Dozens of protesters gathered outside of a Scottsdale school board meeting on Tuesday to demand Board Member Carine Werner resign, weeks after she was caught making denigrating comments about a district employee on a hot mic.
During a board meeting, Werner can be heard calling the employee morbidly obese.
“This is what I have to listen to. She's nutrition services and she's like morbidly obese,” Werner, who attended the meeting virtually, said.
The comments came as the district’s director of nutrition services gave a presentation about a program that distributes meals to kids over the summer.
Community members gathered outside the most recent board meeting with signs calling on Werner to resign.
“It’s outrageous that a spokesperson for the Scottsdale Unified School District should be making disparaging remarks about the employees and people who are really trying to help the health of our student population,” Scottsdale resident Peggy Kline said.
Kathy Fishman, another Scottsdale resident, said board members should be focused on “working for the children in a very constructive and smart way.”
She added, “What she has done here is not. I think that people are very upset about it and would like to see better leadership.”
Many of the protesters then spoke at the meeting itself, including student Riley DeFusco, who criticized Werner for failing to issue an apology.
“As a student of SUSD, I’m equally ashamed and appalled by your actions. Regardless of the context, your words were inappropriate, demeaning and cruel,” DeFusco said. “Accountability holds significance, something I’m sure you would agree with. However, your failure to issue a public apology contradicts that very juvenile principle.”
Werner, who is also a state senator, skipped the school board meeting on Tuesday, drawing further criticism from the community members calling for her resignation. She did not respond to requests for comment.
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