CITY OF NEWBURGH — Aniaya Geter, a freshman at Newburgh Free Academy, turned away from the mic when she started to cry. She cradled her face in her hands. Hillary Rayford, a substitute teacher in the Newburgh school district and city councilwoman-at-large, held her. Her older sister, Amaya Geter, stepped in to wrap up the speech.

Aniaya Geter attended South Middle School under Principal Lisa Buon's leadership. She was appealing to the Newburgh school board to keep Buon at South.

"Dr. Padilla promised a change at South Middle School, and the Newburgh school district, in general, and I haven't seen any change at all," Amaya Geter said, referring to Superintendent Roberto Padilla at the close of their remarks.

The first half-hour of Tuesday's regular school board meeting was filled with people of all walks of life, including students, parents, religious leaders, and even Buon, asking the board to keep Buon at South.

They flooded the meeting room at the Newburgh Free Library and held colorful signs saying, "Representation is important," "Black Students Matter" and "Terminate Dr. Padilla not Dr. Buon from SMS." Rayford and Debbie Brand, a parent of a child at South, claimed in their remarks that the move is about district politics and discriminatory in nature.

It didn't seem to matter.

The nine-member board voted 6-2 to terminate Buon's probationary appointment at South and move her back into an elementary school principalship at Balmville Elementary School. The shift is effective Aug. 3. Board members Darren Stridiron and newcomer Shane Henderson voted no. Board member Ramona Burton abstained.

Buon spent more than a decade as principal of Horizons-on-the-Hudson Elementary School before she moved to South Middle School two years ago, she said.

On June 10, Buon filed a 62-page response with the board in rebuttal to Padilla's reasons for reassignment.

She said Padilla's reasons included a failure by Buon to communicate effectively with him and the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction; failure to consistently attend principal meetings and professional development functions; noted significant student safety concerns; and that she wasn't consistently present at the school in the mornings as students and teachers arrived.

Before breaking down in tears, Aniaya Geter told the board she didn't think Padilla's reasons were valid.

Buon said the claims are false and she plans to sue the district in federal court.

Buon said she filed hostile work environment and discriminatory claims with the district, which came back as 'unfounded.' She then contacted the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that administers and enforces civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The commission did not make a decision, but it told her she had a case.

Buon said she wasn't surprised by the board's decision in the end. Her immediate reaction was relief, she said. After anticipating the board's decision for months, she finally had an answer.

"I’m going to be an amazing principal at the elementary level," Buon said. "I'm still serving Newburgh's children and that’s all that matters to me. I was really hoping I could serve the students at South because it's the neediest school in the district, and I was making a difference there."

Buon said data she reported to the district shows a 36 percent decrease in suspensions, an 8 percent reduction in chronic absenteeism, a 75 percent reduction in teachers removing students from classrooms, and increased state test scores.

"I’m always a fighter," Buon said. "I don’t know any other way to be. I’ve always fought for children and that is not going to change."

lbellamy@th-record.com