Fairman Disciplined Publicly as York County School Board Continues Efforts to Move Forward [WYDaily]
By Megan Roche - WYDaily
YORK COUNTY— Lynda Fairman was publicly named as the board member being disciplined at Monday night’s special meeting of the York County School Board.
According to the board norms and protocols that were set at a board retreat in 2024, any violation of the norms and protocols will be dealt with by a series of actions starting with a verbal discussion between the chair and the violating board member. After a verbal discussion, a second violation will be dealt with by written communication sent out to all members of the board. In case of a third violation, the school board can determine appropriate sanctions depending on the violation in question. The fourth violation allows the school board to discuss the violation at a public board meeting.
Fairman did not attend the retreat to create or cooperate with signing the board norms and protocols or the board code of conduct.
Alleged Violations
Board Chair Kim Goodwin opened the discussion with a document outlining various alleged violations Fairman has made. Goodwin spoke of the potential litigation from the Superintendent for violating his contract, comments made from a January board meeting where Fairman discussed issues on the 2024 Presidential Election, and incidents where Fairman has spoken publicly without the board’s consent.
According to Goodwin, a warning was delivered in a letter format on Sept. 16 about a post made on Facebook that was derogatory in nature toward the superintendent. The warning also reminded Fairman that in conjunction with board norms and protocols, board members should always strive to appropriate behavior and conduct as a public school board member.
A second violation occurred around Halloween. A violation was issued on Nov. 15, for violation of code of conduct’s number 4, 8, and 9, and the sixth bullet of the board norms and protocols which states that the board not interfere with the day-to-day operations of the school system. The violation in question was in response to local legislators and Rep. Rob Wittman not being invited to a celebration in honor of Bethel Manor’s Blue Ribbon School of Excellence award recognition.
A third violation occurred on Jan. 13, when Fairman brought up a document from the Attorney General that cited the wrongdoing of the board for removing her as chair in May 2024. That letter caused disruption to the meeting as it was not an agenda item. Due to not placing the item on the agenda before the meeting, the board could have been seen as in jeopardy of the Freedom of Information Act.
The fourth violation that allowed the board to speak publicly on the matter occurred on Jan. 27, after Fairman shared that she had heard from some teachers who are supporters of President Trump that they had concerns about being treated negatively as the union opposed his presidency. Fairman continued her remarks on the issue, saying that she had heard from parents in the district that their children had come home and said teachers had made a similar political statement in the classroom, but the children were unsure of how to respond since they were happy with the election of President Trump. The violation in this instance was that all complaints must be sent to the superintendent so he can pursue a proper investigation into these claims.
“All of these examples are violations of the board’s norms and protocols, as well as the superintendent’s contract. Under the terms of the superintendent’s employment contract, the board both individually and collectively will promptly refer all criticisms, complaints, and suggestions concerning the York County School Division or its employees to the superintendent or his designee for his investigation, study, review, and recommendation,” Goodwin said.
Reactions
After Goodwin’s statement, each board member had an opportunity to comment, which led to a lively discussion.
Fairman said she believes her First Amendment rights have been violated and said she is speaking with an attorney to decide her next steps. In response, Goodwin questioned whether the attorney was getting the full story.
“It’s easy to tell somebody your side of the story and not give them the full broach. These are the different events that have led up to violations and they are in our norms and protocols and we are adhering to those. We can’t just go rogue because we don’t like it, or it’s not accurate, or not right,” Goodwin said.
“When we came up with the board norms and protocols, we put a lot of time in coming up with it and it’s a fair assessment for all of us that we need to follow it. It’s not much to ask to follow it, because it is reasonable. When I signed up for this job, I think majority does rule and if we don’t like it, we rule as a board so whatever majority comes up with, we have to stand behind it,” Zoran Pajevic, District 2 representative, said.
“When you came on this board, you had a personal vendetta, a political agenda that you wanted to see done. You tried to be an executive, like you were the CEO of the school division. That’s not your job, that’s none of our jobs. Our job is to take care of the kids, the teachers, and the parents of York County School District. Our primary objective is to have the best schools possible so that we can give the type of service that is needed here. All you have done since you’ve come on is question everything and it’s not right. This is one of the top-performing school divisions in the state and it has been for a number of years. Everything that you’ve done, that you’ve brought on, has created confusion and chaos,” Mark Shafer, District 1 representative, said.
To view the meeting in its entirety, visit the YCSD YouTube page.