Two board members vote to fire Yale superintendent

YALE, Okla. (AP) _ After a nine hour meeting, two Yale School Board members voted to fire the district's superintendent, two members walked out of the meeting and one refused to vote. <br><br>Board

Monday, September 9th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

YALE, Okla. (AP) _ After a nine hour meeting, two Yale School Board members voted to fire the district's superintendent, two members walked out of the meeting and one refused to vote.

Board members in favor of firing James Cox said he lied to the district and used district property for personal use.

The school board held a Saturday meeting to discuss claims against Cox and allow the district to present evidence against him.

Cox did not testify.

Cox's attorney Bill Wilkinson said the case against his client is pitiful and they will challenge the decision in federal court.

School board President Harry Sneed III and member Greg Lassley walked out of the meeting after four hours of heated discussion. Richard Turner, who favored firing Cox in July, abstained from voting.

In July, Turner and two other members of the school board voted to dismiss Cox amid allegations of wrongdoing during a special meeting.

Sneed and Lassley had sued their fellow school board members later that month claiming the board had violated Open Meetings Act when they had the meeting.

The allegations against Cox stemmed from a change in insurance rates. The district insurer had projected a rate increase for most school districts; Cox and Wilkinson, who has also served as the district's attorney, formed a group with four other school districts to negotiate better rates.

State law allows schools and business to form groups to run more efficiently.

The Payne County district attorney's office asked for an investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Last month the state agency said it did not have enough evidence to charge Cox.

But district officials said they had evidence to show Cox lied to the school board and profited from the use of district property.