Bedford High School

A former Dean of Students at Bedford High School is suing the school district, arguing her termination after providing testimony in a sexual assault case was a violation of her First Amendment rights.

Zanna Blaney was put on leave in August 2018 after she gave character testimony on behalf of Kristie Torbick.

Bedford High School has a new interim dean of students.

Pam Ilg, who had retired from the Bedford school district last year, will replace Zanna Blaney. 

Blaney has been on paid administrative leave since the end of August.

She submitted testimony in support of a former colleague who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old student this summer.

In the past two months, interim Superintendent Mike Fournier and high school administrators decided the role needed to be filled for the rest of the school year.

After weeks of public pressure, the Bedford School District has hired an attorney to examine how and why three district staffers came to serve as character witnesses for Kristie Torbick, a former Bedford High School guidance counselor who plead guilty last month to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old Exeter High School student.