Want to make Bridget Ziegler disappear? Just stop making her the focus of attention.

It has been nearly three months since the news broke that former Florida Republican Party Chairman Christian Ziegler had been accused of sexual assault and his wife, Sarasota County School Board Member and Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, had been involved in a three-way sexual dalliance.

Given Bridget Ziegler’s previous crusades against the LGBTQ community, the accusations of hypocrisy and calls for her immediate resignation were appropriate and justified.

Ever since, attendance at school board meetings has soared and their duration lengthened as passionate public comments urging Ziegler to step down have multiplied. (School board members in Florida cannot be “fired” or recalled, unless by the governor’s action.)

Last week was no exception.

Outside the Landings meeting site, a van emblazoned with Zeigler’s photo circled the parking lot, promoting the debut of “The School Sanity Project,” a new website that promises to deliver “the latest on just how bad the hate, disinformation, censorship, radical political ties and personal misconduct of the conspiracy theorists on the Sarasota School Board has gotten.” (A visit to the site showed it has, as of yet, no content other than a “donate” button.)

Inside, residents – many of whom have become familiar faces – signed up to deliver their latest salvos. A little over half of the 2 ½ hour meeting that followed was devoted to demands for Ziegler’s resignation.

More: So you want Bridget Ziegler off Sarasota's School Board in the worst way? You may get it.

And guess what? They had absolutely no effect whatsoever.

As she has in every meeting since the incident occurred, Ziegler withstood the barrage of critiques and character denigration with a tight-lipped smile somewhere between bemused and petulant. Her stoicism and sang-froid is both alarming and impressive; you can be appalled by her sense of entitlement, outraged by her obstinacy, or incredulous at her resiliency. (This coming from someone whose eyes well up at the mere arrival of a nasty email).

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At this point, it seems abundantly clear that Ziegler is not going to step down, nor is the board going to ask the governor to intervene. (Not that he would.) None of the ardent appeals by these concerned citizens – neither the intelligently articulate, the crudely pejorative nor those appealing to her vanity, sanity or humanity – have moved us one iota closer toward ending this latest chapter in the long-running nightmare that began with the board’s ouster of former Superintendent Brennan Asplen a year and a half ago.

On occasion, the pushback from Ziegler’s detractors has become as vitriolic, innuendo-filled and derogatory as the comments of her supporters once were against Tom Edwards, the lone lefty on the Sarasota County School Board. Whatever happened to Michelle Obama’s “When they go low, we go high”? This is not to excuse any of the destructive and self-promotional actions Ziegler has advanced during her tenure. But really, can’t we find a higher ground from which to combat them?

Before the vitriol turns toward me for suggesting this futile campaign has gone on long enough, let me make a few things clear: I am not saying Ziegler should not step down (I suggested that long ago) nor that anyone’s freedom of speech should be curtailed (it shouldn’t), nor that the board, the district and the students wouldn’t be better off with her gone (they would). That’s not my point.

It’s that old saw about the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. If nothing said thus far has prompted Ziegler to leave, you have to ask yourself whether ongoing marathons calling for her resignation are a constructive use of board and taxpayer time.

When concerned parents and residents turned out in force to respond with outrage to Asplen’s firing, or the eradication of the Character Counts program, or the attempt to engage a firm (Vermillion) with no qualifications or history to assess the district’s flaws, I was thrilled to see the push back. Watching the attendance at School Board meetings double, triple, even quadruple was assurance that the community was going to bat for our children, despite the decibel level of a small group with extremist views.

But surely there are more effective ways to turn that increased engagement into tangible gains. How about working toward what and who we do want on the School Board rather than what and who we do not?

Maybe that looks like working on the campaign of a candidate for one of the two board seats up for election in August who represents the values and policies you’d like to see. (Maybe even one who actually has children in Sarasota schools.)

Consider joining forces with the emerging grassroots organization, Public Education Network Sarasota (PENS), a coalition of four nonpartisan groups working to preserve public education and fight the siphoning of public-school funds to the school voucher system. (The organization's website is coming in March.)

Maybe it means pushing back on state legislative actions that curtail students’ access to resources and information and force the beliefs of the few on the many.

You could even volunteer in a classroom, mentor a student or do something (anything!) to support a beleaguered teacher – valued contributions too often overlooked.

When my son used to come home complaining about being teased by classmates, I would tell him his excessive reactions only served to encourage his tormentors; if he’d just ignore them, they’d go away. If you’d like never to hear the name "Bridget Ziegler" again, a faster route to making that happen might just be to let her disappear from lack of attention.

Contact Carrie Seidman at carrie.seidman@gmail.com or 505-238-0392.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Bridget Ziegler won't leave Sarasota's School Board. Let's accept it.