Buffalo School Board member: 'I'm devastated'

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - "I'm devastated, It was hard for me to get through that notice of claim and see the detail of the allegations."

Buffalo School Board member Larry Scott on WBEN Friday, reacting to the sexual harassment scandal rocking Buffalo Public Schools.

A district employee has accused Dr. Pascal Mubenga of sexual abuse and abuse of authority. School board member Muki Hawkins is accused of harassing, threatening and retaliatory conduct.

Scott said he knew about the allegations regarding a board member in early June. But he did not know about allegations against the Superintendent until this past Monday when Mubenga submitted his resignation.

"It's a sad day for our Buffalo Board of Education and Buffalo Public Schools," he added.

Asked about the state of the school board, Scott said it is absolutely fractured.

To that point, Scott said he never received the allegations against the board member, who was not named until this week.

"The School Board President (Dr. Kathy Evans-Brown) said she was going to share them with all board members and that never happened. The President also said that the board member accused of sexual harassment was not going to be part of discussions regarding the firm that was picked to investigate, and that did not happen."

Scott has been demanding an independent, impartial firm doing the investigation. But, he said the firm that was picked, without approval from the full board of education, is a firm that has ties to some current, sitting board members.

Can the district right the ship, on its own?

"I'm not looking for a state takeover," explained Scott. "But I do think the state needs to intervene, and do an investigation to get us going in the right direction and focused on our students, because that's why we do this and right now we're far away from doing what's best for students."