ANTHONY WAYNE – Anthony Wayne Board of Education member Shellie McKnight will resign effective Dec. 31, Board President Kyle Miller announced during a special meeting on Sept. 18.
The board also voted to censure McKnight, following criticism of a laughing emoji she used in response to an article on activist Charlie Kirk’s shooting, posted on her personal Facebook page on Sept. 11. McKnight stated during a Sept. 15 meeting that the emoji choice was an accident – a result of not using prescription glasses while perusing Facebook out in the sun.
The board members, including Miller, Jeff Baden, Lindsay Hoipkemier and Mike Stamm, voted in favor of the censure, while McKnight voted against it. A school board censure is a resolution that officially reprimands a member for policy violation, misconduct or unprofessional behavior, according to a release from district Superintendent Kevin Herman.
“It’s a public display of ‘we don’t approve of what she’s done on her social media,’” Miller said.
The censure, McKnight said, was inappropriate.
“What they are accusing me of had nothing to do with my actual work while I was on the board, doing board work…and that work has been exemplary,” she said.
The board asked her to step down from the policy board committee, and she agreed, but McKnight will remain on the curriculum committee until Dec. 31. Hoipkemier is also on the curriculum committee, and said it’s given her a chance to connect with McKnight over the past year and a half.
“I have no ill feelings toward Shellie about the situation. It’s not a personal matter,” Hoipkemier said during the meeting. “I just truly feel that the resignation…should be effective today. I would prefer it would be effective immediately.”
After the meeting, McKnight said she was the one to call for the executive session to explain her reasons why she’s resigning.
“It had nothing to do with the Charlie Kirk fiasco,” said McKnight, explaining that she was already planning to speak with Herman about resigning in October, because of “personal and private health and family issues.”
She pushed to remain on through the end of the year to tie up loose ends, including work on the curriculum committee – where she has utilized her experience as retired educator. On the board, and on the committee, McKnight said she plans to continue to promote the school, the teachers, the students and to work to maintain the district’s reputation as being in the top 5 percent in Ohio.
“I am extremely sorry that any of this has happened to affect the Anthony Wayne school district, its excellent, fantastic teachers and the great kids,” she said.
With McKnight’s resignation, the board will take applications and go through an interview process to fill her position, similar to one used when Andy Prine resigned in June 2022 to move out of the district for work.
“We would as a board decide on a fitting candidate to fill the rest of her term,” Miller said.
McKnight took office on Jan. 1, 2024 and her term ends Dec. 31, 2027.
“We’ll look for somebody that’s not so active on social media,” Miller said, adding that he expects the board to review its policy on social media use.
McKnight advised that any new school board member should learn about how a board functions by reading and going to classes in Columbus, staying focused on school issues and keeping in touch with community members.
