SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. — Spotsylvania County School Board's superintendent is suddenly without a job, after being abruptly fired at a chaotic meeting Monday night as a new conservative majority took over the school board.
Like many school boards across the nation, Spotsylvania has been wracked by pitched battles over LGBTQ rights and racial justice.
"Y'all are some sick, dysfunctional people," one mom shouted after the shouting match over the firing of now-former superintendent Scott Baker.
Spotsylvania County Schools are once again caught in a culture war between left and right.
"I don't care what your party is, what you believe in, we are here for the children," a man who said he's a teacher told members of the board.
Kirk Twigg and Rabih Abuismail, two members of the board who previously pushed to purge school libraries of LGBTQ books -- even suggesting they be burned -- now have the majority.
"I'm calling the question, let's get this rolling," Twigg said, just before the new 4-3 majority voted to make him chairman.
There were fierce objections by some of his colleagues.
"He wants to burn books," outgoing chairwoman Dawn Shelley said, to a mixture of boos and cheers from the audience. "He was arrested for reckless handling of a firearm."
Baker, the fired school superintendent, is a former regional superintendent of the year and teacher of the year.
"Dr. Baker is no longer with us," Twigg said after returning from a closed session. He is terminated without cause!"
Supporters of the fired superintendent claimed the whole process was illegal, that the closed meeting was called in violation of Virginia's open meeting law and that Baker is likely to sue, even though he was planning to leave at the end of the year.
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"You have not stated any reason, how can you terminate the superintendent," asked school board member Nicole Cole. "How is this good for the children?"
An online petition to remove Twigg from the board has garnered hundreds of signatures.