CLEVELAND — Parents in the Rocky River School District are calling on district officials to resign or be terminated amid ongoing investigations into allegations of inappropriate conduct by a school principal and a school resource officer.
The petition was posted on change.org on October 5 and had garnered more than 680 signatures as of October 12.
The demand for change comes as the district continues its probe with an independent investigator into disturbing allegations against Kensington Intermediate School principal Dr. Heath Horton. He remains on paid administrative leave.
“Did Superintendent (Michael) Shoaf know about this? I don’t know,” Ashley Rainey said. “If he didn’t, then shame on him, as another parent has said. And if he did, shame on him.”
Rainey is the mother of three children, including one at Kensington. She started the petition the same week that the Rocky River School District announced that school resource officer Michael Bernhardt had been removed from his role within the district following allegations of inappropriate conduct with a student. He remains on leave at the Rocky River Police Department as they investigate policy violations.
“I have so many happy memories of going to school here and growing up in Rocky River,” Ashley Rainey said. “But it’s no longer that same district.”
The petition calls for a “vote of no confidence” in and the removal of:
- Michael G. Shoaf, Superintendent
- Elizabeth Anderson, Assistant Superintendent
- Samuel Gifford, Executive Director of Human Resources
- Jennifer Norman, Executive Director of Pupil Services
“This all has gone on under his leadership and at what point is there going to be accountability?” Rainey said.
But Rainey said her grievances with the district started before the most recent allegations that made headlines.
“My biggest motivation behind this was my daughter experienced some pretty significant bullying at Kensington,” she said.
Rainey said that bullying happened under Horton’s and Shoaf’s watch. She argued it was not addressed and she’s not alone.
“I just asked myself, who’s at the helm here? You know, how is this allowed to continue?” Karen Martin said.
For Martin the poor experiences with Rocky River schools began three years ago, when her daughter was bullied at school. She said the school’s counselor was great, but the response from school and district leadership was lacking and didn’t change over the years.
The bullying continued and leading her daughter to develop an eating disorder and to seek treatment. Then, last month, Martin said, “I didn’t trust them to protect her from that so we pulled her out of school.”
Also in 2021, five Rocky River High School teachers resigned and another retired amid an investigation regarding alleged inappropriate conduct. The investigation surrounded video of teachers “having a conversation including inappropriate comments about a student and referring to possible photos of a student in a text message thread with several other teachers,” according to Rocky River police.
3News reached out to Rocky River School District officials by phone and email. The school district sent a statement that reads in full:
“As a district, we are committed to the safety of our students and staff and providing the best possible educational and co-curricular experience in an environment that is safe and secure. We are aware of the online petition and remain committed to moving the district forward in a positive and productive manner for years to come.”
3News also reached out to the Rocky River School Board, the members of which are not named in the petition. Here is their statement:
“The board is aware of the concerns shared by some members of our community as well as the online petition. As I said at our recent board meeting on September 21, we understand that we must address what has already happened in ways that best serve the interests of our students. We also understand that taking steps carefully aimed at preventing these types of situations from occurring again in Rocky River is just as critical to our commitment to the Rocky River Schools community.
"We will work diligently with our administration to address the concerns being raised by members of our community. We appreciate our community’s continued patience as we fully consider this matter and determine our next steps.
"Although this is certainly a challenging and difficult situation, we are thankful for the many members of our administration and staff that continue to serve our community each and every day.
"We will continue to keep the community informed throughout this process.”
3News has not independently verified the signatures in the petition. Change.org requires each signer to provide a name and email address and to confirm their signature via email.
Previous Reporting:
- Rocky River School Resource Officer removed from position due to 'inappropriate behavior'
- Rocky River principal will not face felony charges after investigation into relationship with former students
- 3News Investigates: Rocky River grad says teacher hugged and kissed her, called her "sexy"
- 5 Rocky River teachers resign, 1 retires amid investigation of alleged inappropriate conduct: Superintendent releases lengthy statement