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Public commenter accuses trustee of sharing racial slur; trustee and board leadership election draws criticism
Summary
A public commenter accused a trustee of posting an old article containing an explicit racial slur; the post was deleted after a complaint, and at the meeting a trustee criticized the board's leadership election and said the majority rejected DEI leadership for a fourth consecutive year.
During the public-comment portion of the Kingston City School District board meeting, a speaker accused trustee Mark Reider of using a public platform to republish and quote a 15-year-old article containing an explicit racial slur and said the post was later deleted after a formal complaint.
The commenter said they filed complaints with the board and the trustee's employer and called the deletion "not accountability," urging the board to act given prior local precedent in which an administrator resigned after an offensive social-media post.
Later in the meeting, a trustee criticized the board's recent leadership election, saying the majority again rejected DEI representation in board leadership and calling the board "systemically biased," noting there have been no people of color in board leadership since 2022 and warning that DEI reporting and outreach may decline as a result.
The transcript records the allegation and the commenter's claim that the post was deleted; it does not record an on-the-record response from the accused trustee or a formal board action in response to the allegation during this meeting. The commenter said a formal complaint had been filed and observed the deletion occurred around 9 p.m. the night it was posted.
Why it matters: Accusations about elected officials'conduct and decisions about leadership composition and committee structure are matters of public accountability for the district. Trustees and the public will likely expect follow-up reporting or investigation when allegations concern discrimination or offensive language.
Next steps: The transcript does not record a disciplinary finding or formal board inquiry at this meeting; the commenter said a complaint was filed and the board did not take immediate action in open session.
