They Got What They Wanted. Now What?

Montgomery County Board of Education Accepts Dr. Roseboro's Resignation, Passes Resolution to Appoint Wade Auman as Interim Superintendent

By MoCo's Voice | MoCoVoice.com

April 17, 2026

---

It is done.

Today, the Montgomery County Board of Education formally accepted the resignation of Dr. Karen Roseboro, the superintendent who was hired just less than a year ago on a four-year contract with a mandate to raise standards, demand accountability, and move this district forward. In the same meeting, the board voted to install Wade Auman, the district's Deputy Superintendent for Learning and CTE, as interim superintendent, and passed a formal resolution requesting the State Board of Education confer licensure on him. Mr. Auman does not hold a superintendent's license and required that resolution just to be legally eligible for the role.

The motion was made by Isai Robledo. It was seconded by Bryan Dozier. Every board member voted in favor, except Cindy Taylor and Angela Smith, the only two Black members on the board.

That vote count deserves to be read twice.

---

What Just Happened and What It Means

The board that spent months working to remove Dr. Roseboro has now succeeded. The superintendent who arrived with a vision for raising academic outcomes in a district where fewer than four in ten students are proficient in math or reading is gone. In her place, the board has installed an administrator who, by his own district's records, is still working toward the credentials required to hold the position he has just been handed.

This is not a procedural footnote. Under North Carolina law, a superintendent must meet minimum qualifications established by the State Board of Education. The law is clear: if a local board elects a superintendent who is not qualified or who cannot qualify, the election and contract are null and void ¹. Because Mr. Auman does not hold a superintendent's license, the board was required to pass a formal resolution requesting the State Board of Education confer licensure on him based on his years of administrative experience. The board passed that resolution today alongside the vote to appoint him.

This is not the first time this board has gone through this process. In November 2024, a similar resolution was passed under scrutiny. At that meeting, board member Cindy Taylor stated she had been unaware of the need for a resolution and that she thought the board had simply submitted a letter. Attorney Max Garner had to clarify that a letter was not sufficient; the board was legally required to pass a formal resolution. That the board is back in the same position today, requiring the same legal workaround for the same person, is not a coincidence. It is a pattern.

---

The Vote That Tells the Story

The vote breakdown from today's meeting is not incidental. It is the story.

Every board member who voted to remove a Black female superintendent and replace her with an unlicensed white administrator voted yes. The only two who said no were the only two Black members of the board.

This community should sit with that.

---

Who Is Wade Auman, and Who Was Passed Over?

Wade Auman has served Montgomery County Schools for years, most recently as Deputy Superintendent for Learning and CTE. He is a familiar face in the district, someone who has worked alongside principals, teachers, and administrators across the county.

Mr. Auman does not hold a superintendent's license. He does not hold a doctorate. Under North Carolina's licensure framework, he may qualify based on years of leadership, management, and administrative experience, but that determination requires a formal board resolution and final approval from the State Board of Education ². The board passed that resolution today. Whether the State Board will approve it remains to be seen.

Here is what makes that choice impossible to ignore: Dr. Jack Cagle, the district's Associate Superintendent for Administrative Services, already holds a superintendent's license. Dr. Cagle is a Black male who has served Montgomery County Schools for years, rising through the ranks from principal to his current senior leadership role. He did not need a resolution. He did not need a workaround. He was qualified, licensed, and already in the building.

The board chose Wade Auman anyway.

When a board bypasses a licensed, experienced, Black administrator, one who has dedicated his career to this community, in order to install a white administrator who required a special legal resolution just to meet the minimum threshold for the job, that is not a neutral personnel decision. That is a choice. And choices have meaning.

---

What Was Lost

Dr. Karen Roseboro came to Montgomery County with credentials, a vision, and a contract. She came to a district where 75 percent of students are economically disadvantaged, where reading and math proficiency rates hover around 40 percent, and where the gap between what students deserve and what they receive has persisted for decades ³.

She began holding people accountable. She began requiring that administrators hold the credentials their roles demanded. She began building a culture where outcomes, not relationships, not loyalty, not longevity, determined whether someone kept their position.

And for that, she was pushed out.

The people who pushed her out have not offered a theory of improvement. They have not explained what they will do differently. They have not told the parents of Montgomery County how they plan to raise reading scores, improve graduation rates, or prepare students to compete in a world that will not lower its standards for them. They have offered nothing except the restoration of a system that has never fully worked for the children it was built to serve.

---

The Two Who Said No

Cindy Taylor and Angela Smith voted no today. In a room where the outcome was predetermined, where the motion had been choreographed in advance, where every other vote was already counted, they said no.

That matters. It will not change the outcome of today's vote. But it is a record. It is a statement. And the community should know who stood on the right side of this moment.

---

What Comes Next

The board will now conduct a search for a permanent superintendent, or it will not. It may simply allow Mr. Auman to serve indefinitely while the community's attention moves elsewhere. That is how these things often work in small counties where accountability depends entirely on whether the public is paying attention.

The community of Montgomery County must decide whether it is paying attention.

The Board of Education holds public meetings. Board members have public email addresses. The next election is coming. And the children of this county, 3,600 of them, 75 percent of whom are economically disadvantaged, most of whom have never had a superintendent fight for them the way Dr. Roseboro did, are watching what the adults around them are willing to do.

The question: Do we really want our children educated?

The board answered that question this morning. Now the community has to answer it too.

---

References

---

MoCo's Voice is an independent community publication committed to accountability, equity, and the voices of Montgomery County, NC. Visit us at MoCoVoice.com.

Footnotes

1. North Carolina General Statute § 115C-271. Selection by local board of education, term of office. https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bysection/chapter_115c/gs_115c-271.html ↩

2. Montgomery County Board of Education. Special-Called Meeting Minutes, November 25, 2024. https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1736213683/montgomeryk12ncus/ajaeot11u738ign98qke/3Special-CalledMinutesNovember252024.pdf ↩

3. Niche. Montgomery County Schools — North Carolina. https://www.niche.com/k12/d/montgomery-county-schools-nc/ ↩