School board mum on principals’ fate
Sussex Central officials sued by ex-student
While the Indian River Board of Education appeared to take action Wednesday night related to the employment of two Sussex Central High School administrators being sued by a former student, they declined to reveal just what actions they took.
In September, 18-year-old Aniya Harmon filed a lawsuit against Principal Bradley Layfield and Assistant Principal Matt Jones, claiming they created a meme of her bare breast from a video surveillance screenshot and shared it with staff members in May.
Layfield and Jones were placed on administrative leave and Delaware State Police began an investigation, which has since been passed on to the Department of Justice, according to spokesperson India Sturgis. Just before the current school year began, an acting principal was named at Sussex Central High School, but the Indian River School District has otherwise remained silent on the issue, citing state and federal privacy laws.
Over five months after the investigation began, the agenda for the board’s Nov. 15 meeting seemed to indicate the district would finally break its silence. The executive (or closed) session would include “discussion regarding the administration’s recommendation regarding the administrators assigned to Sussex Central High School,” the agenda said, followed by “consideration” of that recommendation in open (or public) session.
A small crowd showed up, many of whom made comments to the board testifying to Layfield’s integrity and leadership. Layfield himself attended the meeting with his parents. There was no mention of Jones, nor did he attend.
The board voted on four recommendations in public session, but no names or details were used. Afterward, the board’s attorney, James McMackin of Morris James, said he couldn’t comment due to “privacy rights.”
The last 5 months
The Indian River School District announced in May “members of the Sussex Central High School staff were placed on administrative leave,” but Layfield and Jones weren’t named until Layfield’s lawyer issued a statement in August. The statement revealed the investigation was related to video footage of a May 17 student fight in which Harmon’s breast was briefly exposed.
Layfield was not present for the fight. However, he admits he reviewed video footage of it multiple times that day with about a dozen staff members, according to Layfield’s attorney Thomas Neuberger, which he said is “common practice” when fights occur.
“The district has no written policies on who gets to see surveillance videos. There were no policies, no rules or regulations violated,” Neuberger said.
The statement didn’t mention any meme, and when asked, Neuberger said his client wasn’t aware of it.
In September, Harmon filed the lawsuit and held a news conference with her mother, Latosha White, and attorney, Raj Srivatsan of the Igwe Firm. The complaint claims Jones “worked with and made an agreement with (Layfield) and possibly others” to create the meme, replacing her face with Janet Jackson’s, and showed it to staff members.
The lawsuit alleges invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other counts. Harmon is asking for punitive damages.
Since Wednesday
Following an executive session Wednesday night, the board addressed four agenda items in public session: two related to employee “2024-1” and two related to “2024-2.” Both were listed as “consideration of the administration’s ... recommendation” regarding each employee.
All board members voted in favor of accepting all four recommendations, except for three members who abstained from voting each time: Vice President James Fritz, Madeline Moses and Gerald Peden. Immediately after those votes, the board adjourned the meeting and their lawyer refused to explain what had happened.
On Thursday, district spokesman David Maull sent the following via email.
“Given that last evening’s board actions concerned personnel matters, we must refrain from comment in respect of our employees’ privacy rights. The personnel agenda from the executive session described the capacity in which, and building where, the employees are assigned. Any action taken is protected from disclosure. If further information can be provided in the future, we will do so.”
Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on Sussex County and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.