The Newburgh Enlarged City School District Board of Education has filed a petition for the removal of Board President Darren Stridiron. The action passed after a 5-0 vote on Saturday, October 7. Four charges of “Willful Neglect of Duty as Board President and Trustee for a Wrongful Purpose” were brought against Stridiron in the petition.

Stridiron first joined the board in 2014 and was elected board president in July of this year, following a 6-3 vote at the district’s annual reorganization meeting. During his tenure, he often clashed with fellow board members and the school administration and survived at least one previous attempt to have him removed from the school board.

Stridiron in 2021 vocally opposed a buyout package offered to former District Superintendent Roberto Padilla and previously initiated litigation against the district, once for $45 million for allegedly delaying release of transcripts of his son. In the spring, Stridiron sought reimbursement from the district for transporting his son, who he disclosed as “non-verbal autistic” to a school in Millbrook.

Several members of the public had the opportunity to comment on various district matters, which included the filing of the petition and board of education behavior at the board meeting on Tuesday, October 10. Several community members had strong words for Stridiron.

“Mr. Stridiron during his short tenure has been completely ineffectual, impulsive and unprofessional,” said Sarah Maida. “This board needs a steady leader who’s not impulsively, who will not impulsively lash out and expose the district to potential legal liability and most importantly who will restore the focus of the board to the students and those who are doing the work to educate them.”

“I’ve never seen a board so dysfunctional. I think I speak for everyone in this room we’ve had enough,” said David Rein. “Maybe we need somebody from the state.”

“From the minute that man [Darren Stridirion] sat down in a chair, what he did was raised questions and the minute he raised questions, I watched everyone stir and I watched eyes roll,” said Joseph Ammons. “I want to keep Darren Stridiron as the president of this board of education. I think that he’s good for us because he raises those questions. Questions need to be asked.”

Stridiron said previously thathe would be fighting the allegations brought against him going forward with everything that he had. He did not respond to request for further comment

A GoFundMe page set up by the user Accountable Newburgh has been formed to help pay for any legal fees that Stridiron may receive. A goal of $10,000 has been set on the page for Stridiron. As of Monday, October 16, only $600 has been donated towards the page.

As of Tuesday, neither the district, nor Board of Education attorney David Shaw had responded to requests for comment.