Plum School Board Accepts Resignation Of Member Over Anti-Muslim Facebook Post
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PLUM (KDKA) -- A Plum school board member who posted anti-Muslim comments on social media is no longer on the board.
The Plum Area School Board heard from various speakers Saturday before voting to accept the resignation of Brian Wisniewski after his controversial Facebook post about Muslims in Congress.
"We don't have to be mean, nasty and hateful, and I know that's not what the Plum School District is about," Ken Huston, president of the NAACP's Allegheny East branch, said.
In the message that has now been removed from his Facebook page, Wisniewski posted: "Does it worry anybody that we have three devout Muslims in Congress that have unlimited access to our top secret government documents?"
It was a re-post.
Wisniewski later submitted his resignation.
"Unfortunately, he shared what he shared in a temporary lapse of judgement, but he has to be an example for our kids and he wasn't providing the right example, so I think this is a good step in the right direction," Plum resident Michael Devine said.
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The board accepted Wisniewski's resignation and further condemned his statement.
"The Plum Borough School District board of directors does hereby declare the act of re-posting an inappropriate, offensive and highly insensitive post by Mr. Wisniewski on social media is not reflective of the district's mission, principles and standards," Plum Board President Scott Coulson said.
"The district has made tremendous strides, and we will not allow this unfortunate incident to deter us from a relentless path to excellence and the critical work of exceptionally preparing our students for success," Plum communications specialist Charlene Payne said.
School board members did not respond to questions about restoring the diversity committee to help bridge the gap between different cultures.
"What they have to do is open up and say look, we want help. We want to embrace our diversity and we need to do what we need to do to make our district acceptable to all cultures and all races," Huston said.
