Former school board chair alleges slander, seeks damages
By Eric Valentine
Blaine County School District and its superintendent GwenCarol Holmes are the subject of another potential lawsuit. This one—currently a tort claim the district has 90 days to respond to—was brought by school board trustee Rob Clayton, who says the embattled superintendent spread false rumors that he and a school district administrator (former Human Resources Director Shannon Maza) had an affair.
Both Clayton and Maza have firmly denied the allegation. Maza, who filed her own tort claim this spring alleging bullying and harassment by the district when she was employed there, garnered $125,000 as part of a settlement with BCSD.
The school district said it is not allowed to comment on ongoing litigation when asked for comment by The Weekly Sun. Clayton was less tight-lipped.
“This is not about some financial windfall for me. This is about making a statement that people in power need to tell the truth or not speak at all,” Clayton said. “If I do get awarded something, I may even donate it to charity.”
As it stands now, Clayton is seeking $10,000, a standard penalty in such matters.
“I sat on this for a long time. And as things started to transpire across the district, I realized I needed to act on this,” said Clayton, whose deadline for filing a claim was fast approaching. State law prescribes a 180-day statute of limitations for serving such claims. Clayton was within one day of that cutoff.
The district can now respond to the tort claim and try to mitigate or rectify matters. If it does not respond within 90 days from the filing, Clayton can formally sue.
It remains to be seen how this latest legal matter will impact school district business and the already-challenged school board that has been hard-pressed by vocal parents, residents and teachers seeking the ouster of Holmes. Over 1,200 people have signed an online petition seeking a no-confidence vote against the superintendent who is now in her fourth year. The petition also demands Holmes be fired “with cause.”
Clayton said he can “easily” separate this issue, which he described as an action against one individual’s actions (Holmes’) and the district’s larger goals and ongoing business. However, his fellow trustees removed him from his position as board chair earlier this summer on a 3–2 vote, claiming he acted inappropriately by, in one instance, attending an employee evaluation (Maza’s), something trustees are not supposed to do. Clayton strongly contests that claim, noting that he and Holmes talked about his attendance at the session, which was described to him simply as “a conversation.” Clayton also says the meeting was called off.
“I was removed from my leadership position for attending a meeting that didn’t even happen,” Clayton said. “That needs to be understood by the community.”
Meanwhile, the group of concerned residents called I-CARE (Idaho Citizens for Accountable, Responsible Education) were active on social media in recent days after a list of administrator salaries for BCSD was published. The list showed 19 six-figure salary positions totalling more than $2.3 million annually. As a frame of reference, the existing levy payout, which is in its final year, is $2.9 million annually.
It should be noted that cost of living in Wood River Valley is significantly high compared to nearly every school district across the state. I-CARE folks say that the rise in administrative costs, however, does not match student population growth nor improvements in student performance.
The school district encourages the public to visit its so-called Fact Checker page online at blaineschools.org/domain/1017 to get its formal response to a variety of the concerns addressed by the community.