county overwhelmingly voted for Ron in 2020 and would do so again today,” said Dale Lands, founder of Citizen Advocates for Accountable Government. “We want and need Ronald Johnson on this board for the good of our kids.”
The comments came as Johnson remains on administrative leave from his job as a Smithfield Police Department detective. He was placed on paid leave on July 5 before being moved to unpaid leave on July 13 while Smithfield Police conducts an internal investigation.
Amid the back-and-forth over Johnson, multiple speakers praised the school district over newly released test results showing significant gains in achievement last school year.
‘You are a bully’
Joy Marie, a former member of CAAG, urged the board to disregard Lands’ comments. She accused the conservative group of causing chaos in Johnston County.
CAAG has pushed for the district policy putting limits on how teachers could discuss racism. The conservative group also brought U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn to a rally outside the school board meeting last September to protest the district’s then-mandatory face mask policy.
“I’m here tonight to show my support for the board and to encourage you to continue the investigation process regarding a board member that was sent to the state so we can eventually get to the truth,” Marie said.
David Marshburn has hosted a series of Facebook broadcasts that have accused Johnson of misconduct. During Tuesday’s public comments, Marshburn made multiple allegations against Johnson, including accusing him of having school board chairman Todd Sutton followed for a year.
“You are a bully and the Johnston County Board of Education will not tolerate any form of harassment or bullying in any of its educational settings,” Marshburn said to Johnson.
Johnson did not respond to the comments directed at him during the board meeting.
‘Out-of-control board’
But Lands accused Marshburn of not having any proof against Johnson. He urged the board to wait until after the Nov. 8 school board election to let the new board take any further action against Johnson.
“I urge you all to back off the personal attacks on other members,” Lands said. “The county is tired of this out-of-control board running rampant over our rights as parents, grandparents and citizens.”
Lands cited a copy of a secretly recorded conversation that Johnson provided to two school board candidates that they say shows the district tried to hide public funds from the Johnston County Board of Commissioners. The school district denies the allegation.
Thomas Garner told the board it’s a waste of time to send the complaint to the District Attorney because she can’t do anything about the allegations. He also defended Johnson’s right to secretly record conversations under state law.
“The member was elected by the voters of Johnston County and the only way to remove him is at the ballot box,” Garner said.
This story was originally published September 13, 2022 at 9:38 PM with the headline "Speakers praise, condemn Johnston County’s efforts to remove school board member."
