We, the undersigned citizens of the Timberlane Regional School District, residing in the towns of Atkinson, Danville, Plaistow, and Sandown New Hampshire demand that the School Board Chair, Dr. Kimberly Farrah, place a motion on the table and subsequent vote tonight to censure Board Member Shawn O’Neil of Danville for conduct unbecoming of an elected official. Mr. Oneil’s conduct on social media on District affiliated pages is a detriment to the mission of the Timberlane Regional School District.

The facts: Mr. O’Neil, on a Facebook community page titled “SpeakOutTimberlane”, to which he is the creator and sole administrator, made a post with racial overtones which would impact the Asian American Pacific Islanders community. When brought to his attention, Mr. O’Neil, rather than delete the post and apologize, made a sophomoric attempt to edit the image to remove the racist script.

The Timberlane Regional School District, according to the New Hampshire Department of Education, is listed as having a student population of less than 10% Asian, Black, Latino, and other sub groups. This is all the more reason to represent ALL members of the community and take swift action tonight. While censuring an elected official does not lead to removal, it is important that the Board Chair and members hold each other accountable to the community, in public.

Furthermore, diversity, equity, and inclusion training should be mandatory for all Board members and employees to prevent issues like this in the future.