Officials: Ruff’s decision best for school community

DOWNINGTOWN >> Downingtown STEM Academy administrator Zachary Ruff resigned amid controversy, resulting in what school district officials said was the best decision for the school community.

Ruff, dean of student life and academics, was placed on paid administrative leave because of his response to two teenagers who protested against abortion outside the nationally ranked school on April 21. A Downingtown Area School District employee for 15

years, he resigned on Thursday afternoon.

“Dr. Ruff, the school board, administration and all members of the Downingtown Area School District would like to put this terribly unfortunate incident in the past to enable everyone to move forward,” district officials said in a statement.

During his disciplinary hearing last Friday, Ruff was notified of the allegations against him and had the opportunity to present his account of the interaction with the protesters. Ruff, his attorney Thomas Kelly, and the district’s solicitor reviewed and discussed the confrontation that was recorded by a protester and posted on YouTube and substantiated by school surveillance video, according to school district officials. They also noted that the school surveillance video did not substantiate the allegation by students and parents that the protesters banged on cars.

Ruff received additional time at his request to review the charges and subsequent evidence to determine whether he would resign from employment

which he had suggested, according to district officials. At the conclusion of the hearing, the district continued Ruff’s suspension, however then without pay. Ruff submitted his resignation to the school board a week later.

“After considering this situation in total, its divisive impact on the community, the reaction from his students, and the attention this situation has garnered nationally, it is clear to us that Dr. Ruff decided that the best thing for his students, the school district, and the community was to resign from employment,” district officials said.

A petition created by students with the request to reinstate Ruff had gained more than 52,500 signatures, with nearly 6,000 of those signatures from Pennsylvania residents. The viral video also received national news coverage.

“Since this matter has become a national news story, the school district has received

hundreds of communications from people in and out of the community, some supporting Dr. Ruff and some condemning his actions,” school district officials said in a statement. “Hundreds of posts have been written on our social media pages and dozens of articles from news and online sources from across the nation have featured this situation.”

Additionally, dozens of people expressed their views to school board members at two regularly scheduled meetings this month. They spoke at the public comment portion of the meeting which both times were limited to 40 minutes. During both meetings, people supported Ruff’s actions to protect the students while others said his language and behavior was unprofessional and he berated the two protesters.

At one point in the video when a protester said that abortions are murder, Ruff told him he could “go to hell

where they are.”

“In reviewing the video, Dr. Ruff knew that the conduct he displayed was not representative of who he is and was not representative of the kind of educational leader he prided himself on being,” district officials said.

The district said it received an overwhelming amount of emails, phone calls, and letters. Alliance Defending Freedom, a faithbased organization representing protesters Conner and Lauren Haines, sent a letter to the district seeking an apology from Ruff and the school district, as well as an acknowledgement that the teenage siblings had a right to protest there.

“Dr. Ruff has acknowledged that the demonstrators had a right to be on a public sidewalk,” district officials said. “He acknowledged that his conduct cannot be defended or condoned and he deeply regretted his actions as displayed on the video.”

The district again acknowledged the protesters’ rights to freedom of speech and said it “will not interfere with the rights of anyone to express themselves.”

“The Downingtown Area School District has policies that comply with all legal requirements, including compliance with the First Amendment,” district officials said. “The two demonstrators had a right to be on a public sidewalk and a legal right to speak there as well.”

With the claims by students and residents that the protesters were on school grounds and not just the public sidewalk, they said that the protesters did not have a right to protest there. Others said that Ruff denied the protesters their freedom of speech. Some said the matter was more about the freedom of speech than it was about pro-life verses pro-choice.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Downingtown STEM Academy students created a petition to reinstate administrator Zachary Ruff, right, who was suspended for his response to antiabortion protesters outside of his school.