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Trustees urge civility after heated public remarks about local blog
Summary
During public comment and board discussion, Vice President Jean Barrett publicly disputed accusations on a local blog and trustees debated the role of board members and moderators in community Facebook groups, urging moderation and civil discourse.
A contentious portion of the Sept. 9 Hardyston Township Board of Education meeting centered on allegations of defamatory posts on a local blog and broader concerns about board members' online conduct. Vice president Jean Barrett used the public-comment time to read and rebut posts she described as "slander" on a site identified in the transcript as the "Hardesten School blog," naming a local online poster she said had used a board-related domain and portrayed trustees unfairly.
Barrett detailed examples she called misleading or hurtful, including allegations about the use of a domain name, an apparent attempt to sell the domain, and a post titled "Privilege Over Policy" that suggested favoritism in a residency matter. She described the posts as "character assassination" and urged the community to judge elected officials by their record. "The whole thing is trash," she said, adding the attacks have cost staff time and board resources to respond.
Multiple trustees responded from the dais. Several thanked Barrett for speaking up and urged everyone to "rise above the noise" and avoid online vitriol. Others cautioned that spouses and private citizens have free-speech rights and that local leaders must be mindful when moderating private groups; one trustee asked board members who serve as administrators of private pages to review their oversight responsibilities. A public commenter later urged the board president to renounce any moderator role in divisive private groups and called for stronger leadership.
The exchange consumed a sizable portion of the meeting, prompting several trustees to lament that the dispute had distracted from other agenda items. Trustees agreed that the social-media policy should be reviewed and that moderation and civility would benefit the district, but no formal disciplinary actions or policy changes were taken at the meeting.
