According to her lawsuit, filed Sept. 28, Grigsby applied for a teaching position this summer at Springboro High School. She went through two rounds of interviews and on June 12 “was told by the assistant principal that she had been selected and was being offered the position as a math teacher at Springboro High School,” according to her complaint.
However, a few days later, Grigsby reportedly was told by the assistant principal that “we have a problem.”
The lawsuit asserts that Gene Lolli, then Springboro superintendent, told Grigsby that he had conducted a third set of interviews at the direction of the school board, “particularly the former vice president (now acting president) Kelly Kohls, who represented that she spoke for the school board.”
The interviews were conducted, according to what Grigsby said she was told by Lolli, “to legitimize the withdrawal of the offer to Ms. Grigsby and conceal the fact that Ms. Grigsby was being denied the position for which she had been selected because of her First Amendment protected activity (i.e. her public comments and work with Neighbors for Springboro Schools.)”
Neighbors for Springboro Schools is a group that advocates for the passage of school levies and for school-related concerns in Springboro.
Board members Petroni and Rigano are two of the founders of Educate Springboro, and Kohls is a founding member of Educate Ohio. These groups draw attention to school funding and fiscal conservancy. Kohls also is president of the Warren County Tea Party.
Kohls said Friday this was the first she had heard about the lawsuit. When asked if Grigsby’s claims were true, Kohls said: “I can’t answer that. I never heard that claim.”
Kohls said board members were not presented with Grigsby nor her application this summer. Kohls said she did know that Grigsby was associated with the Neighbors for Springboro Schools group, since Grigsby had “attempted to conduct a forum for candidates,” in 2009.
Anderson, who has since resigned as president of the school board, also said he was unaware of the lawsuit when contacted Friday.
He said it would not have been protocol for the board to see Grigsby’s application, and he did not hear or witness a conversation about Grigsby while on the board.
“I leave it up to our administration to put forth good people, but legally we can say no to anybody,” Anderson said of the board. “Hopefully it’s for the right reasons and not for political reasons.”
Members of the Ohio School Boards Association said school boards are not supposed to be partisan, but political concerns do surface.
“All of the issues swirling around levies have political dimensions, not partisan dimensions,” said Damon Asbury, director of legislative services for the OSBA.
Rick Lewis, OSBA executive director, added that potential political differences should not play a role in whether a teacher is hired.
“You shouldn’t be required to check your freedom of speech and your political views at the door,” Lewis said. “They shouldn’t be conditions of employment.”
Neither Lolli nor Grigsby could be reached for comment.
On Tuesday, Grigsby’s case was referred to Magistrate Judge Karen L. Litkovitz.
Grigsby is seeking “compensatory damages, economic losses, punitive damages, declaratory and injunctive relief and reasonable attorney fees and costs in this matter.”
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