A parent in Maine School Administrative District 6 has filed a formal complaint with the state Department of Education after the local school board declined to discipline the district’s superintendent for violating the district’s nepotism policies.
Earlier this week, the school board ruled that District Superintendent Frank Sherburne violated those policies by hiring his son, Zachariah, without state approval, proper credentials or a background check. That came out after Sherburne’s son was charged last week with sexually assaulting a student in another district.
In her complaint, parent Amanda Cooper says she wants the education department to investigate the incident. She says the entire process hasn’t been transparent. And as both a parent and a teacher, she says she felt like it was her responsibility to speak up.
“I shouldn’t have to explain my 8-year-old who that man is on television, why he’s on television, and why he’s in that classroom,” she says.
Cooper’s complaint points to a state statute that says a superintendent’s certificate can be “suspended or revoked” for hiring someone who doesn’t have the right certification for the job. She wants the department to look at that, and do so in a fair way.
“An authentic investigation done by an outside party who is fully knowledgeable of the statute and the laws and the systems that we have in place to protect children,” she says.
A spokesman for the Department of Education said the department couldn’t comment on potential investigations about school employees. However, the DOE said earlier this week that it never gave approval for Sherburne’s son to work in a classroom.
