We hereby request that Mr. Jim Kach resign from the Oyster River School Board. Many of his public tweets are disparaging to women, gay people, people of color, Jews and Muslims. These tweets have created what many ORSD students describe as a hostile learning environment for them in our schools. Although Mr. Kach regrets that people have been offended, he has not retracted his comments or apologized for his views.  Thus we can expect them to continue to inform his judgment.  Those views do not represent the values of tolerance and inclusion of our community and schools. They are contrary to the role model for our students that Mr. Kach, and indeed any board member, must be.  Moreover, we can no longer trust him to uphold the National School Board Association's "Commitment to Diversity and Equity," which says that the "school board should ensure that students and school staff are not subjected to discrimination on the basis of socioeconomic status, race, color, national origin, religion, gender, disability, or sexual orientation" (Article II, Section 3, 3.2).”We also request that the school board as a body issue a formal statement of reprimand against Mr. Kach for his disparaging comments.Finally, we ask that each board member individually state whether he or she believes Mr. Kach’s actions are in compliance with the district’s own policy of non-discrimination and inclusion, as well as the aforementioned national standards.

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