FLORENCE — Jim Fisher says he stands by his Friday decision to resign from the Florence school board for comments he made on a social website, but he also stands by the post he made to his personal Facebook page.

It’s that posting that created a firestorm for Fisher last week. He shared his views Wednesday in the posting regarding teacher pay and funding mechanisms and expressed his disappointment that some teachers don’t know that the school board is paying them above the state salary schedule. He goes on to list some of the school board-approved perks for teachers in the system and seems to imply teacher ungratefulness.

He admits that his decision to resign was an emotional one saying he still believes that “it was pretty much the right decision.”

“Objectively what I did doesn’t come to this level, to the point of resignation,” Fisher said. “I know that. But under the circumstances, at that time especially, it was the right thing to do.”

Fisher said the decision to resign was strictly his idea because, “No other measures I could have taken seemed to send a strong enough message.”

Fisher said he received a text from board president Bill Jordan after the posting was publicized asking for a meeting with him and Superintendent Janet Womack.

“I was told it was my duty as a board member to see that education is being delivered in our school system and that a dark cloud had descended over the system (due to the Facebook comments) and teachers were so distraught that no teaching was going on in the classroom.”

Fisher said it was he who brought up the idea of resignation.

“I’m still wrestling with myself over this,” he said. “I’m not convinced that (my resignation) will heal the wounds.

“I came across as far more sarcastic than I intended. I truly thought it was just a light-hearted, informative post. I stand by the post.”

Fisher said that when he received the system-wide e-mail from Jordan stating that what (Fisher) had said was denigrating to teachers, he could only dispute the assertion by saying he printed reality and facts in his writing.

Lisa Singleton-Rickman can be reached at 256-740-5735 or lisa.singleton-rickman@TimesDaily.com.