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Parents, residents demand apology after board director read slur during recent library-policy discussion
Summary
Multiple parents and residents told the Pine-Richland School District board on Dec. 16 that a board director’s reading of a racial slur during a prior library-policy discussion harmed students and community members and urged the director to apologize. Speakers referenced district policy and an online recording of the prior meeting.
At the Dec. 16 Pine-Richland School District combined meeting, three residents told the board they were hurt and alarmed after a board director read a racial slur aloud during a recent library-policy discussion and asked the director to apologize.
Rebecca Hoffman, a parent and resident, addressed board director Mister Weethorn directly in a prepared statement and said she had watched the board member’s remarks “a couple of times” and that more than 1,300 people had viewed the recording. “Your use of the word was not as a tool, it was a weapon that you used against our community,” Hoffman said, calling the action “harmful to black students in our district.”
Jennifer Buse, a parent, thanked teachers and administrators for academic results but said she found Mister Weethorn’s reading of racial and LGBTQ slurs at a public meeting “disturbing.” Buse said the book at issue is not required reading in class and that “it is unacceptable to say the n‑word and that slur” at a public school board meeting. She urged the director to “publicly acknowledge the harm caused by your use of slurs and request that you apologize.”
Mister Barber, a resident who spoke later in the meeting, criticized the board’s handling of the district’s policies and public comment. “This board has continually insisted on undermining our teachers and administration,” Barber said, and described community frustration over board conduct.
Board secretary Mrs. Williams read a summary of dozens of emails the board received on related topics earlier in the meeting; the record enumerated a long list of correspondents who raised concerns about book selections and excerpts read by a board member. Hoffman told the board she had not received a reply to her private outreach and therefore read her letter aloud during public comment.
No formal disciplinary action or vote on the prior meeting’s conduct was taken at the Dec. 16 meeting. The comments came during the public‑comment portion of the agenda and were recorded in the minutes and on the district’s meeting video, which residents referenced when describing community reaction.
The board did not take action on the speakers’ requests during the Dec. 16 meeting. Several speakers and multiple email correspondents asked for the board to address the conduct in line with district policy and to clarify how the district will prevent similar incidents in future public meetings.
