GUYTON — Karen Signal buckled emotionally even though she had braced herself for the expected blow. Tears filled her eyes as soon as the Faith Equestrian Therapeutic Center (FETC) Board of Directors ousted her as chairman Wednesday evening.

Signal and five of FETC’s staffers in recent days have voiced concerns about the findings of the charitable nonprofit organization’s 2019 audit that revealed $16,000 in disputed expenditures by FETC founder Bonnie Rachael. FETC offers equine-assisted therapeutic and education activities to help improve physical, behavioral, cognitive and emotional functioning in children and veterans with disabilities. 

The staffers' concerns include “inappropriate” checks Rachael wrote to herself for two horse trailers and using $100 from a Special Olympics account to pay for care of her dog. Her expense reports, credit card use and a property transaction also gained scrutiny.

FETC Executive Director Fran Todd, Program Director/instructor Hallie Myers, instructor Jackie Garman, volunteer coordinator April McKinnon and barn worker McKenzee Williams surrendered their jobs Wednesday because of the board’s handling of the audit findings. Barn manager Ashton Boulineau is the lone remaining FETC staffer.

The board offered Signal a chance to resign Wednesday night but she declined it, a move that drew enthusiastic applause from about three dozen people who gathered at FETC to watch the board meeting via Zoom. Then the board, including Tom Keathley, Michele Schuman, Tim Stevenson, Patsy Zeigler and Rachael voted to oust her. 

When Rachael, who retired as FETC CEO last August, cast the final vote to end Signal's three-month stint as chair, an audience member shouted, “Shame on all of you!”

The meeting, which started at 5:31 p.m. and lasted 12 minutes, was contentious from the start.

“Hey, Karen, I am happy to have you here but as I mentioned in my email, this is a closed meeting not open to the public so I just ask that you respect that. If you have other people there, I would appreciate it if would ask them to leave the room while we go through this section,” Keathley said.

No one in the crammed FETC office left as Signal reminded Keathley that she was still the board chair until a vote to oust her was conducted. She told him that she wanted to pray and read a letter on behalf of the staff members who submitted their resignations.

“And then I will turn the floor back to all of you and you can remove me, and I will remove myself from the meeting. Is that fair?,” she asked.

Keathley said he was open to the prayer but balked at Signal reading the letter.

“You can just accept that we’ve read it and we acknowledge the receipt of it,” he said.

“But that’s not the letter that I was going to read,” Signal replied, “so until you remove me as the chairperson I will go ahead and do the opening prayer. I’ll read the letter and you can formally remove me from the board, and I will gladly yield my position back.”

Keathley complied and Signal began her short prayer.

“Heavenly Father, we have come tonight to honr You and praise You, and glorify Your name. We ask that You continue to bless Faith and its mission. We thank You for keeping us close to You in the times of trouble and we are grateful for Your love, grace and mercy.

“We ask you to guide us tonight and soften hearts that have been hardened. We love You Lord and want to conduct ourselves in a manner that is pleasing to You.

“In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Signal then read a letter from the staffers outlining their concerns about Rachael’s behavior and spending. Earlier, she sent the board a letter from a concerned veteran who has benefitted from FETC and a petition from other FETC supporters.

In their letter, the staffers outlined serveral concerns and expressed their disappointment in the board’s unwillingness to address them and hold Rachael accountable. The audit findings were their primary focus.

The staffers said they found Keathley’s linking silence about the audit to a $10,000 donation to the FETC general fund in November especially disturbing.

“We feel that continuing our association with Faith under these circumstances will hurt our own professional reputations by suggesting that we condone that behavior, which we certainly do not,” the employees said in a joint letter to Signal.

Later, the letter said, “We deeply regret the need to resign. Faith has done so much for children and others who have participated in this ministry. Those children and others in need, unfortunatley, are the ones who will suffer the greatest impact from Faith’s current problems.

“We are deeply saddened the some board members have placed themselves above those served by Faith’s ministry. We remain committed to Faith’s mission and will glady rescined our resignations if the situations is addressed.”

In her final act as chair, Signal asked the other board members to step aside. 

“When the staff leaves, it is no skin off of your back,” she said. “You still have jobs, you are in retirement, but these people are willing to give up their income based on their integrity of Faith.

“Everyone here, for one final time, is asking you to yield your seat from the board tonight.”

Keathley then issued a response that was quickly met with derision.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate your interest in Faith, your support of Faith, but the letter that was just read is completely full of misstatements, inaccuracies and untruths, and my intention is to respond to that letter with my position,” he said. “Certainly, it will be up to you whether or not you have an open mind and consider that position. But what I can assure you of is that this board is completely committed to the objectives of Faith Equestrian. We are running the board to the best of our abilities.”

At that point, loud laughter filled the room, irking Keathley.

“Alright, in that case, I think we are finished,” he said.

The audience believes that matter is far from finished, however.

“Listen, Faith Equestrian is not their provision. God is their provision and He is still God, and He is in control. This is all going to work out,” an unidentified member said.

“It’s not over until God says it’s over,” said another.

Signal has turned FETC’s 2019 audit over to the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office and the Charities Division of the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office. In addition, she has sent documentation to the IRS and filed a grievance with the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH). Myers and Garman are certified PATH instructors, a designation that is hard to get.