LOCKPORT, N.Y. (WKBW) — The status of Superintendent Dr. Sean Croft's employment was the main topic on the agenda at a Starpoint Board of Education meeting on Monday.
Croft is facing a DWI charge after a crash in West Seneca. According to police, he failed several standardized field sobriety tests and a roadside breath test was also positive for alcohol. He has since been on administrative leave.
Superintendent Dr. Sean Croft was arrested and charged with DWI. Police said Croft refused a breath test at the station to determine his BAC % and was released to a sober adult on appearance tickets. He is due back in court in mid-September.
At the BOE meeting on Monday, the board went into executive session for about an hour and a half, followed by a public meeting where a few people voiced their thoughts on how to move forward with his position.
"It was the handling of the wrestling team and the supposed allegations by the board and Sean Croft that pushed us to a point we'd never would have imagined when our boys started to go to school here. We cannot, in good faith, allow our sons to continue their academic and athletic careers under the failed leadership, and chose to enroll them at a different school last year," parent Meghan LaPlante said. "They talked to us about accountability. All of you did in the midst of this entire wrestling saga, coaches were fired, students' seasons shut down, their character maligned. What happened to those leaders?"
"He did manage us through a pandemic which nobody has ever seen before, then he implemented things to help the students when they came back. He's also checked with the staff after the pandemic to see how we were doing emotionally and physically," Starpoint CSD Special Programs team member Diane Martineau said. "Unfortunately, he does have a personal life. I feel that the poor judgment he made, it was not during Starpoint time, it did not affect a Starpoint student, a Starpoint family, the staff or the district. We are all human."
"A year and a half ago, I was told by this board and the superintendent, that my sons have to take accountability for the false accusations that they were accused of. Today, I sit in front of you asking, how is Dr. Croft being held accountable," parent Ryan Caldwell asked. "People make mistakes and I understand that but this gentleman should be held to a much higher, much more accountability being in the position that he is, taking care of students, taking care of children."
One board member said they are still gathering information before making a final decision. In the meantime, Maureen Braunscheidel has taken the role of acting superintendent of schools.
