Duluth School Board Votes to Remove Member Johnston

DULUTH - A dramatic Duluth School Board meeting Tuesday ended with a vote to pursue the removal of member Art Johnston from his elected seat -- a move that has never happened in the history of the Duluth School District.Johnston has been the center of an internal investigation for about four months, and Tuesday a majority of the board felt Johnston’s recent behavior is terms for dismissal. The special meeting was supposed to be a question-and-answer session for the board members and the investigator, but it ended up turning into a full-on argument of members Harry Welty and Johnston against everyone else. At one point in the meeting, Welty stood up and went in front of the members to attempt to act out a scene that allegedly happened between Johnston and Superintendent Bill Gronseth last summer. After taking center stage, the rest of the board called for a recess until he decided to take his seat. “This is out of order. This was not called for,” said board member Annie Harla when Welty stood from his seat.  “Unusual and wrong are different,” Welty argued to the investigator. During the meeting, Welty called the investigation report “stinking fish.” The evening started with open questions for investigator Mary Rice who was hired by Duluth schools in June to find the facts in multiple accusations against Johnston. Those accusations include Johnston abusing his authority as a school board member, conflict of interest, violation of the board’s code of ethics, assault against Superintendent Gronseth and Chair Mike Miernike, and making racist comments. “Gronseth was visibly looking around for any place to be other than talking to Johnston,” read investigator Mary Rice while reading back the transcripts of her report. “Johnston was gesticulating jabbing in the air with a furl brow, a scowl on his face.” After 4.5 months of interviews, e-mail reviews, and listening to comments at board meetings, Rice found Johnston did in fact shove Gronseth and Miernicki last summer at Duluth East High School’s graduation ceremony. “Tell me how, when you came up and you say this is a factual finding then,” Johnston argued. After the lengthy report, Johnston continued to deny he did anything wrong and said the whole investigation was false and based on 'here-say'. “I will say that I did not give Gronseth a shove,” Johnston said. It took 2.5 hours of back-and-forth conversation between board members and Rice until the board voted 5-2 to remove Johnston because of what they believe was inappropriate behavior, conflict of interest, and abuse of authority as a member of the Duluth School Board. “What a farce,” yelled some people in the crowd after the vote took place. “Shame on you.” With Tuesday’s vote, Johnston has 10 days to submit a written request for a hearing in front of a judge. The judge would make a recommendation, and the board would have another vote to remove him permanently. If Johnston is voted to be removed, school officials are unsure of what they would do to fill the open seat.