That’s the finding of a legal review of the posts, according to school board vice chair Stephanie Seguino. The decision was announced Thursday night at a board meeting during which the board also released a resolution denouncing and disavowing Kirk’s posts.
Kirk did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment and has said little publicly since issuing an apology for the posts last month. The board resolution stated that the Facebook reposting “of racially/gender/and ethnically offensive materials by a member of this board is at fundamental variance with the standards of conduct and example desired by the board for its members.”
The report, prepared by board legal counsel Joe McNeil, said that the “offensive nature of the postings has not been manifested in the official interactions by the board member with the administration and other board members,” but that the “bad example set by the the postings/repostings … should not be underestimated or condoned,” according to the resolution.
Kirk, who represents Ward 7 in the New North End, had been asked by superintendent of schools Yaw Obeng not to attend board meetings until the review was complete. He was not at Thursday’s meeting, according to Seguino, who issued a news release on behalf of the board Friday and spoke with Seven Days.
About 25 people attended the meeting at the Edmunds Middle School cafeteria, according to Seguino, including a Lyman C. Hunt Middle School student who presented a poster signed by classmates who objected to Kirk’s Facebook posts.
Kirk has agreed to attend a board training in December that will include discussion of appropriate social media use, Seguino said.
Board members should hold themselves to a high standard of conduct, Seguino said. She also said the board was very “moved” by a petition signed by hundreds of people calling on Kirk to resign.
Kirk’s term runs until 2017. The board has no legal power to kick Kirk out of his elected school board seat, and ultimately the review concluded that his posts did not meet the legal criteria for censure.
Seguino said she believes a restorative rather punitive approach could offer Kirk the best opportunity for learning and making amends. Her hope is to “offer a different way to approach this, which is to condemn the actions but to offer an opportunity for a person to grow and develop and learn from this, and for all of us to learn from it.”
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I found Kirk’s comments to be simply his opinions. I took no offense. Perhaps the morality police in Burlington ought to find something else to do with their energy?
Seriously how many more articles are needed about this non-story . Have we hit a half dozen yet ? Much ado about nothing .
Love these high and mighty holier then thou people..there was nothing wrong with his post..it’s not like anyone else has ever posted things ..kids are big about posting things, half undressed. calling names..he didn’t post porn, don’t like what people post scroll by.. and who in hell does Obeng think he is..yelling him not to attend the school board meetings..
“I found Kirk’s comments to be simply his opinions.”- If those really are his opinions, is that not a problem considering the job he’s doing? If a Police Chief were to post things on Facebook denigrating police officers I doubt very much if people would be saying “well, that’s just his opinion”. At least Donna Boutin is honest enough to say that she basically agrees with his opinions, although if that is so I don’t see the point of comparing a school board member’s posts with kids posting porn and swearing online. Don’t kids get punished for such behavior? And this is a grown man in a position of authority!
If Board members should hold themselves to a high standard of conduct, as Seguino said, then why is the Board still using Joe McNeil as their attorney to pass judgement on others after he and his firm were complicit co-defendants in the Burlington Telecom ‘fraud’ that cost Burlington Taxpayers millions; and especially after his Joe Gone Wild tour through the women in City Hall a few years back?
MontrealPaul. lol I agree with most of your post, but disagree about the “don’t kids get punished for such behavior?” If only that was true..a lot of kids get away with posting pics of themselves half naked, bullying, swearing, and the parents don’t either know or care..Now I know a lot of parents are going to going to put me down call me a liar..but they don’t monitor their kids posting. some parents are to busy to watch what their kids are posting..There are kids who are 5-6 yrs old with cell phones with facebook on it..in my opinion kids at that age are to young for FB….like I said in my opinion…