Rush-Henrietta Board of Education votes to remove a member

HENRIETTA, N.Y. (WROC) — The Rush-Henrietta Board of education voted to remove a member during Tuesday night’s meeting.

By a vote of 6-1 Douglas Rivers was removed from his seat.

Rivers was appointed by the board in December 2019 to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of Robert Cook. Rivers was later elected to a three-year term back in June.

According to the Rush-Henrietta Central School District website:

“In New York state, a board member may be removed from office either by the commissioner of education or the local school board. The removal of a board member is allowed when a board member has engaged in a willful violation or neglect of duty, or the willful disobedience of a law or a decision, order, or regulation of the commissioner or rule of the Board of Regents.”

The district’s website says Rivers had a “full and fair opportunity to refute such charges before removal” during an executive session held by the school board last month.

Rivers may choose to appeal to the state commissioner of education within 30 days, and for that reason, district officials are not yet seeking a replacement.

A statement from the district Wednesday about the decision:

“the Rush-Henrietta Central School District, nor members of the Board of Education, will be commenting in detail given the possibility that this decision may be appealed.

That said, this was a difficult and painful decision. Following a formal hearing, and after carefully considering the evidence presented both for and against Mr. Rivers, the remaining members were unanimous in reaching a decision to remove him from the Board of Education as a result of finding that he improperly divulged confidential information.”

Check back with News 8 WROC as we will continue to update this developing story.