Baldwin County superintendent Eddie Tyler confirmed the resignation of Board of Education (BOE) attorney Sarah Young.
Tyler said the BOE voted to accept the resignation on Thursday evening.
"It is with deep sadness that she has come to this decision, even though many of us would like to beg her to stay," Tyler said in a statement to 1819 News. "I feel I must send this because I do not want false accusations and assumptions to be made and shared with the public."
Tyler said Young approached him to discuss the resignation and asked to have her information removed from the school system's website, including her bio and photo "for personal and privacy reasons as part of the transition of legal services to the next lawyer or law firm."
"Of course, I approved it," Tyler continued. "I think so many forget when they choose to attack someone that they are still real people, with feelings and families. To be honest, I worry more every day about privacy issues for our employees and how misinformation and personal attacks on social media and in the media may affect their personal lives. I pray every day that more kindness and respect are shown to one another, because the reality is that hate and misinformation do nothing to positively affect our students."
Young came under fire after the school system refused to release information requested by Fox 10 in an investigation into an illegal immigration raid at the construction site of Loxley Elementary School. The Fox 10 request asked for any and all communications, such as texts and emails, involving Tyler and others regarding the raid. Young denied the request, questioning whether it was proper and claiming that there was no legitimate purpose for the request. A similar request to Gulf Shores was honored.
In response to a media inquiry from 1819 News, Tyler said Young is not ultimately the decision-maker on certain items, and he doesn't want her to be the focus of attacks and misinformation.
"Next, I want to clarify that many of these attacks and misinformation have falsely accused Mrs. Young of making decisions for the system," Tyler said. "While Mrs. Young is the attorney for the school system, the decisions she or any other attorney who is paid with tax dollars to represent us communicates to third parties are not made by her. She is advocating the school system's position or executing a decision on our behalf. She, like any lawyer hired by a client, is our advocate and counselor. It is disappointing to see her advocacy weaponized and politicized when it is my opinion, and that of many others, that she has done her job and done it well."
Tyler said the departure of Young is a huge loss for the county, and he wishes her and her family well.
"We are having to let go of one of the best education attorneys this county has ever seen," he stated. "What you may not know about Mrs. Young is that she is a former educator herself. She loved children and our educators and believed in the mission of her client to provide the best education to our students every day. Her passion for teaching was demonstrated daily as she counseled and educated me, our senior staff, our administrators, employees and our board. She has made a positive impact on countless families and employees, and she worked tirelessly to help us navigate challenges and especially the tough climate that is currently public education."
Baldwin County Public Schools' chief school financial officer, John Wilson, resigned in June, and political consultant Jon Gray resigned in April.
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