Somers School Board To Meet Following Assistant Principal Controversy

SOMERS, CT — The Somers Board of Education will hold its first regular meeting Monday since the district sidelined a newly hired assistant principal while reviewing videos of sermons he delivered before joining the school system.

Aaron Geddis is not working at Somers High School while his employment status remains under discussion, the district told NBC Connecticut.

Subscribe

The videos, which circulated on social media, included comments by Geddis about homosexuality, mental illness and people with special needs. In one sermon, Geddis said people who harm themselves do not have a mental illness but are possessed by a demon.

Superintendent Sam Galloway said the videos were not known or available to him or the hiring committee when the district offered Geddis the job.

"Somers Public Schools is committed to fostering a school community grounded in inclusiveness, tolerance, and acceptance," Galloway said in a statement obtained by NBC Connecticut.

The Board of Education held a special meeting Wednesday and entered executive session with an attorney to discuss an employee's First Amendment rights. The district did not publicly identify the employee discussed during the closed session.

Geddis had been introduced to board members less than three weeks earlier, during their Aug. 24 meeting.

According to the minutes included with Monday's meeting packet, Galloway said Geddis had worked as an English teacher, department head and Freshman Academy leader before joining Somers. He most recently worked for Bloomfield Public Schools.

Galloway also told the board that he had known Geddis since his student-teaching experience and had watched his professional development and "leadership trajectory" over the years.

The controversy is not listed as a separate item on Monday's agenda. The board is scheduled to receive a superintendent's update, and members may add or remove agenda items during the meeting. An audience-to-citizens portion is scheduled near the end of the meeting.

The executive session listed on Monday's agenda concerns ratification of the Somers Administrators Association contract, according to the district.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Board of Education Chambers at 1 Vision Boulevard.

For more Northern Connecticut news, follow Patch editor Jay Kenney.