Syracuse school board votes to remove Twiggy Billue in contentious public hearing

The Syracuse school board unanimously voted to remove Cherylene “Twiggy” Billue as a school board commissioner Tuesday evening after a three-hour hearing at Nottingham High School.

The school district first voted to begin the removal process for Billue on Dec. 26, but did not present the charges against her publicly until Tuesday evening. Billue, who was just re-elected in November, was charged by the school district with two charges relating to “acts of misconduct related to her authority as a board member.”

The school board ultimately voted 6-0 on both counts, and the removal decision went into effect immediately.

Both charges stemmed from Billue and her husband’s visit to their grandson’s elementary school, Roberts Elementary, on Sept. 17.

The first charge pertained to Billue entering Roberts Elementary without a visitor’s pass and subsequently walking into her grandson’s classroom without it or an escort. The school district alleged that Billue used her authority as a commissioner to ignore security protocols and school board policy.

The district alleges she also violated the collective bargaining agreement between the Syracuse City School District and the Syracuse Teachers Association, the local teachers’ union.

The association filed a formal complaint against Billue on Oct 8.

The second charge asserted that Billue used her authority as a commissioner to forcibly change her grandson’s classroom because he was bullied.

Billue denied both charges.

Billue has 30 days to appeal the decision. Billue’s lawyer, Douglas Bullock, will “talk to my client and if they want to bill then we will bill it,” he told The NewsHouse.

Billue plans to appeal the Syracuse City School District school board’s vote with the state Board of Education.

“I think in the appeal we’re going to see real justice,” Hasahn Bloodworth, a former candidate for Syracuse Common Council and friend of Billue’s, told The NewsHouse.

Throughout the evening, Bullock attempted to poke holes in the credibility of the investigation commissioned by the Syracuse City School District. He cross-examined Wendy DeWind, an attorney at Ferrara Fiorenza, who conducted the investigation. At times, he asked her if she believed she was a “fair” and “thorough” investigator.

He also implied the hearing contained a conflict of interest, as it was moderated by Colleen Heinrich, a partner at Ferrara Fiorenza. Heinrich and DeWind said they were not in contact regarding the investigation.

Instead of defending Billue’s entering of Roberts Elementary, Bullock focused on the reasoning behind her actions — defending her grandson, who he said was being bullied.

The hearing followed the school district’s code of conduct regarding identification in public, which prohibited the use of any identifiable details of minors.

This proved difficult for Bullock and his witnesses. Throughout the night, the hearing was moved to a private space in Nottingham High School on two separate occasions due to excessive use of personal identifiers.  

Bullock disagreed with the decision to move the hearing.

“I think those moves [to a private space] were done to protect their image, not the students,” he said.

The decision to remove Billue did not reflect the sentiment in the room Tuesday evening. The Nottingham auditorium was filled with more than 100 attendees, most of whom supported Billue.

But not all attendees sided with the ousted commissioner. Laura Lavine, a former Lafayette School District superintendent and the 2017 Republican nominee for Syracuse mayor, said she believed the board acted correctly.

“Without knowing any information in terms of a backstory, based strictly on what I heard today, I feel that the school board — with the support of their attorney — conducted a proper hearing and arrived at the conclusion they feel is correct based on their information,” Lavine said.

Above all else, Lavine said she feels the school district is keeping students in mind as its top priority.

Supporters of Billue mostly did not refute the charges brought against her for entering the school without permission. The real issue at hand for supporters was that the school district did not properly address the alleged bullying of Billue’s grandchild.

“As a mother, I’ve had to advocate for my child. I’ve had to go to the school,” Christi Harlow, a supporter of Billue’s, said during the hearing. “When there’s an issue, if the issue is not addressed, then the parent feels the need to go to the school.”

Bloodworth said he removed his child from Dr. King Elementary School in the Syracuse City School District. He said in the past, he had entered district schools in a similar manner to Billue, without a visitor’s pass or escort, without issue.  

“I’ve been into my son’s school at least 25 times this year,” he said. “I’ve been there with cupcakes on his birthday … never had a pass, never had an escort, never had any of that. I go, sign my name in, and I’m gone — I ask security, they say, ‘room such and such’ and I go to the room myself.”

DeWind said in her investigation that she spoke to Nicole Capsello, the president of the Syracuse Teachers Association. According to DeWind, Capsello said that teachers were “very hesitant to come forward.”

Of the two teachers DeWind spoke with, one was a probationary teacher who was “concerned about her position,” and the other was “concerned about retaliation,” she said.

Bullock said that the same occurred in his preparations for the hearing.

Regarding “potential individual witnesses, people who work for the school district,” he said, “we were met with resistance.”

“There were people who told us they didn’t want to participate because of fear of retaliation from certain people on the school board,” Bullock said.