New SJSD board president to consult legal counsel over Missouri Constitution violation

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — The new St. Joseph School District Board of Education president said she will be speaking with legal counsel about a Missouri Constitution violation that happened during a March school board meeting.

Following Monday night's meeting, Ronda Chesney, newly elected board president, said she had not personally talked to legal counsel regarding board member Kim Miller voting and approving of the hiring of her son last month.

"I haven't personally talked to the counsel, so as soon as I do, that will be something we will talk about," Chesney said.

Former board president LaTonya Williams reached out to Ed Counsel back on March 25.

The emails, given to KQ2 by an anonymous source and independently vetted, detail the vote from the March board meeting. They also detail Ed Counsel's response that Miller's vote could not be rescinded and "if the board member voted to hire her son, then that board member has forfeited her position as a board member under the Missouri Constitution and the cases interpreting it."

Williams sent the Ed Counsel's response to the situation to all seven board members.

During Monday night's board meeting before the swearing in of two new board members, Jacob McMillian and Cassandra Veale, Chesney made a motion to remove the violation discussion from the board agenda because the violation is being reviewed by the Missouri Ethics Commission.

"Right now, the due process is occurring and so, it is really out of the board's hands," Chesney said. "We'll let that process play out."

The motion passed, 5-2, with Miller voting in favor of removing it.