Columbus City Schools Board of Education asks member to resign

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Columbus City Schools Board of Education held a special meeting Monday night to talk about the actions of member Brandon Simmons.

Board members passed a resolution to censure Simmons and asked him to resign immediately. They said they came to this decision because of Simmons’ continually disruptive behavior. CCS board member Sarah Ingles read the resolution aloud during the meeting.

“Because of the board’s extreme disappointment in Board Member Simmons’ disregard of such policies and the repeated nature of the disregard, Board Member Simmons is officially requested by those voting in favor of this resolution to submit his resignation from the Columbus City Schools District Board of Education effective immediately.”

Watch: Columbus City Schools board censures member

This is the second time Simmons has been censured, with the first time happening just months ago for his role in a controversial leaked memo. The board said Simmons was censured again and asked to resign because he has created disturbances and threatened the education of CCS students.

During the special meeting, Ingles read the resolution and censure that shared some of Simmons’ behavior. They said he entered school buildings without permission multiple times, intentionally blocked another board member from exiting a room after a board meeting and communicated with other board members in a threatening manner.

The resolution also gave Simmons some restrictions, including that he can’t go onto school property without express permission from the board president and the district’s general counsel. He’ll now be escorted by security in and out of all board meetings, and he can’t represent the school board at any event or meeting. Everyone but Simmons voted yes on the resolution and censure.

Simmons tried to speak during the vote and asked if he was going to be denied the opportunity to speak about the censure. The school board president, Christina Vera, responded to Simmons that he was out of order and would be asked to leave if he did not comply. Simmons left before the meeting was over.

President Vera said the censure is necessary for student and district safety.

“I recognize that this is hard on everybody. Most importantly our students and our families deserve better. At the end of the day, as a board we will not tolerate or compromise the safety of this district for anyone,” Vera said.

The board has its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday at 6 p.m. View the full resolution from the CCS school board in its entirety below:

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