District looks into sexual harassment allegations

Andrew Edwards

The Ocean View School District has hired an independent investigator

to look into allegations that school board President Barbara

Boskovich violated the district’s sexual harassment policies by

allegedly spreading rumors about a principal, officials said.

“We are in discussions with our attorneys to see if there are

grounds for an investigation,” said Michael Luker, assistant

superintendent of human resources. “We are in the process of looking

into this matter.”

Luker would not elaboration on what he called a personnel matter,

except to say that if an investigation is launched, the inquiry will

not be conducted by anyone the district does business with.

The independent investigator hired by the district is the Law

Offices of Karen T. Meyers, which is already reviewing whether there

are grounds to investigate Boskovich, school board member Carolee

Focht said.

A member of the school district’s budget advisory committee, Tom

Overend, demanded a full investigation into the matter during the

board meeting’s public comment period when he accused Boskovich of

spreading malicious rumors about Harbour View Elementary School

Principal Roni Ellis.

The district’s sexual harassment policies prohibit the spreading

of sexual rumors about district employees.

Overend said he had been told by an unnamed party that Boskovich

allegedly told Ellis of the rumor, and then repeated the rumor a

second time to a group of teachers at an event at Circle View

Elementary School.

“I was outraged by what I heard and that’s why I’m calling for a

personal investigation,” Overend said.

Boskovich declined to comment on the accusation.

“I’m going to let the investigators handle it,” she said.

Ellis, who attended the meeting, said she did not know in advance

that that Overend planned to use her name to make a public accusation

against Boskovich.

“I didn’t know he was going to be doing this, but I’d rather it

pass his lips than [Boskovich’s],” Ellis said. She referred all other

questions to her attorney, Grace Emery.

Emery said Boskovich did repeat the rumor to Ellis.

“There’s no question about that, she told her point blank,” she

said.

Overend’s three children went to Harbour View, and he said he and

Ellis were personal friends.

Boskovich’s defenders asserted Overend was essentially doing the

same thing he accused Boskovich of doing: spreading rumors.

“They’re just slinging mud hoping something will stick,” Focht

said. “That is trash.”

Boskovich is running for reelection in a tandem campaign with

Planning Commissioner Tom Livengood against attorney Debbie Cotton

and businessman Michael Haskin. Overend has given $200 to Cotton’s

campaign, and both are members of the budget advisory committee.

Overend and Cotton denied any political motivation behind the

allegation.

“It’s not a political thing, it doesn’t have anything to do with

me,” Cotton said.

She said Overend called her on Monday to notify her that he

planned to speak at the Tuesday meeting.

Livengood stuck by his running mate, and said the allegations

would not change his approach to the campaign.

“I have full confidence in Barbara, that she is for the children

of this district, and my feeling is she wouldn’t do anything to

jeopardize that,” he said.