WAYNESBORO, Pa. – The final decision from the Waynesboro Area School District pertaining to the proposed demotion of Summitview Principal Steven Pappas will be announced at the April 28 WASD board meeting after a great deal of community controversy and more than 20 hours of hearings.
Some 23 community members carried protest signs and wore tee-shirts saying “We Stand with Pappas” outside district headquarters just before the Tuesday, April 14, board meeting. Local law enforcement stood by to observe.
The school board heard Pappas’ first appeal hearings in January, and the hearings ran until March with attorneys representing both the superintendent and Pappas and with a third attorney running the hearings. The hearings were a topic of keen community interest with up to 200 interested parents and community members present and with others watching the livestream at home.
Final arguments were presented in writing earlier this month, and the board has been given time to consider fully the information presented during the appeal hearings.
As for Tuesday’s protest, local resident Kathleen Dimino said of the school district and police, “The district and local police could not have been more respectful and supportive; they are a class act.”
Not even the rainy weather could keep the Pappas supporters from showing their support as the suspended principal awaits the board’s decision. Not long after the 5:30 p.m. protest started the skies opened up with a quick thunderstorm that left the protesters soaked, but it did not dampen their resolve.
One resident who stood proudly with her “#reinstate Pappas” sign had this to say about why they were out there in the rain showing support, “With hearing the testimonies from both sides, I feel it’s (the hearings) ludicrous.”
Signs read “We demand accountability & transparency” and “Reinstate Pappas, reinstate integrity.” It was apparent that many in the local community are unhappy with the not just the proceedings, but the way the school district leaders have handled the Pappas case.
And it was not just the parents out making their voices heard. Several local students, some of whom go to school at Summitview Elementary where Pappas has worked for more than a decade, had their own signs. One read, “We miss Mr. Pappas.”
