Spotsylvania County school board member Dawn Shelley was caught filming a private citizen, Roy Searles, from the dais at the August 19th school board special meeting. Searles asked Interim Superintendent Guempel a question. Shelley then proceeds to badger Searles while filming him. The behavior by a sitting school board member on the dais against a private citizen is bizarre. Below is a transcript of the exchange and the video.
SEARLES: Is she threatening you Mr. Guempel? GUEMPEL: No…..(inaudible)…. SHELLEY: Where would you get that idea, Mr. Searles? Where would you get that idea? You are the one who is threatening me Mr. Searles. SEARLES: How did I threaten you? SHELLEY: Oh, let’s see all your little posts about my car….(inaudible)…playing the YMCA song….
Shameful Shelley provides many moments of bizarre behavior at school board meetings. This moment leads us to ask the following questions.
Why was Shelley filming Searles?
Is Shelley obsessed with Searles?
Does Shelley keep a private collection of Searles videos at home for her enjoyment?
Spotsylvania County school board member Dawn Shelley attended the VDOE board meeting on Wednesday August 17th. Shelley, who is employed by Stafford County schools for her day job, took time off from work to engage in partisan political activity to remove Mark Taylor from the list of eligible Superintendents in Virginia. Mark Taylor is supposedly the lead candidate for Superintendent in Spotsylvania County schools. A number of Shelley supporters attended the VDOE board meeting to hammer Taylor.
This cannot be coincidence. Discussions on specific Superintendent candidates have occurred only in closed session at this point. Specific names were not announced to the public. Is it possible that Shameful Shelley leaked Taylor’s name to her supporters well in advance so that they show up to the VDOE board meeting? We suspect it’s possible. Afterall, Shelley did state at the June 13 school board meeting that she will continue to let everyone know about internal communications that she feels is important. We made a prediction that she would leak Superintendent information in an earlier article: https://spotsywire.com/2022/06/29/we-predict-another-shameful-shelley-leak-to-fls/
We wrote emails to the Stafford County school board and administration asking for comment about Shameful Shelley taking a day off teaching students to engage in partisan political activities. At this time, we have not heard back from anyone at Stafford County Schools. We find it odd that a person that claims the school board should be non-partisan engages in partisan political behavior with a Superintendent candidate.
UPDATE TO ORIGINAL POST: The name Mark Taylor was mentioned in a FB video by Dirty Uncle Rich about 5 weeks ago. The name has in fact been out there for at least that time. Dirty Uncle has a strong association with Shameful Shelley. That is why we suspect that the name was leaked well in advance.
Here are more video clips of Dawn Shelley’s antics at school board meetings. These clips of Shameful Shelley are from June 2022. This follows up on our earlier post on Shelley’s antics at this link – https://spotsywire.com/2022/04/24/shameful-shelley-antics-part-1/
The new $22000 car that Spotsylvania County School Board member Dawn Shelley won thru a YMCA raffle raises conflict-of-interest questions. We emailed Dawn Shelley twice for comment and have not received a response. A screenshot of the email chain is below. Is it all just a coincidence that Shelly won a raffle for a brand new $22000 car?
There are three problems with the “coincidence argument” that Shelley supporters cannot overcome. First, Shelley received this prize from an organization that currently holds a contract with the school division. Second, the contract is up for renewal on August 1. Third, Shelley should have known better about a conflict of interest or the appearance of one. Afterall, Shelley constantly says at school board meetings that she knows the law and policy.
Here is the $22000 question. If someone gives you a $22000 brand new car, would you think of the person or organization more favorably? Could you be objective in your vote to issue or renew a contract? This is why conflict of interest laws exist. Below are relevant areas of state law. Carefully look at the definition of “gift”, “personal interest”, and what it says in 2.2-3108. A “gift” is anything of monetary value regardless of whether it’s won under the disguise of a raffle. A “personal benefit” is a financial benefit. School board members cannot have personal interests.
Virginia Code 2.2-3108 states that “No person elected or appointed as a member of a local school board shall have a personal interest in…….(ii) any contract with any governmental agency that is subject to the ultimate control of the school board of which he is a member”.
Virginia Code 2.2-3101 says that a gift “means any gratuity, favor, discount, entertainment, hospitality, loan, forbearance, or other item having monetary value.
Virginia Code 2.2-3101 says that a personal interest “means a financial benefit or liability accruing to an officer or employee or to a member of his immediate family. Such interest shall exist by reason of …….(iv) ownership of real or personal property if the interest exceeds $5,000 in value….”
Spotsylvania County school board member Dawn Shelley recently won a new car from a raffle sponsored by the Rappahannock area YMCA. The car is a 2022 Nissan Kicks SV valued at over $22000 MSRP.
The problem is the apparent conflict of interest. Shelley is an elected school board member that won a $22000 prize from an organization that holds a contract with the school division. Dawn Shelley, who was the school board chair in 2021, voted to approve a contract with the YMCA for childcare services in May 2021. The contract started on August 1, 2021, with option years. The next option year begins on August 1, 2022. We have included screenshots below.
The optics and timing of all of this is suspicious. Public officials such as Dawn Shelley are prohibited from accepting gifts of value because of conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest. Virginia Code 2.2-3103 states that “No officer or employee of a state or local governmental or advisory agency shall…….
“Offer or accept any money or other thing of value for or in consideration of the use of his public position to obtain a contract for any person or business with any governmental or advisory agency”
“Accept any money, loan, gift, favor, service, or business or professional opportunity that reasonably tends to influence him in the performance of his official duties.”
“Accept a gift from a person who has interests that may be substantially affected by the performance of the officer’s or employee’s official duties under circumstances where the timing and nature of the gift would cause a reasonable person to question the officer’s or employee’s impartiality in the matter affecting the donor.”
We asked School Board member Dawn Shelley and Free Lance Star reporter Adele Uphaus for a statement on our series of articles about both of them. Screenshots of their responses unedited are below.
Dawn Shelley deflects from answering the questions, avoided an in-person meeting with the Spotsy Wire, and did not respond further to our inquiry. Adele Uphaus did provide a statement implying that Shelley is providing the Free Lance Star information unsolicited including Shelley’s callous emails directed at Twigg and the conservatives.
School Board member Dawn Shelley collaborates with Adele Uphaus and Martin Davis of the Free Lance Star. Many of the articles in the Free Lance Star cover the conservative majority (Phelps, Twigg, Gillespie, Abuismail) in a negative light while portraying the left minority (Shelley, Cole, Daniels) in a positive light.
The Free Lance Star has no incentive to cover the news in a neutral objective manner because of this collaboration. This probably explains why the conservatives do not speak to the Free Lance Star. Look at the emails below for examples of this collaboration.
In the March 17 email, Shameful Shelley offers to talk to Adele Uphaus about an upcoming agenda. In the May 12 email, Shameful Shelley asks questions like a reporter as she BCCs Davis and Uphaus. In the May 15 email, Shameful Shelley provides Uphaus and Davis a preview of an email that she will send the next day. If the newspaper is truly objective and neutral, would we really see this type of close interaction with a politician on the school board?
Spotsylvania County school board member Dawn Shelley has sent emails to fellow board members and blind carbon copies Adele Uphaus of the Free Lance Star. Adele Uphaus and Dawn Shelley’s collaboration avoids the FOIA process and costs. Shelley is clearly doing this for partisan political purposes to undermine the conservative majority on the school board.
A FOIA request requires a FOIA officer to review requested information. The law requires that certain information is redacted as part of the review process. If any ordinary citizen wanted these emails, they would have to go thru the FOIA process and pay.
In emails dated January 12, January 17, and January 19th, Shelley BCCs Adele Uphaus. Below is a sampling of 4 out of those 8 emails. Shameful Shelley attempts to elicit a response from Twigg. Can you blame Twigg for not responding since Shameful Shelley is keeping Adele in the loop on everything?
Spotsylvania County school board member Dawn Shelley, otherwise known as Shameful Shelley, has been forwarding Adele Uphaus of the Free Lance Star many of the email exchanges with school board members without a FOIA request. It is clear that Shelley is working with Adele Uphaus of the Free Lance Star to set a narrative against the conservative four members of the school board.
Shelley regularly pontificates about following board policy and code of ethics. Yet, she regularly violates all of this by using her position on the school board for partisan political purposes. Shameful Shelley is not the media representative of Spotsylvania County schools. Shelley was not tasked with contacting the media thru official school board directions. Shelley has uncoupled herself from the school board. Shameful Shelley needs to be censured with further legal consultation from VDOE and legal.
On January 6, 2022, Dawn Shelley took it upon herself to forward 11 emails directly to Adele Uphaus of the Free Lance Star. Shelley allowed the Free Lance Star to bypass the FOIA process. Below is a sampling of 6 out of those 11 emails. Shelley forwarded emails that argued against holding the January 10 school board meeting at Riverbend to Adele Uphaus. Shelley even forwarded Phelps’s out of office away message to Adele even though we see little value in that. We have seen Shelley forward Adele Uphaus over 60 emails. Seems like Shelley is doing all of this for political purposes.
We find it ironic that supporters of Dawn Shelley are complaining about a measure to limit public comments at school board meetings. At the December 13, 2021, school board meeting, former chair Dawn Shelley did in fact limit the public comments.
Shelley did not allow any further public comment at the 12/13/2021 school board meeting because “we have work to do and we have had 2 hours of public comment”. Historically, the school board has allowed those that did not sign up to speak to speak after everyone is called. Shelley even acknowledged this in this video clip from 12/13/2021. Yet, she choose to limit public comments.
At the March 28 school board meeting, Dawn Shelley and Nicole Cole displayed many moments of immature behavior. Here is a video clip of Nasty Nicole interrupting April Gillespie and Shameful Shelley mocking Gillespie’s response. If Shameful Shelley behaves like this in public, it makes you wonder if she mocks her students this way at Conway Elementary.
The lack of decorum by Dawn Shelley at the February 14 school board meeting was on full display. Below is a video clip during the discussion of committee assignments. School board members are placed on ad hoc committees at the discretion of the chair. These ad hoc committees are nothing more than a group of stakeholders discussing issues with a board member present.
Shelley asks school board member April Gillespie what her “credentials” are to serve on the Governor’s School committee. Shelley does not hold this standard with anyone else and implies Gillespie is not qualified. Shelley’s passive aggressive attack on Gillespie is disgusting. This was one of many attacks by Shameful Shelley on February 14.
Spotsylvania County school board members Nicole Cole and Dawn Shelley stood in front of a “Recall Twigg” political sign at a January 18 rally. The front page of the Free-Lance Star on January 20 showed this picture. Twigg is the current school board chair. Both Shelley and Cole are using their position on the board to engage in partisan politics by advocating for the recall of another elected official.
This is a clear violation of item 9 of school board policy BBC-R. Item 9 says “I will refrain from using the board position for personal or PARTISAN gain and avoid any conflict of interest…….”. Shelley and Cole are creating division in the community thru their ethics violations. Given the past misbehavior by Cole and Shelley, it is not coincidence that they stand next to a “Recall Twigg” sign.
Dawn Shelley’s behavior was a destructive force at the January 10 school board meeting. Here is another video clip of Shelley engaging in mental abuse. It occurs minutes after Twigg and Shelley change seats in the first hour of the meeting.
Listen to what Dawn Shelley says and how she says it. Shelley attacks Twigg’s character when she states, “and you have been on this board for how long and haven’t held a leadership position”. We are convinced that Shelley’s purpose in this meeting was to create chaos. Yet, none of the news media are willing to point out Shelley’s bullying behavior in the early moments of the meeting.
School board member Dawn Shelley destroyed the decorum at the January 10 school board meeting. Here is a clip of Shelley’s obnoxious behavior that set the tone for the rest of the night. This happens mere minutes after Twigg takes over as Chair.
Listen to Shelley’s tone of voice and rhetoric. Shelley attempts to reassume the role of chair when she interrupts Abuismail. Then she attacks Twigg’s character by saying “he needs to know what he is doing”. Shelley is deliberately creating chaos. Yet, none of the news media highlight Shelley’s behavior. As a teacher, we thought Shelley would have better rhetorical skills.
School Board Chair Dawn Shelley’s authoritarian behavior was on full display at the December 13 school board meeting. A parent wanted to express her concerns about a serious issue with her daughter and the lack of response from the administration. Understandably the parent was emotional, but Shelley escalates the situation. The video of this moment is below.
Shelly initially behaved as an authoritarian by denying time for the parent and asking for law enforcement assistance. After Twigg spoke and Baker whispered something to Shelley, the parent was eventually allowed to speak.
The hypocrisy by Shelley is stunning. Shelley initially did not allow the parent to speak or take the time yielded by the other parent. However, Shelley permitted 2 speakers (Mo Pettway and Nicole Cole) to yield time to each other earlier during public comment. Shelley granted Nicole Cole special privileges by allowing her to speak a 2nd time. Shelley is clearly drunk on the power as she has constantly shouted, escalated situations, and belittled others during 2021.
In mid-September, Spotsylvania County School Board Chair Dawn Shelley made a cyberbullying post on Facebook towards school board member Lisa Phelps. In her post, she attacks the “cat lady”. That is an obvious reference to Phelps as she is well known in the community by this nickname. Shelley was called out on her bullying behavior at the end of the October 11 school board meeting. Here is the exchange:
PHELPS: So that has nothing to do with me or anyone else running? SHELLEY: It could do with whomever anyone feels it to be. PHELPS: Ok, so that would be a no. That would be a no ? SHELLEY: That would be, it can be for whomever people want it to refer to PHELPS: So in your opinion, you wrote that and you don’t know who it was? All I am asking if it was me or not, its either yes or no
Shelley’s response, “It could do with whomever anyone feels it to be”, shows that she is an idiot. She got caught and cannot defend her actions. Her unprofessional behavior sets a bad example for kids because it’s a form of cyberbullying. This video clip captures the whole exchange between Shelley and Phelps.
About a dozen of our readers sent us the following screenshot of Spotsylvania County School Board Chair Dawn Shelley’s Facebook post. The “cat lady” is a clear reference to school board member Lisa Phelps.
Thousands of children, parents, and staff are seeing firsthand the behavior of School Board Chair Dawn Shelley. This unprofessional behavior violates a code of conduct and sets a bad example for kids. Its a form of cyberbullying. She is in charge of an almost 300 million dollar school board budget and displays no control over her behavior. Surely this meets the requirements of censure or removal of the chair position immediately.
The Spotsy Wire continues to dig into the FOIA scandal involving School Board Chair Dawn Shelley and Rich Lieberman. We created another video to better explain the back story that we have uncovered in the last 24 hours. This video is long because we want to ensure our readers fully understand the details on what is occurring behind the scenes in the school division.
There is a school board policy, BG-R, that governs the interaction between the school board and administration. This is directly relevant to the Shelley/Lieberman FOIA scandal. The BG-R policy is a way of controlling board members in the minority. It restricts what school board members can do. Shelley, Grampp, and Braswell voted in favor of the BG-R policy despite repeatedly violating the policy. Below is the timeline of events in our video.
0:00 – At the 2/25/2019 school board meeting, Baron Braswell talks about the BG-R policy governing interaction between the school administration and school board.
1:57 – On Mr. Lieberman’s 9/15 Facebook video, Lieberman divulges email exchanges between him and Ms. Phelps that occurred in February 2021.
2:23 – At the 2/25/2019 school board meeting, Braswell and Phelps discuss the process when a constituent contacts a school board member pertaining to the BG-R policy.
4:39 – At the 2/25/2019 school board meeting, Braswell discusses what happens when individuals send emails to the entire school board with the BG-R policy. Take note of this statement – “when we allow ourselves to get too deep in the weeds, we have to recuse ourselves from the action”
6:01 – On Mr. Lieberman’s 9/15 Facebook video, Lieberman reads the email he sent to all school board members. Per BG-R policy, the email must be addressed by the chair (Shelley) and sent to the superintendent. Lieberman makes a hypocritical statement when he says, “we feel violated that you need to know word for word”. This is hypocritical when Lieberman advocates transparency.
8:50 – On Mr. Lieberman’s 9/15 Facebook video, Lieberman confirms Phelps followed the BG-R policy. Remember, BG-R policy requires school board members to refrain from involvement on matters that are addressed by the superintendent.
9:45 – On Mr. Lieberman’s 9/15 Facebook video, Lieberman confirms that he and Braswell talked extensively. Braswell violated the BG-R policy by having extensive interaction with Mr. Lieberman.
10:00 – At the 2/25/2019 school board meeting, Grampp confirms the validity of the BG-R policy pertaining to school board member and superintendent interaction. We suspect Lieberman would disagree.
11:58 –At the 2/25/2019 school board meeting, Shelley confirms the validity of the BG-R policy pertaining to school board member and superintendent interaction. We suspect Lieberman would disagree. Shelley states “I am not the middleman……as school board members, we do not deal with day-to-day operations of school division”. Yet with the FOIA scandal, Shelley violates the BG-R policy by getting involved in the day-to-day operations of the FOIA process.
14:30 – On Mr. Lieberman’s 9/15 Facebook video, Lieberman clearly does not understand the BG-R policy. When an email is sent to the entire board, the chairperson (Shelley) should have forwarded onto the superintendent.
15:15 – On Mr. Lieberman’s 9/15 Facebook video, Lieberman confirms that the superintendent and Braswell purposely excluded Phelps from involvement on the matter. Braswell is extensively involved at this point which is another violation of BG-R policy.
15:43 – At the 2/25/2019 school board meeting, Braswell states “we can’t present a perceived form of undue influence………if an employee believes that we unduly influenced a matter they were involved then there would be retribution against this board”
18:53 – At the 2/25/2019 school board meeting, Twigg is against the limitations imposed on the school board by the BG-R policy.
20:29 – At the 3/11/2019 school board meeting, Braswell is adamant that administration staff handle administrative items.
22:51 – Motion on floor to approve the BG-R Policy. VOTE 5-2 in favor of BG-R Policy. Shelley, Grampp, Braswell vote in favor of this policy that they routinely violate.
