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December 19, 2023

The absence of an expletive in the video recording of a school board meeting found to trump a community member’s unsworn assertion to the contrary

Petitioner, claiming a member of the school board used an expletive during a school board meeting ask the Commissioner to remove the member from the board for such alleged misconduct.

The Commissioner of Education explained that the Commissioner of Education "may remove a school officer or member of a board of education from office when it is proven to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that the officer or board member has engaged in a willful violation or neglect of duty under the Education Law or has willfully disobeyed a decision, order, rule, or regulation of the Board of Regents or the Commissioner"*.  

Noting that in an appeal to the Commissioner the petitioner has the burden of demonstrating a clear legal right to the relief requested and establishing the facts upon which he or she seeks relief, in the instant appeal, the Commissioner found that the Petitioner failed to prove her allegation that a member of the school board had referred to a community member using an expletive during a board meeting.

The Commissioner found that although Petitioner’s version of event was corroborated by an email from a community member, the recording of the meeting itself did not reveal any such expletive was uttered.** 

Weighing the parties’ submissions on this issue, the Commissioner dismissed the appeal. The Commissioner found the video recording "to be more probative than the community member’s unsworn assertions" and ruled that the Petitioner had failed to meet her burden of proof".

 * See Education Law §306[1] and Application of Kolbmann, 48 Ed Dept Rep 370.

** Petitioner admitted that the comment “cannot [be] hear[d] on the posted video” and failed to submit a reply or any other evidence to corroborate her claim.

Click HERE to access the Commissioner's decision posted on the Internet.

 

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