Kim Bagwell will become the personnel director once a retired superintendent is found to run the Cherokee County School District on an interim basis.

The school board voted 6-3 Monday evening to approve a motion by Ron Garner to remove Bagwell from the interim superintendent position. School trustees Billy Blackwell, Cheryll Smith, and Robin Duncan Harper voted against Garner’s motion.

School trustees directed their attorneys to contact retired superintendents about becoming the district’s new interim superintendent. The school board will immediately select a firm to conduct a search for a permanent superintendent.

Bagwell was appointed interim superintendent March 1 following the retirement of former superintendent Dr. Bill James. School trustees voted unanimously at their June 14 meeting for Bagwell to continue as interim superintendent this school year and to begin an immediate superintendent search.

The board met behind closed doors for nearly four hours while an estimated crowd of 140 people waited in the board room. Three police officers were brought over by the district office for extra security.

Bagwell received a standing ovation from the audience upon returning to the school board meeting. She read a prepared statement before school trustees voted on her reassignment.

“When I began this latest journey as interim superintendent on March 1, 2010, little did I realize the impact this opportunity for service would have on my personal life as well as my professional career,” Bagwell said. “Once again, I have learned and gained far more than I have given, but I can say without reservation that my only goal has been to improve our school system and thus make things better for children, teachers, administrators and staff members. I believe without question that my actions reflect this desire.”

After the meeting, school board chairman Donnie Lee Smith said the school board’s decision to move in a different direction with the superintendent position was necessary.

“We tried to do exactly what is best for the kids,” Smith said.

Smith’s viewpoint wasn’t shared by several school trustees and audience members. Smith called a few audience members out of order for verbal outbursts after the decision on Bagwell’s status was made.

“This is only a vendetta, and I cannot support it,” Blackwell said.

Board member Cheryll Smith reached out to Bagwell in her comments before the vote was taken.

“I’m sorry for you (Bagwell) being in this position,” Cheryll Smith said. “It is not necessary to do the things that are being done.”

New school board member Alan McEntire made the motion Monday for the school board to enter executive session to receive legal advice regarding pending and potential claims against the district, discuss the employment and appointment of an employee and to discuss negotiations related to proposed contractual arrangements.

South Carolina Press Association Attorney Jay Bender said the state’s Freedom of Information Act required the school board to provide a specific reason for going into executive session.

“The description of the executive session was inappropriate (read inadequate legally) by stating it was for the purpose of ‘contractual matters and personnel matters,’” Bender wrote in an email to The Gaffney Ledger. “If the motion was to go into executive session to discuss the employment of an employee, the other descriptions were misleading.”