Flagler County School Board to move forward in attorney search

The board will have a letter of termination prepared for attorney Kristy Gavin's contract.


School Board member Will Furry. Image from Flagler Schools.
School Board member Will Furry. Image from Flagler Schools.
  • Palm Coast Observer
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Flagler County School Board Chair Will Furry announced that a mutual agreement between attorney Kristy Gavin and the district had not been reached before the Dec. 31 deadline.

Superintendent LaShakia Moore and Gavin had discussed a possible shift in Gavin’s role from School Board attorney to attorney for the school district. Without an agreement, the board will proceed in drawing up a letter spelling out the reasons to terminate Gavin’s contract.

At a Jan. 9 agenda workshop, Furry told board members to send in their reason for just cause for termination by Jan. 10. The firm of Bowen and Shutts will prepare the letter to terminate the contract with just cause.

The board will tentatively discuss a new attorney structure at its Jan. 23 information workshop with a placeholder on that night’s business meeting if they decide they are ready to take action on a new structure for the board and the district.

Kris Collora, the district’s coordinator of purchasing, informed the board that two law firms responded to the district’s request for letters of interest in representing the board.

Collora presented each board member with copies of the letters, which are not public record for 30 days. The board will meet with district staff in advance of the Jan. 23 meetings to review the two law firms' proposals.

“Before we all come together again we need to set a date to proceed further, where you would discuss your vision of each of these firms and where we would like to go with either of them,” Collora said.

While the district is not releasing the names of the two firms, one board member asked about the firm of GrayRobinson after receiving the letters.

“Just so you know, when it comes to formal solicitations like this, statute allows us 30 days,” Collora said. “These are not public records. What you have in your hand are not to be dispersed or not to be discussed. If you're contacted, we are protected by Florida statute to not provide these to anybody, whether it’s another firm or anything.” 

Furry said Weiss and Serota is the only law firm that has expressed interest in serving the board on an interim basis before a permanent decision is reached.

Weiss and Serota was not one of the two firms to respond with a letter of interest to be the board’s permanent attorney, Furry said.

The board was also presented with an addendum to the contract of Sniffen and Spellman, which serves the district as chief negotiator for union bargaining, to also provide legal services for the superintendent and the district as the superintendent sees fit.

Moore said the addendum would be for internal services and for other personnel matters.  

 

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