Oakley School District Board Resigns After Being Caught Insulting Parents

The members of a California school board resigned after the controversial meeting that occurred on Zoom.

According to reports, the board of trustees was having a meeting when they started discussing parents' reactions to the prolonged school closures. The Zoom meeting was supposed to be a private one but was accidentally broadcast to the public.

The Oakley Union Elementary School District members have since apologized for what they have said during the meeting.

A portion of the meeting was uploaded on Twitter by one of the NBC New Bay Area reporters, Bigad Shaban. 

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The supposed "private meeting"

According to an article published by TODAY, one of the school district board members, Kim Beede, checked first if they were alone in the meeting before she started ranting. She said, "Are we alone? B----, if you're going to call me out, I'm going to f--- you up.:"

Other members even implied that some of the parents are into using medical marijuana. This member was Richie Masadas, who shared a story about his brother's delivery service business.

Even the Oakley Union Elementary School District president, Lisa Brizendine, said, "They want to pick on us because they want their babysitters back."

After some time, one of the members realized that their meeting was not a private one.

Beede said, "We have the meeting open to the public right now."

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Petition for resignation

As of writing, the names of the following board members have been removed from the district's website:

• Kim Beede
• Richie Masadas 
• Erica Ippolito

That is after a petition was launched to call for the ouster of the trustees. This petition has reached over 7,000 signatures. In the petition, the immediate resignation was called because of their "egregious behavior."

The petition also stated that these members are no longer the proper representation of the children, parents, and teachers of the Oakley Union Elementary School District.

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The apologies after the school board disctrict resigns

Last Thursday, Brizendine resigned from her post. After her resignation, she apologized for her statements. She also explained that it was for the good of the children, "We were having a private conversation because we were really struggling at that moment with all the Board comments coming in."

Aside from Brizendine's apology, the board superintendent, Greg Hetrick, also issued an apology.

He said that he understands that they have lost the public's trust and that what they did and said was inexcusable. The apology goes, "I am truly sorry for what took place... I know that our students deserve better from us."

Hetrick also said that he is no longer planning to make any excuses about what happened.

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