After the road rage incident and unrefined manner from the regional school board member of Toms River Daniel Leonard, he was asked by the president of board Joe Nardini to step down and resign.
Back in July, a report was released that Leonard was seen to tail another driver at the Hooper Avenue resulting in reckless driving and the rage road incident.
After the said disturbance occurred, it was revealed that Leonard has been releasing pictures, statuses and short quotes in his social media with the implication of discrimination and biased standing.
Today, the board president Nardini has requested for Leonard to resign and step down from his position in this letter:
“As President of the Toms River School Board, I do not condone—and in fact denounce—the social media posts shared by my colleague and fellow Board Member Daniel Leonard.
The reasons for my great dissatisfaction with these messages should be evident and obvious, but in light of the contentious Board of Education meeting last night, I feel we must expound upon our position as the Board.”
Nardini made his decision in concern for “the well-being of the children.”
“As Board President, it is my responsibility to consider, first and foremost, the well-being of the children of this District.”
One of Leonard’s unpleasant previous post was an image about the United States representative Rashida Tlaib. In it, a headline was read as “for hunger strikes to end ICE” in which Leonard added a commentary caption as: “My life would be complete if she/they die…”
Another post of Leonard’s was seen in April about a video which features United States representative and Muslim immigrant, Ilhan Omar. Written on it as a caption was: “Terrorist……. 100%.”
“We must lead by example and set an example to our students and community that reflect our goals, ideals and vision for the future of this District. Due to these and other concerns, I have rescinded Mr. Leonard’s appointment to the Safety, Security, and Transportation Committee, effective immediately.
Additionally, I am asking Mr. Leonard, for the sake of the students in this District, to consider the far-reaching effect of the events of the past few days and the effect upon the District and the students, and to consider tendering his resignation from his position as Board Member.
We, as the Board, cannot act to remove a sitting Board Member based upon the allegations related to Mr. Leonard’s Facebook postings.
However, Mr. Leonard is in a position to remove this distraction from the Board’s mission, and we implore him to consider the impact his continued service on the Board has had, and continues to have, upon the student body of the Toms River Regional School District.” Board president Nardini has stated from the letter.
Regardless of the allegations, Leonard adamantly refuses to resign from his position and said that he will be “more cautious” about his social media posts.
