KY superintendent facing suspension denies encouraging students to vote for his future wife
The Robertson County superintendent has denied the results of a state investigation that found in 2018 he encouraged students in his district to vote for a candidate who would later become his wife.
Robertson County Superintendent Sanford Holbrook’s superintendent certification is being suspended for six months starting on July 1. A state investigation determined in 2018 he encouraged students to vote for Stephanie Bogucki, who was ultimately elected county judge executive, according to 175 pages of Education Professional Standards Board documents the Herald-Leader obtained on Monday through the Kentucky Open Records Act.
Holbrook married Bogucki in May 2021, documents said. The documents do not say if they were in a relationship when the election occurred.
“Mr. Holbrook denies that he encouraged students to vote for his wife as alleged,” Holbrook’s attorney Regina A. Jackson told the Herald-Leader Monday.
Holbrook recently asked EPSB to delay his six months suspension to the end of the 2024-25 school year to allow him to finish some projects in the district, saying he would agree to a one year suspension instead, the documents show.
In an April 3 document, an EPSB attorney asked the board not to honor Holbrook’s request, saying another employee in the district could serve in the superintendent role and not disrupt the district.
The documents obtained by the Herald-Leader don’t indicate the board has made a ruling on the request.
EPSB documents said Holbrook acknowledged violating state school law by advising students how to register and then suggesting who the students should vote for.
“He recommended…students vote for the political candidates he supported including his now significant other,” one of the charges said.
But in accepting his suspension in an agreed order, Holbrook did not specifically acknowledge that he encouraged students to vote for his future wife.
Holbrook told the Herald-Leader in a statement last week that he was accepting the 6-month suspension because “while I did nothing wrong, I ultimately decided that it was better for the Robertson County School District to agree to a six-month suspension of my superintendent certificate than subject the school community to a protracted administrative legal process.”
“The circumstances that have led to this action occurred in 2018 when I encouraged Robertson County School District students to register and cast votes in the 2018 primary election, which fell on May 22, “ Holbrook said.
Since the primary election was on the date of a school-sponsored, out-of-town trip, many of the eligible students would not have been able to vote except by absentee ballot, he said. He transported students who wanted to vote to the county clerk’s office to cast their ballots.
“Upon advice of the county clerk office staff, I also assisted any student who asked me for help in the presence of clerks and others,” Holbrook said.
Multiple students said Holbrook referred to them as “black sheep” because they voted Republican, EPSB documents said.
A student said Holbrook suggested he vote for Stephanie Bogucki but Holbrook said he didn’t have to, according to the documents.
Holbrook acknowledged that he marked students as physically disabled on voting documents even though they were able-bodied, EPSB documents show.
Allegations involving the case were presented to the Robertson grand jury which declined to indict Holbrook, EPSB documents said.
The documents also show that Robertson County School board members strongly supported Holbrook. Board members said Holbrook had saved the district, which was in danger of being closed.
“Mr. Holbrook has brought stability and dramatic improvement to our district,” board members wrote to EPSB in April 2022.
