Lake Wales Charter superintendent under investigation after employment grievances made

The Lake Wales Charter School District’s board of trustees has hired a Tampa law firm to investigate grievances made by three staff members within the administrative office against its superintendent.

The district’s human resources director, LaQuanda Burroughs, told the board at a March 22 special workshop meeting that she had received three confidential complaints against the public charter school district’s Superintendent Wayne Rodolfich.

At the district’s next special meeting on March 28, the board then voted to hire Babas Cremer in Tampa, a firm that specializes in employment, for its recommendation on how to handle the situation.

Cremer was selected from three proposals, which all included interviews with about 20 people as part of an investigative review of the grievances. The firm’s report is expected to be presented at an upcoming meeting of the trustees.

Burroughs said in the meeting that Rodolfich could be placed on leave if the firm recommended such an action during its investigation.

While the board was addressing how to deal with the allegations, Rodolfich continued to work outside the district’s administrative office from home and will also visit one or more of the district’s seven schools, Burroughs said. He comes into the office during the evening hours if needed.

The allegations were first discussed with few details publicly at the March 22 special meeting.

The meeting began when a statement was read aloud at the meeting by board of trustees Chairman Danny Gill.

“Today’s meeting is not to pass judgment nor make a decision on the validity of the subject matter. We do not have the direct insight, knowledge nor information to make that call,” he said.

“We’re here today to get a report from our HR director and vote on the recommendation action provided, which is an investigation of the allegations,” Gill said.

A consensus of the board agreed that the trustees needed to hire professional services outside of Polk County, as that would be in the best interest of the board and all parties involved.

A request for a copy of the complaints by a Ledger reporter was denied last week because the matter is currently under investigation, district attorney Robin Gibson wrote in an email.

Only Burroughs and Cremer know who made the complaints, Burroughs said by phone last week. She said the hope was that the firm would provide next steps within two to three weeks.

During the special work session, Gill told the board what had happened, as most of the trustees had not been brought up to speed.

He said he had received notification from Burroughs about the grievances because the board was considered her supervisor, so she had an obligation to let them know.

“Once the complaint grievance was passed on to me by the HR director, I have a duty and obligation to report that onto the board, and the only way I can do that is through a public meeting to be in the sunshine.”

He then asked Burroughs to provide further details about the situation. The remaining trustees, Gibson and Rodolfich were present. She said the allegations cited state and federal statues on employment law, including race discrimination. 

She said on March 19 an employee submitted a complaint to her saying Rodolfich had created a “toxic and hostile work environment.” The complaint refers to his conduct over a year of interactions between the employee and the superintendent and it listed all the staff members in the district’s administrative office as witnesses by name.

Rodolfich is alleged to have yelled at an employee and pounded on a table at 8 a.m. March 18, the day before the grievance was submitted. Details of the incident had been reported in the grievance but not made public.

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“It was referred to as demoralizing and embarrassing,” Burroughs said from a prepared statement containing content and quotes from all three grievances.

“It was determined that an investigation should be conducted to determine if Dr. Rodolfich engaged in harassment and or discriminatory conduct that unreasonably interfered with an individual’s performance of professional or work responsibilities or with the process of education or which created a hostile, intimidating, abusive, offensive or oppressive environment or engaged in conduct that did not protect individuals from harassment or discrimination,” she said referring to the state Administrative Code.

"It has also been reported that Dr. Rodolfich has discriminated against and singled out an employee due to 'my race' in quotes," Burroughs said.

"Under Title VII (of the federal Civil Rights Act), a hostile work environment exists when the work place is permeated with discrimination, intimidation, ridicule and insult that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the victim's employment and create an abusive work environment," she said before recommending an outside firm investigate the allegations.

Throughout the approximately 50-minute special meeting, Rodolfich gave a brief statement after Burroughs was finished with her report to the trustees.

“This is the first time that I have been made aware that anyone in my office has an issue with my communication,” he said, adding the meeting occurred after staff had returned from spring break.

“I just want everyone to understand that I was not aware that anyone was offended by anything that I had said at any meeting prior to or during because anyone that ever has been has come to my office and told me how they felt,” he said. "And I think that's much more proactive way of communicating if you have an issue with something that I have done as superintendent."

Rodolfich said he has a “spotless” record since he has been superintendent and asked for his and his family's sake that the trustees treat him with fairness.

“I do have a deep concern about the origin of these allegations and the hostility created toward me within my office as it relates to the people that are making these accusations toward me,” he said.

Rodolfich said he welcomes an investigation into his conduct. He added, “The issue that I have is the ramifications to my 30-year professional career over one incident, that is alleged to be an incident.”

He also wanted the HR activity as it relates to the grievance to be reviewed and the background of the people making the grievances looked into.

“I have a different interpretation of the meeting,” Rodolfich said.

He added that his style of leadership means he wants staff to show up for work on time and put the children’s education first. His passion is educating the children in the Lake Wales Charter Schools, and this time of year is critical for their performance in terms of their learning gains.

Rodolfich has worked for the district since July 2022. His annual salary is $178,000.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lake Wales Charter superintendent investigated after staff grievances