ABINGDON, Va. – Family members of a High Point Elementary School employee caught up in controversy didn’t comment but looked happy when the Washington County School Board voted Monday night to let her keep her job.
Lisa Faust, a receptionist at the school, will spend 10 days on unpaid leave before returning to work, after a unanimous vote by the board.
Family and community members were under the impression that she had permanently lost her job after she accidentally gave the wrong medication to a child at
the school.
And though questions are being asked in the community about why a receptionist was required to dispense medication, school officials also were tight-lipped.
“The board does not respond during public comment,” Chairman Tom Musick said when Faust’s son, Josh Faust, asked during the public comment period at the start of the meeting for “clarity” on his mother’s tentative firing. “This board or Dr. [Superintendent Alan] Lee or any other of the administration will not discuss
personnel with anyone other than the person being discussed.”
Lee said before the meeting that he would not comment on personnel issues.
Lisa Faust also had no comment after the decision late Monday, according to a man who answered the phone.
Josh Faust attended the meeting with his wife, sister, brother, sister-in-law and a family friend in support of Lisa Faust; she was at home watching their children, they said.
They said other staff members at the school have been wearing black in protest of her firing, while members of the community have expressed support on a Facebook page.
“My mom’s worked at the school system, I think, for 11 years, she’s been a secretary there and continuously when I go out … I meet people who absolutely love my mom,” Josh Faust said. “She’s got the biggest heart of anyone you’ve seen in your life.”
The man who answered the phone at Lisa Faust’s home Monday said as far as he knew no harm had come to the child as a result of her error – but they had no comment on the decision.
dmccown@bristolnews.com | (276) 791-0701
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