In Unusual Fashion, Two Vie for Presidential Seat on Southampton School Board

For the first time in recent history, a pair of Southampton School Board members faced off for the president’s seat last week, ultimately splitting votes among the seven board members into two camps.

Four board members voted in Jacqueline Robinson as president. She had helmed the board before SunHe Sherwood-Dudley, whose two-year tenure as president just expired.

Cara Conklin-Wingfield, who also was seeking the president’s seat, was ultimately voted in as vice president.

“I know it’s unusual to not have a unified plan going into the election,” Conklin-Wingfield said, “and I expressed interest in a leadership role with the board solely in the hope that we could be unified, and I’m sorry that didn’t happen.”

At the start of the organizational meeting on July 2, Board of Education newcomer Robert Zachary Epley nominated Robinson as president, quickly followed by a nomination for Conklin-Wingfield by board member Monique Proctor.

Conklin-Wingfield made her appeal for the seat, explaining that her intent was to help the “entire board be fully engaged and equally engaged.” She said she felt inspired after high school graduation, listening to the students speak about the adversity and challenges they faced — and “how they came through embracing change.”

“When I walked out of graduation, I felt like that’s what we should do, too,” she said, “because the board is in transition, the school district is in transition, I think the community is also in transition.”

On July 8, the district welcomed its new superintendent of schools, Dr. Fatima Morrell, whose appointment came on the heels of a fiery public meeting in April. At that meeting, members of the Parent Teacher Organization and others had voiced apprehension about the administrator, who gained international recognition in 2021 for her emancipation curriculum. A year later, Time magazine recognized the educator as a National Innovative Teacher.

During the meeting, Robinson voiced anger at the lack of community attendance at a forum that sought to solicit feedback on the superintendent search — and cited frustration over the hiring process as her reason for casting the sole dissenting vote in Morrell’s appointment.

She stood by that reasoning when Proctor asked Robinson for her motive behind wanting to lead the board.

“My motive is the same as always: to work together with my fellow board members and do what is best for all children,” Robinson said.

Later, she added: “We had a big meeting where we had our community involved and our teachers, and their words meant nothing in the end. The decision was already made, and we wasted a lot of time for a lot of people.

“And that’s why I voted no — and I made that clear at that meeting. It has nothing to do with her. I’ve spoken to her after the meeting. I wish her much success. I will do everything in my power to help support her and make our district continue to grow and be strong.”

Sherwood-Dudley came to Robinson’s defense, denying any public perception that Robinson does not support Morrell.

“Knowing Jackie as long as I have, and having seen how she operates, I think that she’s the perfect person to be president,” she said. “Because if we’re going to heal this divide or this conflict that runs within the board, she is the person to do so because of the misconceived perception that she does not support Dr. Fatima Morrell.”

While Epley said that, as the district navigates new leadership, it would be helpful to have a president with past experience, board member Germain Smith noted that Conklin-Wingfield has the most experience on the board outside Sherwood-Dudley and Robinson, and called into question Robinson’s reason for not voting in favor of Morrell.

“I have to go by your face value and your word that you only made that decision because of your feelings on the process, which I respect that,” Smith said, “but we did go above and beyond as a board, and I think it is time for change and new leadership.”

While the board members debated, Pierson looked up the proper procedure for moving forward with a vote.

“This is new in this process for this board, since I’ve been district clerk,” she said, “so I just wanted to let you know that I did look into Robert’s Rules of Orders to find out what to do if we had two nominees.”

She opted for an audible roll-call vote, starting with the first nominated candidate — Robinson. Four votes were needed to secure the seat, which came from the candidate, Sherwood-Dudley, Epley and newcomer Ruth White-Dunne.

Facing Smith for the vice-presidential seat, Conklin-Wingfield secured the role with votes from herself, Robinson, Epley and White-Dunne.