MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. – The Montgomery County School Board has released a statement in response to the comments made by a former school superintendent who was fired in early 2022.
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The former superintendent, Mark Miear, was fired in March of 2022 when the school board voted unanimously to let him go.
In a telling Facebook post, Miear outlined the incident that led to his dismissal, as we reported in January. According to him, the school board OK’d a decision about his own child without his consent.
“I was informed by the deputy superintendent that they were going to change my child’s name at school,” Miear told 10 News back in January. “I became very upset.”
The school board says they believe several statements Miear made in the following months were inaccurate or misleading.
School board officials say they believe that Miear’s statements of him “raising his voice” was an underestimate of the actual incident, which they say lasted for more than 45 minutes, included profanity, and was seen by several people as aggressive and threatening - allegedly causing them to consider calling law enforcement.
We’re told the incident in question ended once a school board member arrived at the office.
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In addition, the board said that Miear has mentioned that they fired him for exercising his right as a parent.
“I became a very angry parent. I believe I was acting in the role as a parent on that day,” Miear told 10 News in an earlier interview.
The school board says Miear tried to exert his authority as superintendent to direct school board policy matters impacting his family.
In addition, the school board says Miear claimed he was not given an opportunity to tell his side of the story before he was fired - a statement that is false, according to the board.
According to school officials, since the confrontation, Miear was represented by a legal counsel that communicated frequently with the board’s legal counsel about his termination.
The board said that Miear had the ability to share more information about the situation, but he did not.
In addition to addressing Miear’s statements, the board said they had learned about operational concerns, including financial management and personnel issues, that happened while Minear was serving as superintendent.
You can read the Montgomery County School Board’s full release below.
Statement From Montgomery County School Board by alli graham on Scribd