[B]URLINGTON — The school board has asked its lawyer to review whether social media posts by board member David Kirk violate its policies, according to a recent statement.
Superintendent Yaw Obeng described Kirk’s posts on his personal Facebook page as “sexist, racist and ethnocentric,” in a statement released over the weekend. Obeng also called on the Burlington School Board to begin a review.
“I also invite Commissioner Kirk to withdraw from his Board activities at his discretion, to allow space for the Board to review this matter,” Obeng said.
Obeng said that Kirk’s posts are “incongruent” with the district’s principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, and have created a distraction from the board’s important work.
Kirk did not respond to a request for comment Monday. He issued an apology for the posts last week.
The board said it has directed its attorney to “review whether any Board policies have been violated as a result of the posts, and whether the negative values evidenced in the posts have manifested in Commissioner Kirk’s work on the Board.”
The inquiry will also determine what options the board has if it has determined that Kirk’s actions violated policy, but the statement made clear that there is no mechanism for his ouster, stating “the removal of any Commissioner is not an option for the Board.”
A group of parents have started an online petition calling on Kirk to resign his seat. The petition, which had more than 500 online signatures as of Monday afternoon, says the “racist, bigoted, misogynist, and xenophobic social media posts” were “more than just one person’s political view, they were disturbing, inappropriate and do not reflect the values of our community.”
“In a community that celebrates its multiculturalism on the playing field and in the classroom, this kind of openly hostile behavior to students, their families, and their many friends and neighbors is not welcome on the board that oversees the most diverse school district in the state,” the petition says.
