Name: Colonial School Board member resigns after controversial Facebook post about Israel-Hamas war
Uploaded: 2023-11-16T23:21:53-05:00
Channel: FOX 29 Staff
Description: Colonial School Board member, Jamina Clay-Dingle reveals plans to resign after receiving backlash for posting a controversial message to Facebook about the Israel-Hamas war.

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Colonial School Board member resigns after controversial Facebook post about Israel-Hamas war

Colonial School Board member, Jamina Clay-Dingle reveals plans to resign after receiving backlash for posting a controversial message to Facebook about the Israel-Hamas war.

PHILADELPHIA - A Pennsylvania school board member reveals her plans to resign after receiving backlash for a controversial post about the Israel-Hamas war.

Colonial School Board member, Jamina Clay-Dingle announced she is resigning in a post shared to Facebook on Thursday.

The post reads:

The Colonial School District said that Clay-Dingle's post was "offensive to many and resulted in numerous emails calling for her resignation or censure" in a statement that read in full:

"Today the Colonial School District received a resignation letter from School Board member Dr. Jamina Clay. This resignation came following a post she made on social media related to the conflict in the Middle East. The post was offensive to many and resulted in numerous emails calling for her resignation or censure, as well as a call for many to attend tonight’s School Board meeting to voice their concern. Dr. Clay submitted her resignation letter this morning, stating that she did not wish to distract from the work of the School Board or the District. Following the receipt of her resignation letter, we sent a message to the community to notify them of this development and to reiterate our commitment to creating a safe, inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff. Colonial School District prides itself on cultivating a sense of belonging. All our schools work hard each year to maintain their designations as No Place for Hate Schools as part of our partnership with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and take part in many other initiatives and programs meant to encourage equity, inclusion, and belonging. We condemn all forms of hatred and violence and remind all that we have counseling services available for anyone who may be struggling. Dr. Clay has indicated her resignation is effective immediately, but the Board will still need to make an acceptance vote. That will not occur at tonight’s Board meeting, since the Sunshine Act prohibits voting on items not already on the publicly posted agenda. Once Dr. Clay’s resignation has been voted on by the Board, information will be shared about the process involved with appointing a new Board member to fill the vacancy. The anticipated acceptance vote will likely occur after the reorganization meeting in December. The work to cultivate a sense of belonging in our schools is ever-evolving and never truly complete. We continue this work in a spirit of kindness, empathy, and in the hopes of moving our district forward in a positive direction."

Clay-Dingle makes it clear that though she is resigning from the school board, she plans to continue overseeing ten schools as the Assistant Superintendent for the School District of Philadelphia.

Monique Braxton, Deputy Chief of Communications/Spokesperson of the School District of Philadelphia released the following statement on behalf of the situation:

"As for her comments, The Board of Education Policy 320 states that employees are protected by the First Amendment when speaking on a matter of public concern that is not part of their job duties.' The views and opinions expressed in Dr. Clay's Facebook post do not reflect the position, opinion or views of the School District of Philadelphia."

Clay-Dingle's post was a hot topic of discussion at Thursday night’s Colonial School Board meeting. Community members packed the meeting condemning her statements and concerned citizens lined up to speak for more than an hour.

The board president addressed the controversy to start things off and said that the board will officially vote to accept her resignation next month.