The majority of voters — 59.63% (13,851) to 40.37% (9,736) — in Cullman County made the decision that after nearly a decade, the sitting members of the Cullman County Board of Education will no longer have the authority to appoint their chosen person to the superintendent position.

Local Amendment 1 on November’s ballot — sponsored by Rep. Corey Harbison — came as a response to community dissatisfaction about the decision of the CCBOE’s request to state legislatures to allow them to appoint its superintendent without a popular vote in 2013.

Speaking to The Times in 2013, former CCBOE board member Randy Hasenbein said, “I’m excited about this progressive move to eliminate a little more politics out of education, and I know it’s been a little controversial, but this isn’t something we came up with overnight,” he said. “None of this was based on anything political. … We just did it because we felt it was the right thing to do. As a board, we just felt like all of our employees, taxpayers and most importantly our students, deserve the best we can give them.”

Advocates for having the position to remain an appointed one cited the progress that the schools within the CCBOE’s district have made since the position became appointed.

Since moving to an appointed superintendent, the graduation rate for CCBOE students has risen from 73% in 2011 to 94.5% currently. The number of days in the system’s operating reserve budget has grown from 30 to 136. Twenty-one of the district’s schools have been named Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Schools, and 11 have been involved with the Hope Institute of Character. The district’s Fast Track for Industry program implemented in 2015 has grown to more than 800 students taking a college level course this year.

Alabama Association of School Boards Executive Director Sally Smith said that these results were proof that having an appointed superintendent was a better system.

“I mean, that is the best evidence right there, if you are getting proven, tangible results with the current system, then why in the world would you want to change that,” Smith said when speaking to The Times in October.

But many local residents were unhappy with the decision having been made without having the opportunity to express their opinions at the ballot box. Beatrice Whitlock — who worked as teacher for more than 30 years and currently owns and manages Whitlock’s General Store with her husband, Bruce — spent the last several years campaigning for the item to be placed on the ballot.

“I feel like our choice was taken away from us, that we should have been allowed to vote on whether we wanted an elected or appointed superintendent. That didn’t happen,” Whitlock said.

Harbison said that these types of frustrations were one of the main topics of conversation with his constituents when he first began campaigning in 2013.

“For me, when I was running for office, people were just upset because they had a right to vote on a superintendent — on a position — and they said they felt like they were giving up the right to vote on something they shouldn’t have to give up. On terms of government I can see that. I think it’s a slippery slope when you start taking elected positions — although this position maybe should have been appointed the whole time — and you start appointing them,” Harbison said.

Once elected, Harbison introduced a bill in the House that would place the decision on the ballot. However, the bill didn’t move forward in the Senate due to lack of support from then Sen. Paul Bussman. In 2016, Bussman said he would not support the legislation because the school board asked for the change.

After receiving continued requests from his constituents, and receiving confirmation of support from current Alabama State Sen. Garlan Gudger — who was elected in 2018 — Harbison moved forward to put the issue on the ballot.

Harbison said that the decision to place the item on the ballot came as a fulfillment to the promises he made to his constituents, and was not a reflection of any personal desire to have the superintendent be elected rather than appointed.

Harbison tended to agree that higher ranking school systems tend to have an appointed superintendent, and said that he feels as though the system with the best outcome would be an appointed superintendent with a strong school board. The placement of the referendum on the ballot has less to do with his feelings on the process and more to do with allowing the community to choose.

“My promise was to not change it back, but I said I was willing to let the people of Cullman choose,” Harbison said. “I don’t want to go down as someone who made promises to get elected and then forgot the promises I made to people. and that was a big promise I made, was to support a vote.”

Gudger also said that when approving the bill that his personal opinions did not factor into his decision.

“If there’s a time that I am able to allow people to vote on a matter that affects them directly. … I’ve always wanted people to be able to have that freedom. My personal opinion is that I believe that it should be checks and balances in the school system, and what I mean by that is that if you have an elected school board, then you should have an appointed superintendent,” Gudger said.

Current CCBOE Superintendent Shane Barnette will remain in his position as he finishes the term of his existing contract, and after November’s decision voters will decide on who they would like to see hold the position during the 2024 general election cycle.

“While disappointed in tonight’s decision, and concerned about what it may mean for the future of our system, I completely respect the vote of our citizens. We will continue to work hard to do what’s right for our children and focus on the continued growth and improvement of our school system,” Barnette said in an official statement sent to The Times in November.

Barnette has not indicated whether he will seek to be elected in 2024, but when asked if there were any existing or upcoming projects that he would like to see accomplished before the next election Barnette said: “We have a lot to do over those two years. More than anything just to create more opportunities for young people to be successful.”