The Brookhaven School District Board of Trustees votedunanimously Thursday night to uphold the dismissal of athleticdirector and football coach Andrew Hickman.

After more than two hours of deliberations, the board broughtclosure to an issue that had been unresolved for two months.

“On a motion and a second and a unanimous vote, the board’sdecision was to uphold the superintendent’s recommendation fornon-renewal of Andrew Hickman’s contract,” said Superintendent Dr.Sam Bounds, following the decision that came around 10:35 p.m.Thursday.

The meeting minutes cited board member Dan Brown Jr. with themotion and a second from Vice Chairman Gwendolyn Sartin. The otherthree board members, Carl Aycock, Amy Valentine and Dr. Prentiss L.Smith, voted in favor.

The board’s vote in April was 3-2, with votes against therecommendation from board member Aycock and Valentine, who is boardchairman.

It took the board almost three hours Thursday to come to anagreement after spending more than a week reviewing documents fromHickman’s due process hearing and listening to closing argumentsfrom lawyers representing both Hickman and Bounds.

In the due process hearing, both sides had the opportunity totell their story to an unaffiliated third party. The testimony wastranscribed and given to every board member for their review.

During the executive session of the board last night, boardattorney Bob Allen chose to bring in another attorney, Jim Keith,to assist the board with their questions during the decisionprocess. Allen was representing Bounds and did not want a conflictof interest, he said.

“It would not be fair to be in both roles,” said Allen.

Allen took approximately 12 minutes to present his case to theboard, followed by a 20-minute presentation from Hickman’sattorney, Steve Carmody, in the closed meeting.

The board and Keith closed themselves in the central office’sconference room around 8:05 p.m. to discuss their thoughts on thesituation. They requested the presence of Hickman and his wife,Carmody, Allen and Bounds at 10:25 p.m. to announce theirdecision.

Approximately 10 minutes later, the Hickman party exited theroom, and an official announcement was made to a small group ofschool officials who had gathered at the central office to hear thedecision.

Although the meeting was closed, there was an attempt earlier inthe evening to have it open to the public.

Just before going into executive session, Dr. Smith asked abouthaving the lawyers’ presentations made in open meeting “so thepublic could have a better understanding” of the details involvingthe decision.

Allen explained that he could not advise the board on thatrequest, but he did point out that Hickman’s lawyer had requested aclosed hearing and closed meeting.