Bill For Marlow's Ethics Case Exceeds $10,000

While Cherokee County School Board member Kelly Marlow has agreed to work out a plan to pay her $3,600 ethics fine, the board will soon have to contend with a much larger bill in relation to the case.

The cost the board has incurred to prepare for the initial ethics hearing in October and Marlow's appeal to the State Board of Education has already exceeded $10,000, said School Board Attorney Tom Roach. 

Roach, who broke the news during the board's meeting on Thursday, said he was able to keep his fees in relation to the initial hearing — including fees for a court reporter and hearing officer to preside over the hearing — under $5,000.

However, Marlow's decision to appeal the case forced Roach to spend a considerable amount of time preparing for the case. 

"Unfortunately, Ms. Marlow shotgunned her approach and appealed to the State Board of Education, which required a tremendous amount of research and tremendous amount of legal reasoning to convince the board that our position was correct," Roach said. "It's easy to make an allegation, (but) it's difficult to then find the law that supports the defense of that allegation." 

Roach said the board will have to pay the cost, which he said could increase since Marlow has indicated she plans to appeal the state's decision to the Cherokee County Superior Court. 

For the ethics fine, Marlow will have to work with Roach to come up with a payment plan to address the $3,600. If no plan is agreed upon by the May 1 board meeting, School Board Chair Janet Read will ask the board to direct Roach to take action to collect the money. 

The fine was imposed upon Marlow after the board in October confirmed she violated board policy when she unilaterally asked AdvancED to investigate her colleagues.

The collection of the fine had been delayed as Marlow appealed her decision to the State Board of Education, which upheld the decision by the local school board.