The chair of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors has filed a federal lawsuit against local school officials.
Republican Martha Hooker’s suit names three members of the county’s school board and its superintendent, Dr. Ken Nicely.
Hooker, who worked part-time for the district, alleges she was wrongfully terminated by vindictive administrators.
According to the suit, Hooker was fired in retaliation for a Board of Supervisors vote on school fund disbursement.
As Cardinal News reports:
Martha Hooker, a longtime teacher in the division, retired in 2021 but soon took a part-time role as work-based learning coordinator. She worked about two days a week under the supervision of the career and technical education director, Jason Suhr.
According to her federal lawsuit, which was filed Friday in the Western District of Virginia, the county attorney had told Hooker at least once that there was no conflict of interest for her to hold public office on the board of supervisors — which she’s done since 2016 — and also work for the school division. And in March, Suhr confirmed Hooker to continue working for the division for the 2023-2024 school year.
But on May 30, Suhr told Hooker that the school board had decided to terminate her.
Hooker alleges in the suit that her firing was retaliation for how she voted on the board of supervisors regarding funding for several major school renovation and construction projects.
The county board of supervisors voted to change the process for allocating funds to public schools, from one lump sum to a series of installments. Hooker says she voted for the change to ensure “transparency and accountability.”
The suit claims that school board chair Brent Hudson became hostile towards Hooker following the vote, allegedly warning her that it would “be an ongoing roadblock to our relationship.”