Bibb Parent Suing School District to Void Dallemand’s Renewed Contract

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Bibb County parent is suing the school district for not telling him they were voting on Superintendent Dr. Romain Dallemand’s contract extension. 41NBC spoke with Thomas Defore’s attorney earlier this evening about why Defore wants to get the superintendent’s contract nullified.

“I think it’s a realistic expectation and I fully expect that the court will void the contract,” says Defore’s attorney, Charles Cox.

Defore filed a lawsuit in the Bibb Superior Court earlier Monday, asking the county to void the renewed contract, which opponents said was a back door pay increase for the controversial head of the district.

The lawsuit claims that the board posted a “misleading agenda for the called board meeting,” making it look like it was just a run-of-the-mill session. But that night, the board voted to reinstate Dallemand, a vote that the agenda said nothing about.

“When things are done in darkness like that, the Sunshine Laws declare that that act shall be void,” Cox told 41NBC.

Cox says under the Georgia Sunshine Laws, the vote violated the Open Meetings Act, which suggests that vote should have been public knowledge. He also claims the minutes written about the meeting did not reflect the terms of the contract correctly. And finally, that the contract violates Georgia provision that prohibits approval of multiyear contracts…Dallemand was approved for 3 more years. Cox says Dallemand’s old contract and previous superintendent contracts may have violated that provision as well.

He says the plaintiff just wants the board vote on the contract the right way through full disclosure to the public.

“The school district is free to contract with him if they wish, but it needs to be done in a proper way,” says Cox.

A hearing on this lawsuit is scheduled for February 1st at 9:30 am.

This suit also highlights more controversy surrounding that vote. Last month, newly elected Board Members Jason Downey and Lester Miller were excluded from discussions about extending Dallemand’s contract. Cox tells 41NBC this was in direct violation of the Board’s policies.