Addis, McComas animosity spills out on floor

campaigns and going forward, posts on Facebook and other social media have definitely been attacks on [me]” McComas said at the June board meeting.

“I can’t support you (Addis), because I refuse to associate with someone who attacks others unfairly to get their point across,” McComas said at that time.

The high level of disagreement between the two school board members is a manifestation of the big philosophical split that occurred among the Worcester County Commissioners after last fall’s election.

With the election of Caryn Abbott of Pocomoke and Eric Fiori of West Ocean City/Berlin, a five-member super majority on the all-Republican body took aim at what they believed would be state-mandated curriculum changes in sex education, which turned out to be otherwise locally, and focused on the Worcester County Public Schools budget.

When the commissioner majority demanded that the school board provide it with a fully detailed break- down of its proposed spending for the year ahead, Addis backed the majority’s position in discussions with other board members.

That disagreement over how to handle the commissioners’ demands is largely responsible for the rift between Addis and McComas.

“I am for a sane and prudent approach to overseeing and reviewing our budget, not one filled with insinuations and half-truths,” McComas said in June.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Abbott told board members in June that they should have listened to Addis.