Brevard school board slammed over response to arrests of principal, teacher in alleged house party | FOX 35 Orlando

Brevard school board slammed over response to arrests of principal, teacher in alleged house party

A Brevard Public Schools (BPS) elementary school principal and teacher plan to fight the charges and head to court after they were arrested over allegations surrounding a drunken house party with students they planned and attended, according to Cocoa Beach Police.

What we know:

Both Elizabeth Hill-Brodigan, Roosevelt Elementary’s school principal, and Karly Anderson, a third-grade teacher at the school, have lawyers and are pleading not guilty to charges including contributing to the delinquency of a minor and child neglect.

Police are accusing both of them of being tied to an alleged drunken and drug-filled house party for up to 200 students in Cocoa Beach.

RELATED: 'Things happen': BPS Board Chair unfazed by principal, teacher arrest over alleged teen house party

FOX 35 News learned on Wednesday both have lawyers and want to go to trial. This comes as police continue to investigate.

Both the principal and teacher are still on paid leave while the district lets the police handle it. However, a former school board member is sounding the alarm about how the district is handling this situation.

What they're saying:

"There were 200 students inside of that home. There were adults present when that was happening. They were using drugs, drinking alcohol, had weapons that they were pointing at one another," said former BPS school board member Jennifer Jenkins.

Those are some of the details Cocoa Beach police reported in charging documents when they arrested Roosevelt Elementary’s principal and third-grade teacher last Friday.

RELATED: Florida principal hosts underage house party; Alcohol, marijuana, fights, and gun found: affidavit

"I’ve read the police report, and it seems that it was a teenage party," said current school board chair, Gene Trent.

Jenkins served on the school board for four years and decided to speak out after hearing her former colleague’s comments earlier this week.

"I know Chairman Trent claims he read it. He didn’t read it. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he lied about reading so he can have a little wiggle room to correct his course and the statement he made," said Jenkins.

Trent told FOX 35 News on Tuesday he believes the district is doing the right thing by putting the staff members on leave and letting the investigation play out.

"This isn’t anything new," he said. "When we have thousands of employees, things happen."

Jenkins disagrees.

"This is obviously something new. This is something that the board chairman has a responsibility to denounce, to rebuke," she said.

Jenkins is calling on her former school board members to make some changes to the board immediately.

"He failed epically, and it is their responsibility to make sure he is removed from the chairmanship," Jenkins concluded.

What we don't know:

FOX 35 reached out to the attorneys now involved in this case to get their clients' side of the story. This story will be updated when we receive any new details.

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The Source: The information in this article comes from reporting done by FOX 35's Esther Bower.

Brevard CountyCrime and Public Safety