Amid a host of sex-abuse allegations against former Horace Greeley High School drama teacher Christopher Schraufnagel, Lyn McKay, 74, resigned today as superintendent of Chappaqua schools. Calls for McKay to resign from her position have been on the rise after her approval of a legal defense from the school district’s attorneys blamed students for the abuse they suffered, culminating in a protest organized by parents to demonstrate a “vote of no confidence” in McKay. While announcements from both McKay and the Chappaqua Central School District can be read here, the stream of revelations leading up to McKay’s resignation are understandably difficult to follow, so we’ve gathered what you need to know:
• According to the district-wide announcement sent by the Board of Education, McKay, after five years in the role of Superintendent, “announced her resignation for the purpose of retirement.”
• There will be a vote held by the Board of Education on Tuesday to appoint Dr. Eric Byrne, Chappaqua’s Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, as the Acting Interim Superintendent for a short period of time until an Interim Superintendent is selected and appointed.
• Back in July it was revealed that the Chappaqua Central School District’s attorneys stated any harm suffered by the four students included in the lawsuit, who were 15 at the time of the abuse, was “caused or contributed to by reason of the carelessness, recklessness, negligence and/or assumption of the risk, both implied and expressed, of the plaintiffs.” McKay allegedly signed off on this defense after legal advice from the district’s legal counsel advised her to do so.
• Schraufnagel is due back in court on November 10, according to Lohud. This past August, his attorney struck a plea deal with the Westchester County District Attorney’s office in which the 42-year-old would surrender his New York teaching license, but face no jail time and would not be placed on the sex-abuse registry. Schraufnagel was a no-show at the October court case during which Justice Douglas M. Kraus rejected the plea deal.
• In her resignation announcement, McKay addressed the Schraufnagel case, saying, “This horrendous situation is one a district and community should never have to go through.”