School Division trustee Jim Andre facing scrutiny over offensive tweets
Newly-elected Battle River School Division trustee Jim Andre, representing West Flagstaff, is under fire after a Twitter account was found under his name containing racist, sexist, and homophobic material.
The School Division received an anonymous tip before their Oct. 31 organizational meeting regarding inappropriate tweets reportedly from Andre.
Under the moniker “hotone1963”, Andre tweeted and retweeted profane comments and jokes targeting African americans, the Holocaust, and the school division, among other things.
“I’m incredibly disappointed, that kind of behaviour is unacceptable,” commented Education Minister Jeff Johnson.
He has said he will defer to BRSD regarding the consequences pertaining to this matter.
In a statement to the press, Diane Hutchinson, BRSD Communications Coordinator said, “The BRSD Board would like to make clear that these statements are in no way associated with the school division.
“Further, the Board of Trustees is aware that elected officials are held to a high standard and is taking steps to ensure that every member of the Board is acting in accordance with those standards.
“The Board will also participate in social media and digital citizenship training in the very near future.
“Further training in embracing diversity may also be provided.”
Board Chair Kendall Severson says that Andre was asked to deactivate his twitter account, which he has.
During the organizational meeting, Andre was sworn in along with the rest of the Board.
Severson further indicated that, “The board has decided to actively pursue this matter and get all the information we can for our next meeting.” The next Board meeting is set for Nov.14.
Severson says, “We feel this is not okay, and consider this extremely offensive.”
Andre admitted to national media he considers the tweets inappropriate and is remorseful. He told CBC News it’s something he regretted, and denied being in any way racist.
CP Staff
