Ed Board, Trustees Meet Over Director

Members of the state Board of Education and historical trustees have ended a two-day, closed session without announcing if Idaho State Historical Society Director John Hill would remain at his post.

Education Board members Thomas Dillon of Caldwell, Harold Davis of Idaho Falls and state Schools Superintendent Anne Fox gathered most of Thursday and Friday with the Historical Society Board of Trustees.

Education Board staff said the closed gathering involved personnel matters.

In his three years as director, Hill has seen four staffers resign, citing problems with his management; he accused several of them of “insubordination,” the Boise Weekly newspaper reported Thursday.

When one woman quit because of conditions in the agency, Hill even threatened to place a reprimand in her file because she did not resign according to proper procedure.

Former employees quoted Hill as saying, “I’m God, and I decide where the center of the universe is,” or “I’m the conductor of this train, and if you don’t like it, you can get off.”