Elon Law professor analyzes lawsuit featured in WFMY News 2 report

Assistant Professor Vanessa Zboreak spoke with the Triad news station about legal efforts by a former superintendent to be reinstated to his top post for Rockingham County Schools.

Assistant Professor Vanessa Zboreak

An Elon Law faculty member was interviewed by WFMY News 2 in March for the station’s report on the termination and subsequent lawsuit filed by a North Carolina school superintendent.

Assistant Professor Vanessa Zboreak spoke at length with journalist Chad Silber about Superintendent Rodney Shotwell’s lawsuit against Rockingham County Schools. Rockingham County is just to the north of Greensboro.

Shotwell was fired by the county’s Board of Education in December. Shortly after his termination, the board hired an interim superintendent, but when Shotwell sued the county, a judge issued a stay that allowed Shotwell to keep his job until the case was decided.

As such, the Rockingham County Schools would have two superintendents on its payroll. “When they terminated Dr. Shotwell, they did so knowing they were obliged to pay his salary through 2022, through the end of his contract,” Zboreak said, “as well as the part-time salary for the interim superintendent.”

Zboreak teaches Legal Method & Communication at Elon Law, with scholarly interests in administrative law, remedies, and food law and policy.

An advocate for sustainability, her research explores trends in the administrative notice and comment process, communications between agencies and the public, and the way administrative law impacts food systems. Zboreak earned her law degree from Wake Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Grinnell College.