Censured Johnston County school board member nearly becomes its new chairman
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Johnston County school board member Ronald Johnson, who is being investigated by the District Attorney’s Office, narrowly lost election Tuesday as board chairman.
The previous school board publicly censured Johnson twice and asked Johnston County District Attorney Susan Doyle to try to remove Johnson from office after he refused to resign his board seat.
On Tuesday, Johnson and Lyn Andrews, one of the members who had voted to censure Johnson, were both nominated to serve as the new board chair. Andrews won in a 4-3 vote with Johnson, and new board members Michelle Antoine and Kevin Donovan voting against her.
“We may not agree on everything and that’s OK, that’s OK,” Andrews said after the vote. “We’ve already had where we don’t necessarily totally agree tonight. But that’s OK, that’s OK.
“But my hope and prayer is that whether the vote is 6-1, 5-2 or 4-3 that when we walk out of this door, whatever door you exit from tonight, that we go out and serve as if the vote was 7-0.”
Johnson, who was also fired from the Smithfield Police Department, is accused of actions such as sending inappropriate texts, violating school board policies and using police equipment for personal use.
Doyle said in an email Monday that her investigation into Johnson is still continuing. Doyle has previously said she has requested “a thorough and complete investigation be conducted to determine if further actions are warranted against Mr. Johnson.”
On Tuesday, the board approved an agenda item requested by Donovan that directs the legal counsel to present a process where Johnson can present in an open board session “newly discovered facts relevant” to the censures.
Public censures
On Aug. 24, the school board voted 6-1 to censure Johnson on accusations of violating board policy by secretly recording conversations among board members. He also is accused of trying to have two special-education students removed from a school because of his personal issues with a parent.
On Oct. 6, the school board again voted 6-1 to censure Johnson for violating school policy by sending texts during school board meetings about wanting to have a relationship with a female school employee.
On Oct. 14, Johnson was fired from his job as a detective in the Smithfield Police Department due to what town officials called his “detrimental personal conduct.”
Johnson has accused the prior board of engaging in a witch hunt. He’s also publicly apologized for the texts, which he has called a “lapse of judgment.”
New board members
Johnson was first elected to the school board in 2016 and reelected in 2020. His term expires in 2024.
He has previously accused school district leaders of engaging in corrupt behavior. He spearheaded a new district policy that puts rules on how teachers can discuss race and racism. For instance, the policy says students can’t be taught that racism is a permanent part of American life.
This year, Johnson worked with groups such as Citizen Advocates for Accountable Government (CAAG) to successfully elect three Republican-backed school board candidates. Johnston County is North Carolina’s seventh-largest school system with 37,000 students.
Donovan and Antoine have talked about fighting “teacher unions” and what they called “woke trainings,” “restorative justice” programs and “pornographic books.”
Antoine and Donovan had also defended Johnson during the campaign, saying he was being unfairly targeted by the board.
Audio recordings played on a Facebook Live broadcast in October show Johnson talking about becoming board chairman after the election.
Todd Sutton, the former board chairman, didn’t run for reelection this year.
Board member Kay Carroll nominated Andrews to be chair. Donovan nominated Johnson.
Andrews won when new board member Terry Tippett joined Carroll and Michael Wooten in voting for her. Tippett was later unanimously elected as the new board vice chairman.
“I think you’re going to see a different leadership team, a team that works jointly so that we’re all involved — maybe a little more than sometimes,” Tippett said after the vote.
This story was originally published December 13, 2022 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Censured Johnston County school board member nearly becomes its new chairman."
