YeThe Council Rock Board of School Directors approved a separation agreement with Dr. Robert Fraser, the district's superintendent since 2015, in a 6-3 vote Thursday night.
[Board president and vice president Ed Salamon and Michael Thorwart] said in their message that the agreement was "amicable," and that the board and Fraser had agreed to explore separation at the start of his leave.
But in an email screenshot shared with Patch Thursday, Fraser apparently disputed that timing to Council Rock staff.
"I did not agree to explore a separation agreement at the beginning of my leave, nor was there any such conversation between the Board and me at that time," the message reads.
"I did not begin to seek any type of separation from the District until an incident occurred shortly after my leave began," his message continued. "I want you to have this information for you to not misinterpret what has transpired regarding my leave and separation from the District."
"I believe the majority of this board was not transparent on this intention of separation with Dr. Fraser," [Board member Yota Palli] said in a comment prior to Thursday night's vote.
Palli said that, to her knowledge, the only time Fraser vocally disagreed with the board majority was in his advocacy for masking and mitigation measures in response to recent COVID-19 surges.
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Yes, But...
At an August 2021 CRSB meeting, Mr. Fraser said “We will not be teaching critical race theory …critical race theory has nothing, will have nothing to do with the Council Rock School District.” Critical race theory, said Mr. Fraser, is not coming to the school district. He also said that CRT and DEI “aren’t even close to being the same thing. And one of them I very much value in our school district and one I very much do NOT.”
Read “Council Rock School Board Meeting 8-5-2021: Masks Are Optional; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Are NOT!”; https://sco.lt/7RBQ3s
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"Nevertheless, Dr. Fraser did follow the board's direction," she said. "I don't find it prudent and in the best interests of the public and our students to have a costly separation with a very competent superintendent, only because he recommended the advice of the experts."
Two public commenters, including recent school board candidate Nicole Khan, also called for greater transparency from the board in its decision-making.
Marcell asked solicitor Robert Cox to confirm that discussing personnel matters privately in executive session was based on his advice. He said it was and called the board's executive sessions around separation, and communication to the public, "appropriate" and "lawful."
Tate and Palli voted against the separation agreement, as did board member Mariann McKee.
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