YORK COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — Dozens went before a packed York County School Board meeting Monday night to share the numerous concerns they have with the board’s new leadership.
Speakers included students, school district staff, parents/grandparents, community members and even two former board members. They said they’re concerned the new board’s “toxic” and politically-driven behavior, and potential future actions such as trying to oust the district’s longtime superintendent, could lead to “a mass exodus of teachers and administrators.”
Meanwhile many current district teachers who wished to speak at Monday’s meeting didn’t do so due to fear of retaliation, one speaker said.
Many speakers pointed to allegations that Board Chair Lynda Fairman sent a local militia group to film a sex education event, as well as a supporter of the militia’s request for names of the teachers who spoke at the last board meeting. That man, Gary Porter, apologized for his actions at Monday’s meeting.
“Ms. Goodwin, on social media you called Dr. [James] Carroll and Dr. [Victor] Shandor a ‘piece of shh.’ You also stated you did not believe slaves were unhappy and asked for proof. This is ignorant and uneducated,” said one local student.
“All three of you [Fairman, Vice Chair Kimberly Goodwin and board member Zoran Pajevic] publicly stated you want to remove Dr. Shandor as superintendent. Dr. Shandor is adored and respected by the entire county for his interactions with students and simply being excellent at his job,” the student added. “… as students, we have the right to a safe and orderly environment. Mrs. Fairman, by aligning with a militia and aligning your needs over the needs of the students, you have not provided us with a safe and orderly environment.”
“Please keep you politics and personal agendas out of our schools,” added Barbara Haywood, a longtime former school board member. “You’ve been given a tremendous responsibility of overseeing a quality educational environment for all of our students. This is absolutely not the York County that I’ve known, loved and I’m willing to stand up for.”
“We expect you to understand that words matter. We expect you to understand that there are consequences to every word, post and action … we expect you understand you will be held accountable, we expect more from you,” said local NAACP Vice President Charles Gates.
Though several others did come out in support of the new board leadership.
“I would just like to ask everyone to just calm the heck down,” said county resident Tom Jett. “Let the board members get their footing. Stop these personal, politically driven, counterproductive and hyperbolic attacks.”
“Give this newly formed board a chance to demonstrate what they can accomplish,” said York resident Sandra Tumminello, who also addressed the militia allegations.
“I got home and found out some ‘plant’ was sent to the Family Life parents meeting to take pictures and they were sticking a camera in people’s faces,” Tumminello said. “I was the only one there with a camera and I can’t even operate the thing. I had to get somebody to show me how to do it on my iPhone and I ended up taking pictures of my purse because it was turned backwards.”
Near the end of the meeting, both Fairman and Goodwin read prepared statements about recent events.
Fairman again said she neither belongs to, nor supports the local militia group, adding “the media reports have gone from malicious, to crazy, to absolutely absurd.”
“The ultimate goal of those promoting these false stories is to negate the election, disenfranchise the majority of voters in our districts and silence any oversight our school board is supposed to do under Virginia constitutional law.”
Goodwin said in part: “I am not part of a militia group, nor did I send a militia group to an elementary school. I do not condone slavery or anything that would even resemble it. I do not have an agenda to fire our superintendent. I do not think that there is mass indoctrination happening in our school division, and as far as me being far-right, I am as far right as the Constitution as that is the oath I took to behold.”
Board member Mark Shafer, who spoke out against Fairman and Goodwin at a Feb. 12 work session along board member James Richardson, said he’s glad people are getting engaged, but wishes “it was for the right reasons, like Bruton won another swimming championship or something along that nature.”
“Hopefully we can get things rolling where we continue the momentum this school division has had.”
You can watch the full meeting here.
Correction: This article was updated to correct a quote from a student speaking to Vice Chair Goodwin. The student said “you also stated you did not believe slaves were unhappy and asked for proof.”
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