ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (WJW) – It was a fiery school board meeting Thursday night as some angry parents in Rocky River blamed the superintendent for recent scandals in the district, involving staff members and inappropriate relationships with students.

The superintendent says he shares their concerns, vowing to work together to make the district safer.

“Like many of you, we are deeply upset by the actions of a few individuals,” said Dr. Michael Shoaf.

Near the start of the Rocky River School Board meeting, the superintendent addressed parents’ concerns.

“Dr. Shoaf, it’s too late. Your words, I saw right through you tonight. it took 843 signatures and two news cameras for you to finally address the fact that we have problems? And your solution is to start communicating? What have you been doing up until now?” said Danielle Munk, a parent who spoke for the woman who began a petition to oust top administrators.

Some parents have started a petition on Change.org, demanding the resignation or termination of the superintendent and three other top administrators.

As of late Thursday evening, the petition had nearly 850 signatures.

“I haven’t seen it, I don’t know who signed it. I haven’t verified it, I haven’t looked at it. What’s important to me is we have the opportunity to move forward in the district, we have opportunities to make improvements and make sure some of the really negative things we’ve had to deal with, we won’t have to deal with in the future,” Dr. Shoaf said.

In June, an intermediate school principal was placed on paid leave, after former students claim they smoked and drank with him at his home.

No criminal charges have been filed.

In August, a school resource officer was put on leave, accused of an inappropriate relationship with a student.

No charges there either.

“You know what they say to me? ‘I can’t believe you live in Rocky River. We thought about moving there, but every time we see you on the news, we’re like, wow, that school is filled with sexual predators,'” said another parent.

But many parents at the meeting showed support for Dr. Schoaf.

“I support our administration, I specifically support Dr. Schoaf’s discussion tonight,” one parent said.

“I don’t care about the petition. It’s your right to have it, it’s just a shame you didn’t realize you could have done both at the same time,” said Darryl Forest, who has two children in the district.

“I just want to thank you. I know not everything is perfect, l know some changes are needed, I know there are some things that need improved upon,” said another parent at the meeting.

“We have people who care about our kids and we’re going to move forward as a district. We have a lot of work to do. It’s going to take all of us,” said Dr. Shoaf.

In addition, back in 2021, five teachers resigned and one retired after an investigation where they were caught on Zoom, accused of discussing the possibility that a teacher had an explicit photo of a female student.

There were no criminal charges filed in that case either.

Asked whether he would consider resigning, Dr. Schoaf simply said, “no.”