‘Teachers are fearful’: York County teacher accused of harassment by school board member speaks out
Watch the full interview with York County teacher Todd Hoglund above.
YORK COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — A York County teacher who’s been speaking out against the actions of the county’s new school board majority said he’s doing it for others who are fearful of retaliation.
Todd Hoglund also spoke to 10 On Your Side about private accusations from the board’s vice chair that he was harassing her with questions, claims that the principal at his school and others believe were ‘clearly’ groundless.
Hoglund, an 18-year teacher and York County School Division parent who currently teaches at Grafton Middle School, says it’s not a personal or political issue for him.
“These people were duly elected by constituents. Now I will say I don’t believe most of the voters who voted [for Chair Lynda Fairman, Vice Chair Kimberly Goodwin and board member Zoran Pajevic] understand what they were doing, as far as voting in people with the rhetoric and the very far-right methodology that they have,” Hoglund said.
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He said revelations in the board’s Feb. 12 work session, in which those three members were accused of ties to a local militia (which they’ve denied) and retaliatory behavior against Superintendent Victor Shandor, spurred him to start speaking out and asking questions.
He said he also “found very quickly a lot of teachers are fearful of speaking up and speaking out” due to concerns over retaliation from those board members and their supporters, particularly after Goodwin and Fairman chose to remove themselves from the district’s “Let’s Talk” platform that lets staff anonymously share their concerns.
“Their supporters will publicly dox people. They will publicly list names and allude to addresses, allude to family situations. Just really scary behavior,” Hoglund said.
10 On Your Side was able to independently corroborate those claims after a review of social media posts and other information obtained via the Freedom of Information Act.
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So Hoglund felt it was his duty to speak up for those who felt like they couldn’t.
“This board is at a place where they are divisive, they are trying to turn York County into something that it shouldn’t be. And I feel it’s my duty as a parent and a teacher to speak up for my students and my children,” Hoglund said. “… and I approached every public comment that I made with the idea ‘well, if something’s going to happen to me, I’d rather it happen to me than someone else who I care about. I can stand up for myself, I can speak for myself.”
Push for answers, claim of harassment
After that Feb. 12 work session, Hoglund reached out to all five members of York’s school board with concerns and questions.
They included whether the board would commit to mediation with Shandor, and whether they would take cultural competency training from the Virginia Department of Education. He also asked about the alleged militia ties and requested evidence of alleged indoctrination in the school districts.
He said he got responses from all but one school board member, Vice Chair Goodwin, who represents him in District 3.
Hoglund followed up several times through mid March, emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show. That’s when Goodwin emailed School Board Attorney Melanie Berry on March 15 stating she believed Hoglund’s requests were a form of harassment. She also asked if she should consult an outside attorney.
FY24_Hoglund_Redacted (1)Download
“I might expect this kind of harassment from a parent or citizen but I do not expect nor think it’s
appropriate for this kind of harassment by a teacher in our division.”Excerpt from Goodwin’s email to Berry.
In an email to Berry on March 22, Goodwin said she’d completed a harassment claim form and was set to deliver it to the school division office.
However, Goodwin said at the board’s April 22 meeting that in a follow up email she shared that she decided not to follow through with the complaint because she didn’t “want it to be perceived as retaliatory.”
“We do want your comments, and I want people to know that you can submit them and not fear that you’re not going to be retaliated against,” Goodwin said.
10 On Your Side followed up with Goodwin, who confirmed she did not follow through with the complaint.
“I did not want it to be perceived as retaliatory. I sought guidance from our school board attorney who said I had a right to file a complaint and oddly enough she asked me a couple of times if I had completed the paperwork to file. After further thought I felt it was not right. I find it interesting that whoever FOIA’d the correspondence neglected to include the email dated 3/29 that explains all this. Clearly whomever is leading the charge is trying to craft a narrative. I find it sad that the very same people who say that we (the board) need to be focused on students continue to try and bog us down with their antagonism.
Vice Chair Kimberly Goodwin
10 On Your Side also reached out to an independent attorney for an expert opinion on the matter. Tim Schulte with the law firm Shelley Cupp Schulte in Richmond said both Hoglund and Goodwin enjoy First Amendment protection here.
“Teachers in public schools, like Mr. Hoglund, enjoy First Amendment protection, even though they are employed by the government. The Supreme Court made that very clear in 1968 in a case called Pickering v. Board of Education.
By the same token, Ms. Goodwin’s statements (and her silence) are also protected speech, and she has the right to refuse to answer Mr. Hoglund’s questions. If you agree with her, or disagree, the way to show that is at the ballot box.”
Tim Schulte
Shelley Cupp Schulte
Hoglund said that he would have stopped emailing early on, but never got real responses to his questions.
“If Ms. Goodwin, as she implied in her email to Ms. Berry, isn’t going to answer my questions, tell me that. Communicate. Give me the recognition and respect to say ‘Mr. Hoglund thank you for your question, I’m not going to indulge you with a response.’ OK, I think that’s pretty cruddy, it’s not the best response, but it’s a response.”
“I’m absolutely within my right as a parent, as a teacher, as a community member to ask questions of a public official,” added Hoglund. “… if you feel like I didn’t harass you, you should say ‘that’s my fault, I went too far, Mr. Hoglund did not harass me with his comments,’ which everyone believes.”
That claim of harassment also led to Grafton Middle School Principal Tianna Anthony speaking up for Hoglund at the April 22 board meeting.
“I have reviewed the emails, and while they contain several questions, they were not unprofessional in nature,” said Anthony, who added “… [Hoglund] embodies the qualities of a good special education teacher. Todd is dedicated and deeply committed to the success and well-being of his students.”
Meanwhile Alan Kennedy, a professor of public policy at William & Mary who’s provided pro bono legal advice to those petitioning for the resignation of the new board majority, added that it’s “part of a pattern of intimidation by the new board majority.”
“And it is having a chilling effect on educators and parents and other community members,” Kennedy said.
Hoglund said overall he’ll continue to speak up because he loves the district that he and his family have called home for years.
“I want York County Schools to be successful, and I think the best way for that to happen is to hold people accountable. When somebody runs for political office … they need to listen to the constituents. And that’s a big thing that these three new board members were saying, is that they hear their constituents, the people that voted for them. However it’s more than just the people who voted for them.”
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