The reason Todd Parnell resigned from the Lakota Local School District Board of Education was the email he sent saying police "should have shot" students arrested in Lakota West's parking lot, said the board's president on Friday.
The board initially allowed Parnell to cite personal reasons for leaving after asking him to resign, said Brad Lovell, board president, in a statement.
On Aug. 26, Lakota West High School Principal Ben Brown sent an email to parents about an incident with West Chester police officers and three teens, two of whom were students, Lovell said in his statement. Police were trying to serve a warrant.
What Parnell replied back via email caused the principal to email Superintendent Matt Miller and another top administrator.
"They should have shot them," is what Parnell wrote in the email, Lovell said.
Officers went to the high school on Aug. 26 to get a cell phone they said had evidence on it from the robbery.
The warrant arose from an aggravated robbery on July 3, during which, according to the incident report, $1,000 cash, $200 in Mexican pesos, a silver watch and a wedding ring were stolen from a West Chester residence.
Police say the student with the phone refused to give it to them, put it down his pants, then, as he was being put in the patrol car, threw it to a female classmate, who destroyed it. She was also taken into custody, according to police.
The district's board initially agreed to keep that matter quiet as Parnell said he left his term 16 months early because of family obligations and a new job in an Aug. 28 Enquirer article.
Now two weeks later, Lovell led off his Friday statement by saying there was a need to tell parents, staff and community members why they allowed Parnell to cite personal reasons for why he resigned.
[Subscribe now for unlimited access to Cincinnati.com]
"As a board, we discussed how to react to Mr. Parnell’s email to Mr. Brown and decided to not discuss it publicly out of sensitivity for Mr. Parnell’s family, particularly his children," Lovell said in his Friday statement.
Lovell said the reaction to seek Parnell's resignation was swift.
"Mr. Parnell’s email to Mr. Brown was abhorrent and it does not in any way reflect the values of our school board, school district leadership or our school family," Lovell said in his statement.
Lovell said that he and school administrators met the day after Parnell's email to talk about how to remove Parnell from his elected board seat.
Parnell submitted a resignation letter to the superintendent by noon, and by 2 p.m. asked to rescind the resignation. An hour later, Parnell sent another letter to the superintendent tendering his resignation, Lovell said.
Miller released his own statement Friday saying transparency is important at Lakota.
"However, it is important that you understand that we allowed Mr. Parnell to resign for personal reasons to help protect his family, especially his children, from any backlash that may occur," Miller said.
Enquirer Media partner Fox19 contributed to this storyhttps://https://ift.tt/33stPAe.
"board" - Google News
September 12, 2020 at 08:30AM
https://ift.tt/3bQLTrf
School board member resigns (twice) after saying police ‘should have shot’ students - The Cincinnati Enquirer
"board" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2KWL1EQ
https://ift.tt/2YrjQdq
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "School board member resigns (twice) after saying police ‘should have shot’ students - The Cincinnati Enquirer"
Post a Comment