YORK COUNTY — SaveYCSD announced at the Sept. 23 York County School Board meeting that it has begun officially circulating a petition to remove district five board member Lynda Fairman from office.
SaveYCSD describes itself as a nonpartisan organization of concerned citizens who believe the York County School Division (YCSD) is best served by school board members who support the people and diverse needs of the division.
The petition comes after many have spoken out against Fairman’s actions as a member of the school board, including possible militia ties, refusal to sign a code of conduct, encouraging school board training by an organization that YCSD is not affiliated with, and more. Many in the community have expressed distrust in school board leadership and in May, Fairman was removed as chair of the board during a special meeting.
“The reason we are taking the natural next step is because Ms. Fairman has refused to take accountability and continues to show disrespect for the community, disdain for the Constitution, has violated state law and board policy, and even now she refuses to sign a simple code of ethics. The Constitution, the state law, the board policy, ethics codes matter. Please Ms. Fairman, for the good of our community, please resign,” said Alan Kennedy, a member of SaveYCSD and a professor of public policy at William & Mary.
According to Virginia law, a Virginia school board member can be removed for reasons including neglect of duty, misuse of office, incompetence in performance, upon conviction of a misdemeanor, possession of a controlled substance, selling a controlled substance, or committing sexual battery.
That removal process must begin with a petition signed by registered voters who reside within the district of the officer in question — in this case, district five. Signatures must be equal to 10% of the number of votes cast in the last election for that particular position. After receiving the required number of signatures, the petition is then sent to court and a judge decides on whether or not the individual in question is removed from office.
After the public comment period, Fairman addressed the comments directed her way, saying that she followed the law by signing her oath of office.
“I have followed the law for taking the oath of office and signing that document. In essence, for elected officials that is like the requirement of students signing the student handbook, that type of thing. When we took our oath of office, we were also required by law to sign the documents that we had taken that oath of office,” she said.
“I will not sign the papers created by a private organization that is also known as a lobbying organization. The two documents of the norms and protocols and the code of conduct, when you go back into previous documents in previous years, they were put forth by the VSBA, which is a lobbying organization,” she added. “I’ve taken the oath of office, I’ve signed that form that I took the oath of office and that’s what I intend to follow.”
According to the SaveYCSD website, details on signing the petition will be coming in the next few days.
The full meeting of the York County School Board can be viewed here. The next scheduled meeting is on Oct. 14.
