A colleague's resolution calling for her resignation drove a rift as the board convened for the final time this year on Tuesday. There was no indication that she was considering stepping down despite the four board colleagues voting to call for her to resign. Reports of a sexual assault investigation into her husband, as well as her involvement in a three-way sexual relationship, led to the demands for her resignation. She asked the board's legal counsel if the resolution wasceremonial because the board has no authority to remove a member. "I serve on another public board and this issue did not come up and we were able to forge ahead with the business of the board." At a workshop earlier in the day, Craig Maniglia told reporters that the board member was not available for comment. If she does not resign, her term on the school board will end in 2026. The governor would appoint someone to serve until the next election cycle in 2041. The conservative and liberal groups have called for the resignation of the school board member. The alleged victim and two women told police they had a sexual encounter with two men, including Christian Ziegler, over a year ago.
At the start of Tuesday's meeting, Rose noted that the board had no student representative to honor and no student performances scheduled. She said that the vote was not about the left or the right but about students. "My decision tonight was only about the children," he said. Activist groups have called the involvement of the woman in a relationship with a man Hypocritical, as she has been a vocal advocate for legislation such as the Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed "Don't Say Gay" by critics. The School Board should not be distracted by her if she stays, as she posted transphobic content on her social media. The majority of the board will be flipped in 2022, thanks to a movement promoted by conservative Republicans. The district board meetings were back to being about politics two weeks later. I'm going to make sure that I'm student-centered in everything I do, and that's why I'm asking you all to do the same.
The three hours of public comment at the meeting that mostly lambasted and implored her to step down was attended by more than 70 people. Martin Hyde was the first to speak at the meeting. "This meeting is devoted to a motion that has no real authority than I would have if I stood up in the street," Hyde said. A local activist called on a woman to resign. "Mrs. Ziegler, if you want to feign victimhood, remember that it's raining when you're the one who created the storm," he said. Robin Williams promoted a petition to the board with over 2000 signatures asking for the resignation of a board member. The parents ofSarasota were happy to have to answer the question from their children: "What is a three-way?" He said that he had called for her to resign because she had caused harm to the community. "She has turned the school board into a circus, and her continued occupation of a board seat is a stain on this district," he said. August Ray, a senior at Sarasota High School, said that policies advocated for by Bridget Ziegler almost made their parents disown them. Ray said it was "deeply ironic" that you, as a champion of the 'Don't Say Gay' bill, have been outed in the same way as trans kids. The class president at Pine View School said that she deserved to lose her job, but not because of her private sex life. "That defeats the lesson we've been trying to teach you, which is that a politician's job is to serve their community, not to police personal lives," he said. To be extra clear, you should be fired from your job because you are terrible at it.
A group of people gathered outside of the board's chambers to call on the board's leader to step down. More than 50 people gathered to hear activists speak out against the woman and urge her to resign. "I'm not a big believer in karma, but this is a pretty good advertisement for it," said a queer parent of four students. Steven Walker is a reporter for the Herald-Tribune.