Head of charter school in Lake Wales fired after investigation

The Lake Wales Charter School District voted 5-1 on Friday to fire Superintendent Wayne Rodolfich after investigating complaints that he created a hostile work environment and racially discriminated against at least one employee.

The vote to dismiss Rodolfich came after an investigation convinced the majority of the county board that the allegations against him were substantiated.

The district hired a Tampa law firm in April to investigate the complaints. A lawyer from the Barbas Cremer law firm and District Attorney Robin Gibson met with each board member individually before Friday’s special meeting to share their findings. They received summaries of the statements collected during the investigation. A total of 30 people were interviewed by the law firm.

Based on the summaries presented to the Board, only Brian Marbutt voted to postpone the termination.

He, like Gibson, had urged the board to wait until its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, after Gibson had had time to discuss an agreement regarding Rodolfich’s resignation with his lawyer.

The district’s human resources director, LaQuanda Burroughs, first brought the allegations against Rodolfich to the board’s attention during a special meeting on March 22. She told them she had received three confidential complaints against the superintendent.

At the district’s next special meeting on March 28, the board voted to hire labor attorney Barbas Cremer to investigate possible violations of state and federal labor laws.

Rodolfich has been working from home since then. Rodolfich was hired by the district in July 2022. His annual salary was $178,000. He was not present at Friday’s special meeting.

Several board members issued statements Friday before the vote, adding that they were “shocked” by the results of the investigation, which “confirmed” the allegations.

They also said they believe the employees who came forward had shown courage and that the board must protect the hundreds of employees who work for the district on matters like this.

The first board member to comment on Cremer’s findings was Tonya Stewart.

“As a black woman, I am insulted and outraged by what I heard,” she said of her meeting with Cremer. “I think he has to go now and not get a dime.”

The allegations began on March 19, when an employee at Burroughs filed a complaint alleging that Rodolfich had created a “toxic and hostile work environment.”

The complaint related to his conduct over the course of a year in dealings between the employee and the superintendent and listed all district employees by name as witnesses.

Rodolfich allegedly yelled at an employee and hit a table at 8 a.m. on March 18, the day before the complaint was filed.

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“It has also been reported that Dr. Rodolfich discriminated against and excluded an employee because of ‘my race,’ in quotes,” Burroughs said.

During the March special meeting, Rodolfich made brief statements after Burroughs completed her report to the trustees.

“This is the first time I’ve heard that anyone in my office has a problem with my communication,” he said, adding that the meeting took place after staff returned from spring break.

“I just want everyone to understand that I was not aware that anyone was offended by anything I said in any of the meetings before or during this, because everyone who ever did that came to my office and told me how they felt,” he said.

Rodolfich said he has had a “spotless” record since his tenure as superintendent and asked that, in the interests of himself and his family, the trustees treat him fairly.

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