Marple Firing Challenged

{Charleston, West Virginia}…James and Michelle Hicks, the parents of a fourth-grade special-needs student in Boone County, filed papers Friday continuing their court challenge of the firing of Jorea Marple as state superintendent. The couple alleges that the only way to remedy what they call willful violations of the state's Open Governmental Meetings Act would be for the state Supreme Court to declare Marple's initial November 15th firing invalid and bar the board from naming a new superintendent. They are represented by the public-interest law firm Mountain State Justice. In its own court filing Friday, the board defended its handling of the meeting at which it voted 5-2 to oust Marple, saying the agenda for that meeting included personnel matters as a topic, but Marple's was not among the two specific cases listed.