SCSU board to keep president’s evaluation secret

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) — The board of trustees at South Carolina State University says it won’t release the next evaluation of the school president.

Board Chairman Jonathan Pinson said the board voted unanimously Tuesday to treat President George Cooper’s evaluation as a private personnel matter and will not release the evaluation.

The evaluation is supposed to go to the state Agency Head Salary Commission by Sept. 1. Pinson says the report might be late.

South Carolina Press Association attorney Jay Bender says any document the board created would be a public record and is subject to release.

Pinson says the board wanted to prevent board members from publicly releasing such documents.

Cooper was hired in 2008. The board fired him last year, but a newly constituted board rehired him about two weeks later.