LEE COUNTY — The Lee County School Board voted Tuesday night to pass a motion, calling for board member Chris Patricca to be investigated by the Governor's office for "abuse of position."
The motion read as follows "A motion to ask the Governor to look into a systemic, consistent abuse of position and accountability for actions of a board member."
Board members Betsy Vaughn, Gwynette Gittens, Melisa Giovannelli, and Debbie Jordan voted in favor. Board members Mary Fisher and Cathleen Morgan voted against.
The vote followed hours of discussion and public comment regarding statements Patricca made about Guatemalan students in the District during a meeting of the Estero Council of Community Leaders on September 24th. You can read more about the specific statements she made in our previous story.
In Tuesday's meeting, one of the public comments came from Mario Juarez, the President and CEO of the of the Guatemala US-FL Chamber of Commerce. He said in part "We deserve better representation to our School Board District. It's time for us to step up and speak up... Those remarks made our students feel like ignorants. This is not acceptable, not in the School District, not to our kids."
