ROSSFORD, OH (WTOL) – After being unpaid on suspension since he was arrested for child porn charges in March, the Rossford Exempted Village School Board wants to fire William Buzzell.
The former elementary school principal is still technically under contract with the district, and the Rossford Board of Education made a strong statement this week by calling for his termination.
Buzzell was arrested while he was the principal at Glenwood Elementary School, and indicted on four counts involving child pornography.
The indictment states that Buzzell either downloaded or sent images of minors touching themselves at least three times from his home computer. Buzzell has pled not guilty to those charges, but the trial process has been slow.
The board passed a resolution this week saying that the district no longer has a position that Buzzell can fill, and he has been unable to perform his employment contract for the last ten months. He has been on unpaid leave from his position as principal.
The resolution says that his bond conditions ban Buzzell from entering Rossford Schools property or having contact with children, and it rejects the findings of a state-appointed referee who said that Rossford does not have just cause to fire the principal.
District Leaders refused to comment to WTOL on-camera, but interim superintendent Bill McFarland told Matt Wright by phone that "The school is put in a very difficult situation because nothing took place on school grounds or using school equipment."
The exact meaning of the strongly-worded board resolution is still slightly unclear, and it may be up to Buzzell to resign.
More details will be cleared up after Buzzell returns to Wood County Common Pleas Court for a pretrial hearing on January 23.
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