‘I’ve been effectively silenced’: Two Batavia school board members abruptly resign
Raising concerns of being silenced and a lack of transparency, two Batavia Unit District 101 board members have abruptly resigned.
Board members Danielle Sligar and Katy Swiecicki argued that district leaders have been unresponsive to parent and student concerns and have stifled their own attempts at facilitating meaningful change.
Sligar and Swiecicki announced their resignations during Tuesday’s board meeting.
In a statement, the district said: “We extend our sincere appreciation for their service, leadership, and commitment to the students, staff, families and community of Batavia.”
The district said it will soon share information about the process and timeline for filling the vacant seats.
Sligar has served for three years, and her term was set to expire in 2027. She said constant “barriers” by the board have prevented her from making the district’s schools a “safe and inclusive environment for all.” Sligar said the barriers prevent “open dialog, transparency and meaningful discussion.”
“Efforts to place issues on agendas often required months of follow-up, and too often concerns raised by our community felt dismissed or minimized,” Sligar said during the meeting. “I was especially discouraged by the inability of our current processes to genuinely hear staff and student voices.”
Sligar said the breakdown in communication and transparency prevented her from effectively advocating for the community. She said the current makeup of the board “symbolizes who is being centered in our discussions.”
“The board is elected to serve alongside the community, not separate from it,” Sligar said. “We should be hearing directly from students, staff and families, not solely through the lens of administration. Seeking a full understanding of an issue should never be treated as an inconvenience.”
Swiecicki was serving in her first term, which was supposed to end in 2029. She said community concerns, especially regarding inclusivity, have been met with silence by the board. Swiecicki said the current board is designed to cater to the administration rather than the students and teachers it was elected to represent.
She said community-raised issues that have not been addressed include queer acknowledgment and inclusion, technology and cellphone usage in classrooms, class sizes and “reductions in staff that can prove disastrous for our most vulnerable students.”
“When I asked for items to be placed on agendas and tried to bring forth community questions and concerns for discussion, I’m met with disbelief, defensiveness, tone policing, vague legal threats, the implication that I’m incapable of understanding how things work, and, worst of all, silence,” Swiecicki said during the meeting.
Swiecicki said her recent multiple sclerosis diagnosis has made it difficult for her to continue shouldering the stress from “operating from my voiceless seat at this table.”
She said the obstacles preventing meaningful discussions from reaching board agendas create the “perfect condition for us to dodge accountability for how our decisions get made.”
“I’ve been effectively silenced as a board member at nearly every turn,” Swiecicki said. “I can no longer tolerate asking questions that never get answered.”