VIRGINIA — The Rock Ridge School Board removed a board member at a special meeting Tuesday, Nov. 19, citing the prioritization of personal interests and undermining of school board decisions.
The board passed a resolution to remove Pollycan Sorcan 5-1. Sorcan did not attend the meeting.
At the meeting, board member Brandi Lautigar read an eight-page resolution detailing an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct against Sorcan. The resolution focuses on lawsuits about the demolition of school buildings and the forwarding of emails from Sorcan’s school account to her private one.
Sorcan, 71, was reelected to the board in 2022. She has spent more than 20 years on the Rock Ridge and former Eveleth-Gilbert school boards. She has sued both districts on separate occasions and has a pending appeal in her most recent suit against the district.
The resolution states Sorcan attempted to overturn or help others overturn the school board’s decision to demolish old school buildings. Earlier this year, interested people who, like Sorcan, felt the buildings should be saved asked her to call an attorney representing the plaintiff in a lawsuit aiming to prevent the demolition.
Sorcan told the investigator she had her "individual citizen hat on” when she contacted the attorney.
“However, it is illogical to conclude that she could "remove her school board hat" when contacting [the attorney] because she was contacting [the attorney] about official actions that had been taken by the school board,” the resolution states.
The resolution stated Sorcan forwarded 383 emails from her school account to her private email account, neglecting to "uphold her duty to guard the confidentiality of data.” Forwarded messages included emails from community and staff members voicing concerns, status updates from the superintendent, confidential emails from the district’s legal counsel regarding ongoing litigation and emails from plaintiffs involved in litigation against the district.
“When asked if she can understand why the school district would be concerned when they can see all these various types of emails containing private/confidential government data going to her private email account with no way of knowing where the emails might go after that, she said, 'not really,'" the resolution states.
The board discussed the allegations in a closed session during its Oct. 28 meeting and approved a similar resolution that allowed Sorcan ten days to request an independent hearing.
Board member Nicole Culbert-Dahl motioned to censure Sorcan — rather than move forward with her removal — during an October meeting. No one seconded the motion.
The resolution proposing Sorcan's removal passed 4-3, with Culbert-Dahl, Sorcan and Lisa Westby in opposition.
Sorcan had four opportunities to respond, according to the resolution passed Tuesday, including at the October meeting, through requesting a hearing, during the investigation and at Tuesday’s meeting.
Westby said at Tuesday's meeting that she didn't remember Sorcan having an opportunity to address the board after the closed session, and Culbert-Dahl agreed. Westby was the sole opposing vote.
After the October closed session, Sorcan said it was "very unfair, very unjust" to move forward without allowing her to respond to the report and that she found parts of it presumptuous and inaccurate.
“Yeah, the report came out but is it assumed 100% accurate just because an investigator put it on paper?" she said.
"I’m telling you there aren’t and it’s unfair for you to make a decision. Make a decision at a later time. I’d be accepting of that as long as I and/or legal counsel would have a chance to respond. I would never do this to somebody."
The board plans to hold a special election in 2025 to fill Sorcan's seat. Her term expires December 2026.
