YORK COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — A supporter of a local militia group in York County requested the names and schools of teachers who’ve spoken out against the county’s new right-wing school board leadership. This is the same person who said he would “dismantle the entire public school system and start from scratch.”
This comes after multiple staff members and members of the community went before the board on Jan. 29 to voice their displeasure with new board’s recent actions
“We had a FOIA request from a community member who asked for specific staff members’ names and positions, so apparently this person wanted to know where these people work,” said York County Superintendent Victor Shandor.
Shandor made the disclosure at the end the school board’s work session on Feb. 12, adding “that’s very concerning to me as superintendent, and I brought that to the board’s attention, because it’s my job if anything to keep [staff] safe.”
The superintendent said that was the reason he expedited a policy change to no longer have speakers at board meetings give their home address. Instead, the sign up sheets to speak will only require the speaker’s name and topic. Once at the podium, speakers only have to share their name and either their voting district or area where they live.
Internal communications between Shandor and the board show the man who requested that information was Gary Porter, a supporter of “York County Poquoson Community Missions,” aka the “York County Poquoson Constitutional Militia (YCPCM),” per emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and shared with WAVY.
“This request for the policy revision is an effort to protect the staff in YCSD as there
are multiple examples of efforts to defame and intimidate them and as the individuals
requesting information and addressing staff online have known connections to (a) board
member,” Shandor wrote to the board on Feb. 6. “I believe having their personal information posted online or released to the public will lead to staff to feel they are working in hostile conditions.”
Board Chair Lynda Fairman, who’s faced allegations that she recently ordered the group associated with Porter to film a Family Life Education event, also supported the move.
“This one’s actually been on a my radar and has bothered me for over two years,” Fairman said. “When I actually spoke at a school board meeting here and was asked to give my address I said ‘I have a problem with a safety issue with that.’ Because now everybody hearing knows I’m not at my address. And anybody watching online, as well as somebody maybe not liking what I say and doing something to my house.”
Ultimately, the policy change was unanimously approved by the board at the Feb. 12 meeting.
Meanwhile, WAVY reached out to Porter about why he chose to request the names.
“It is something I did, and not their titles, I didn’t ask for titles. I asked for the employees and the schools that they work at,” Porter said. “Because I just didn’t know which of the many people that spoke that night were teachers; not all of them identified themselves as teachers.”
Porter, an Air Force veteran and retired Lockheed Martin employee, denied being asked to do anything on the behalf of Fairman or her allies on the school board, Vice Chair Kimberly Goodwin and board member Zoran Pajevic, though he acknowledged they do have a relationship.
“I know them, and I consider them my friends,” Porter said.
Fairman has denied being associated with the “YCPCM” group, and said at the Feb. 12 meeting: “I am not a part of that, absolutely not.”
Porter wanted to clarify that he’s not a “member” of the militia because “there’s no membership,” but did say he’s a supporter of the group. He said wearing the “YCPCM” shirt at the Jan. 29 school board meeting didn’t imply he was a “member.”
“I was promoting the group, yes, I was wearing the shirt to increase awareness of the group.”
In the meantime, WAVY’s learned school district staff members, other community leaders and more will share their thoughts on recent events at the upcoming school board meeting on Monday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.
Look for more updates from WAVY on issues related to the York County School Board in the coming weeks.
