Chambers County Board of Education’s central office was transformed into a courtroom on Wednesday for the personnel hearing of LaFayette High School Counselor LaWendy Willis. After receiving a termination letter from the superintendent over the summer, Willis requested a public hearing to plead her case against the termination recommendation.
The hearing, which began at the end of the regularly scheduled board meeting and lasted well past midnight, will resume on Oct. 8.
Willis was represented by Stanley Gray of Gray Law Center in Tuskegee. According to Chambers County BOE Attorney Bob Meadows, the reasons for terminating included a failure to perform duties satisfactorily, insubordination and “other good and just cause.”
Willis has worked as a counselor for the school district since 2011. Since the summer of 2021, she has worked for LaFayette High. Willis has also been an active member of the Chambers County Equity Initiative (CCEI), a protest group, formerly known as LaFayette Teachers Against Displacement.