Offensive comments allegedly made during charter school board meeting

WILMINGTON, Del. - Offensive comments were allegedly made during a meeting over parking problems between two charter schools in Delaware.

The Odyssey Charter School and the Academia Antonia Alonso Charter operate nearly side-by-side off Lancaster Pike in Wilmington, but now there’s a growing divide between the two.

"It was both shock and a sense of absolute devastation that people could speak this way," Maria Alonso, board president of Alonso Charter, told FOX 29.

It was January and Odyssey’s board was meeting when the issue of a parking problem between the charters was raised. Academia Antonia Alonso Charter serves a 70 percent Hispanic student body and instructs in both English and Spanish. The meeting was recorded and posted on a site named Blue Delaware. “I proposed somewhat in jest to Ricardo and Evan was that we just put a fence (no) right there. And they’re going to pay for it (laughter)," the recording said.

A member of Odyssey’s board resigned and Sunday the board president followed suit as protests mounted, and Delaware’s Department of Education opened a “formal review.”

In response to FOX 29's questions, a board member wrote: “...The words were insensitive and hurtful and are not representative of what we stand for at OCS, one of the most inclusive and diverse schools in Delaware...”

Maria Alonso, one of the founders of the charter, which is named after her mother says the school is considering moving. She says the decision to relocate could be based on whether other Odyssey leadership resigns.

For now, she says there is fear among parents and children...

"It’s very scary to go into a place where they know there are people across the street who think this is funny," Alonso said.

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