With Kaitlin Campbell, Phoebe Gulsen, Lauren Holdmeyer, Liam Kennedy and Samantha Olander
Roberts PreK-8 School in Syracuse on April 3, 2026. (Drone footage by Liam Kennedy and Dan Pacheco)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — More than 13,000 Syracuse voters cast ballots last November to re-elect Cherylene “Twiggy” Billue to the city school board for a second term – more than any other candidate in the race except for one. In January, just six people overturned that decision.
On Jan. 20, 2026, roughly two weeks after she was sworn in, the Syracuse City School District Board of Education voted unanimously to remove Billue from the board. The board charged her with violating its visitor policy by entering Roberts PreK-8 School on Sept. 17, 2025, without signing in or obtaining a visitor’s badge, and going to a classroom without an escort.
Unless she wins an appeal of her removal, Billue cannot run for the board again until 2027, according to Onondaga County Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny. Billue said she went to the school that day to move her grandson, who attends Roberts, to a different classroom because he was being bullied.
The Syracuse Teachers Association, which filed a formal complaint that prompted the investigation, said the September incident was the latest in a years-long pattern of Billue entering school spaces where she had no official role.
Billue, who has spent decades as a community activist and organizer in Syracuse and currently serves as Director of Workforce Initiatives at Jubilee Homes, denies wrongdoing. She is appealing her removal to New York State Commissioner of Education Betty A. Rosa, and more than 60 of her supporters have raised more than $7,000 toward her legal defense.
Amanda Smith, an employment, labor and education attorney at Tully Rinckey in Buffalo, New York, said the removal case is out of the ordinary.
“I would say it’s not common in any way,” Smith said. “Most of the ones that I have seen are about more discriminatory or derogatory comments…I would hazard a guess that you’re probably going back to the early 2000s, at least, for anything like this.”
The Newhouse Spotlight Team reviewed the redacted investigative report and the three-hour removal hearing, and built its own database of 64 documented school board removal and censure cases across the United States going back to the 1990s. No case matched the circumstances of Billue’s removal: a unanimous vote to expel an elected official over a minor administrative policy violation.
The complaint and investigation
The STA filed a formal complaint on Oct. 8, alleging that Billue entered Roberts PreK-8 School on Sept. 17 and “intimidated” staff.
The complaint alleged that Billue moved her grandson from one classroom to another. The teacher in the grandson’s new classroom was unaware of the switch and told Billue that she needed a visitor’s pass.
“She responded that ‘she was not always going to have a pass and that she was a commissioner of education,’” the complaint read.
The school district hired Ferrara Fiorenza PC, a Syracuse law firm that focuses on employment and labor relations law, to investigate “allegations of abuse of power” against Billue. The firm has represented the district in a range of past matters.
A second complaint in the investigative report, filed by an anonymous party, described an “inappropriate use of Commissioner Billue’s position” during a “conflict.” The details of that complaint were heavily redacted in the version of the report released publicly.
A partially-redacted interview summary in the report characterized Billue as “frequently intervening in ways that blurred personal and official roles.”
In her own interview with the firm, Billue emphasized that “she was acting in a personal capacity” and “not as a commissioner [of education],” according to the report.
“Shroud of secrecy”
Wendy DeWind, an attorney at Ferrara Fiorenza, led the investigation and conducted nine video interviews between late October and late November 2025. Witnesses were neither sworn in nor required to submit written statements.
DeWind submitted her report on Dec. 8, 2025, concluding that Billue violated the district’s visitor protocols and failed to adhere to building security procedures. It was the only piece of evidence introduced at her removal hearing. The presenting attorney’s only witness was DeWind herself, who recounted her process of compiling the report.
Some community members who supported Billue described the process as operating under a “shroud of secrecy.”
Tiffany Lloyd, a Syracuse City School District parent and director of women’s health and engagement at the Allyn Family Foundation, donated to Billue’s legal defense GoFundMe. Though she said that she is not a “Twiggy supporter,” she took issue with how the investigation unfolded.
“Why hasn’t the district released evidence for the people to see?” she wrote. “The parents of this district deserve transparency.”
Investigation by Ferrara Fiorenza into alleged abuse of power by Cherylene “Twiggy” Billue.
The 67-page report the district released after a public records request was heavily redacted, with nearly all witness accounts and most of Billue’s responses blacked out. A total of 32 pages were completely redacted, including Exhibits C, D, F, G, H, I, J, K and L.
A representative from the school board declined to comment for this story. Board President Tamica Barnett told the Newhouse Spotlight Team she would grant an interview after a producer requested one during the public comment period at the April 8, 2026, business meeting. However, after multiple follow-up emails and phone calls, Barnett never did.
At the removal hearing, Douglas Bullock, Billue’s attorney, cross-examined DeWind at length about her investigative process. When asked, DeWind said she had not obtained the visitor sign-in log for Sept. 17, had not interviewed any security guards on duty that morning, had not requested text messages between the two teachers involved and had not visited Roberts in person at any point.
DeWind said she did not seek security footage because she believed it would already have been deleted. When Bullock pressured her on how she could know that without confirming it with the school, DeWind said that in her experience, most school districts delete footage within a week to 30 days.
Billue said publicly after the hearing that she believes footage at Roberts is retained for 180 days and would still have been available.
The district told the Newhouse Spotlight Team it keeps the footage for 14 days.
“They are saying she came in here and violated this policy,” Bullock said at a press conference after the hearing. “Why didn’t they pull the video? The investigator didn’t get the video and made no attempt to corroborate the story.”
Smith said the investigation fell short of what the situation likely required, though she noted that in a school board removal hearing witnesses are not required to testify under oath, and hearsay is not a valid objection to exclude evidence – despite Bullock flagging it as an issue repeatedly.
“It’s more of a best practice situation…If the accusation is that someone didn’t sign in…I would say whether or not the person signed or has access to the documents would be pretty important to prove the case,” she said. “It would be a better practice to get the logs. It would be better practice to get someone willing to swear to what they went through.”
She added: “If I were representing Twiggy, I probably would tear that apart.”
Bullock also raised conflict of interest concerns. The attorney who conducted the investigation, the attorney who brought forth the charges and the attorney who presided over the hearing are all lawyers at Ferrara Fiorenza – the same firm the district retains on an ongoing basis.
“There was no attempt at impartiality here,” Bullock said. “I’m a little upset at the obvious corruption that I see, I think we all know there is corruption at various levels of governments but to see it at a school board when this should be about the kids, not the egos.”
Smith said such arrangements are common – and legal. School districts often keep a firm on retainer, and it is not unusual for attorneys at the same firm to take on different roles in a proceeding.
She said that there is supposed to be a separation – what lawyers call a “wall” – between the attorney who investigates and those who litigate and preside.
“It could pose a possible conflict of interest. I don’t know of any cases where someone has actually phrased that as a potential concern, but there’s always potential for someone to do something bad,” she said.
Under New York state education law, the authority to remove a board member is delegated to the local board itself or by the New York commissioner of education, meaning a local board can vote to remove one of its own members provided it follows its own policies and procedures. The district’s attorneys maintained throughout the hearing that the proceeding was an information-gathering process, not a criminal trial, and that traditional rules of evidence do not apply.
New York state education law does not specify how much evidence is required to vote to remove a board member – an elected official – from office. Smith said that ambiguity is part of what Billue can challenge on appeal.
A pattern of behavior
Billue’s entrance into Roberts on Sept. 17 was not the first time she had used her position as a commissioner to gain access to school spaces, STA president Nicole Capsello said.
During Billue’s tenure on the board, Capsello said, the STA addressed several issues with her conduct internally with prior superintendents before taking formal action for the first time last fall.
“This last incident had been followed up by phone calls of similar complaints of Mrs. Billue entering the building and showing up in teachers’ classrooms unannounced,” Capsello said, adding that there were also complaints of Billue appearing in meetings with administrators and in parent meetings with children unrelated to her.
Past concerns about Billue’s conduct have extended beyond the teachers’ union.
Linda Betts, a deacon at Tucker Missionary Baptist Church in Syracuse, did not vote for Billue in the most recent election. She was in a community rights advocacy group with Billue in 2000 and recalled that she “caused a lot of raucous interruption” at community meetings.
“[She] got things off-topic, off-focus,” Betts said. “We spent a lot of time trying to get a task done and because of her behavior, we couldn’t get anything completed. And that was month after month after month.”
In the 1970s, Billue used the Syracuse Friends Meeting meetinghouse to organize a group for young men who had recently been incarcerated, according to Ann Tussing, a longtime member of the group.
Tussing said she did not believe that Billue, who was not an official member of the group and seldom attended meetings, had received permission to use the space.
Two sources described Billue as abrasive in their dealings with her. Others declined to speak on the record, citing fear of reprisal, and several supporters would not grant interviews without her approval, which she did not provide. When first contacted by a Newhouse Spotlight Team producer to request an interview, Billue used profanity before later apologizing. An interview later arranged through her attorney was canceled at the last minute.
The STA endorses candidates for the school board during election season. In 2025, the union endorsed board president Tamica Barnett, along with commissioners Michael Root and Karen Cordano. It did not endorse Billue.
“I’m not sure why any elected official…should get anything but the steepest consequences when they choose to abuse their power for their own personal gains,” Capsello said. “I think that everyone should have to follow the same rules.”
“It probably was politically motivated”
Instances of school board members being removed are few and far between. The last well-known instance Smith could think of in New York State occurred in 2018.
Smith characterized the charges against Billue as “pretty minor.” She also noted that removing a school board member is expensive. Districts must pay attorneys to conduct an investigation and represent them at a hearing, and pursuing removal for a relatively “small fish type of case” is notable in itself.
Removing a school board member, Smith added, is often a “political matter.”
“It just is probably politically motivated,” she said of Billue’s case. “If the teachers union made complaints about her, that’s probably what forced it in this instance.”
When a policy is violated, the school board can choose whether or not to enforce it, she said.
“Sometimes people look the other way if they like you,” Smith said. “And if they don’t, then they are going to use whatever they have at their disposal.”
And that question lingered throughout this investigation: whether tensions between Billue and her fellow board members played a role in the decision to remove her after the alleged policy violation.
Capsello told the Newhouse Spotlight Team that Billue’s relationships with other board members were not always smooth. Billue was known to push back during her tenure, creating what Capsello called “contentious public board meetings.”
The union president said Billue would question the district’s way of doing things, which sometimes caused friction with the board. She added that she often supported Billue’s critiques of the district, which has recently seen four elementary and middle schools meet the state’s definition of failing.
“I think there were some contentious relationships, and there was not a lot of agreement on how she always handled things,” Capsello said.
“I did not do any wrongdoing”
Billue’s family disputed the investigation’s account of what happened inside Roberts on Sept. 17, saying the visit was routine and driven by concerns over bullying.
“I did not do any wrongdoing…I entered the school not as a commissioner but as a grandmother,” she said in a January interview with George Kilpatrick, host of Inspiration for the Nation. Billue did not speak on the record about the case for this story. Attorney Bullock agreed to an interview, believing Billue would participate, but canceled at the last minute when she did not.
Billue’s husband, Aundra Billue, who entered Roberts with her, testified that the couple stopped at the main office when they arrived, were given a classroom number and walked there without being stopped or asked for credentials.
“I entered the school not as a commissioner but as a grandmother,” Billue said.
The purpose of the visit, he said, was to introduce their grandson to the teacher whose classroom he had been moved into after the principal approved a transfer the day before.
The family said the classroom transfer was made because their grandson had been bullied at Roberts. New York State Education Department data, obtained by the Newhouse Spotlight Team, shows Roberts recorded four verified incidents of harassment, bullying or discrimination under the Dignity for All Students Act during the 2024-25 academic year, along with two threats of school violence.
The year prior, the school recorded 19 such incidents, including cyberbullying, and three threats of school violence.
Tensions between the Billue family and another family at Roberts had surfaced earlier in the fall. Aundra Billue testified that at the school’s open house, a confrontation broke out between the two families. He said the other parent became agitated and was eventually escorted out by school staff. That same family later filed one of the two formal complaints against Billue, Aundra Billue claimed.
Though she was not present at the open house, Capsello said she was told the dispute stemmed from a conflict between the children.
“I do believe the argument was, from what I understand, just over nonsense of the two children just basically not getting along,” she said.
During the hearing, Bullock argued that the other family was at fault for the open house incident. DeWind acknowledged that she had spoken with the principal about the incident but said abuse of power was the subject of her investigation, not complaints of misconduct between the two children.
Hasahn Bloodworth, a supporter of Billue’s, recently pulled his son out of Dr. Martin Luther King Elementary School due to bullying. Bloodworth told the Newhouse Spotlight Team that his son was hit in the mouth and the school failed to provide a safety plan for his return.
Bloodworth said the case against Billue did not hold up – and that enforcement of visitor policies appears inconsistent across the district.
“Everybody heard the evidence that they did have was insufficient,” he said. “They said it themselves, it was a lapse of security. That alone should have told them that it’s not Twiggy’s fault.”
“I’ve been into my son’s school 25 times at least this year,” Bloodworth added. “I’ve been there with cupcakes and juices and candy on his birthday. Never had a pass, never had an escort, never had any of that. I go sign my name in and I’m gone.”
LISTEN NOW
AUDIO EXTRA! WHO REPLACED BILLUE ON THE BOARD? PHOEBE GULSEN REPORTS.
What comes next
On March 31, Syracuse Mayor Sharon Owens appointed Desire Ndagijimana to fill the vacancy on the school board. Ndagijimana, a Congolese refugee who spent years in a Ugandan refugee camp, was referred to Owens by Common Councilor Chol Majok. He works as a community support specialist supporting individuals with mental health challenges.
“We are grateful for Mr. Ndagijimana’s willingness to step in and support the district during this transition,” Owens wrote in a press release. “His appointment will help ensure stability and continuity as the Board continues its important work on behalf of our community.”
Although Ndagijimana serves on various local committees and groups, he has no formal background in education. He said he understands he is joining the school board at a difficult moment – Billue still has many supporters in the city.
“I can’t be her, you know, I will be me,” Ndagijimana said. “I can’t fit into her shoes. I am coming with my own perspective. I am coming to be me, and I won’t talk much about her…but I have much respect for her.”
Ndagijimana currently serves on the school board in an interim position. An election to “fill the vacancy” will be held this November to choose a permanent school board member in Billue’s place.
Ndagijimana told the Newhouse Spotlight Team that he intends to run for election to the seat in November and has already been endorsed by the Onondaga County Democratic Party – the same endorsement Billue earned last fall.
What happens next depends on when the state rules on Billue’s appeal.
If she is reinstated before November, she would reclaim her seat and the election would be canceled. But if the appeal is still pending, voters will choose someone to fill the seat in November, according to Onondaga County Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny.
Billue appealed her removal in January, and decisions from the state Commissioner of Education can take about a year.
Ben Butler contributed reporting for this story.
