Staff report
gogle@wbcowqel.com
Attorneys for Buckeye Central school board President Susan Shealy and the school board both isseud statements in press releases Friday after the lawsuit seeking Shealy’s removal from office was dismissed. The lawsuit alleged that Shealy had committed acts of misconduct, including violating the state’s Sunshine Laws.
The lawsuit and petition was initiated by Elizabeth Diesch who had first asked Shealy to resign during a public session of a school board meeting. Judge Russell Wiseman ruled there were procedural issues with the petition filed with the court, including that the grounds stated do not meet the criteria of the overriding statute.
The statement by Shealy’s attorney, Genevieve Anderson, said in part that while pleased about the dismissal Shealy was saddened regarding misconceptions about the school board’s operations.
The complete statements from both attorneys are shown below.
Statement on Behalf of Buckeye Central Local School District Board of Education President Susan Shealy Regarding Dismissal of Removal Action (Attorney Genevieve Anderson)
Susan is very pleased that the Court dismissed the removal action against her. However, she is also saddened that misconceptions about how the Board of Education operates led to this action in the first place. She does not fault the signers of the petitions, as it appears they were not given specifics beforehand. Instead, it appears they were simply told she had broken the law or engaged in some kind of misconduct, which is not true.
Susan has devoted her entire professional career to serving the Buckeye Central Local School District. She served as a substitute teacher for two years and then taught full-time for 15 years. She dedicated over 10 years to the Buckeye Central Endowment Foundation, including serving as Chairman. Furthermore, she has served on the Board of Education for seven and a half years, having been President since January.
Susan has three daughters; two of whom are currently students at Buckeye Central, and one who recently graduated from Buckeye Central. Over the years, she has been a classroom volunteer, a PTO member, a tutor, and a Brownie troop volunteer. Simply put, she has dedicated a great deal of her life to the students of Buckeye Central and the community as a whole. She has not and would not do anything to jeopardize her record of dedication and integrity. Susan looks forward to continuing to serve the Buckeye Central School District as President of the Board.
Statement of the Buckeye Central Local School District Board of Education Regarding Dismissal of Complaint and Petitions
Prepared and submitted by Legal Counsel (Sue W. Yount)
NEW WASHINGTON, Ohio (July 19, 2013) – Each member of the Buckeye Central Local School District Board of Education (the “Board”) reviewed the complaint and petitions, which were filed in the Crawford County Common Pleas Court on May 16, 2013. The Court dismissed the complaint and petitions on July 11.
In addition to the Court determination that the complaint and petitions were not proper and not legally valid, all members of the Board agree that the complaint and petitions were not legally valid. From the dates on the petitions and the dates included in the complaint, it was apparent that the persons who signed the petitions were not provided with a copy of the complaint before they signed. This showed a failure of the circulators of the petitions to comply with the requirements of the law.
All members of the Board also agree that the claims asserted against the Board and the Board President were not legally valid claims. The Board, its President, Superintendent, and Treasurer have not violated any sunshine law or any other laws.
Further, each member of the Board agrees that the Board and its Treasurer keep the Board minutes in accordance with law. The Board is audited each year, and there has never been any such concerns raised in any audit. Further, Board of Education policies are not a legal basis for removal of board members.
The sworn deposition testimony of Beth Diesch, who prepared the complaint and filed the complaint and the petitions in court, revealed that she had been frustrated with the Board for several months, since before Susan Shealy was Board President. Mrs. Diesch indicated that the spark that prompted her to circulate the petitions and then file the complaint was that she was not happy about the Board’s plan not to renew the contract of the elementary principal. On May 9, the Board took action to reduce the number of principals from three to two, when the elementary principal’s contract was not renewed. The complaint and petitions were filed on May 16, but made no mention of the elementary principal’s contract.
As a result of the complaint and petitions, the Board has been required to expend school district funds unnecessarily, when the complaint and petitions had no merit.