Plum residents show support for, opposition to school director over Facebook post

Plum residents had mixed reactions to a controversial post by a school board member in a private social media page.

More than a dozen people came to Thursday night’s special meeting with many calling for the resignation of board member Amy Wetmore for her comments on the Black Lives Matter In Plum Boro Facebook page.

The post in question was made by Wetmore on July 8, with a segment of it raising the ire of some community members.

“For those who haven’t seen it, there is a heated debate about someone implying Republicans are racist,” the post read. “I would take that statement even further. If you are white and you are living in the United States, you are racist. I say this as a white woman.”

Parent Klint Macro called those comments divisive, hurtful and ill-informed among other things.

“I question the judgment and character of someone who would publicly make blanket false accusations against a group of fellow citizens based solely upon the color of their skin,” he said. “As divisive as it may be, I respect her ability as an individual citizen to voice her opinion and would defend her right to publish it under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

“But for a board member and representative of the Plum Borough School District to harass, divide, alienate, incite fear and potential hatred on the basis of skin color, there must be immediate consequence.”

Resident John Anderson, a teacher in another district, echoed some of Macro’s sentiments. He said Wetmore needs to resign or it sets precedence for other board members and district staff to post anything on social media without ramification.

“I don’t have a problem with Wetmore, herself,” Anderson said. “Unfortunately, she needs to learn a lesson that what you put on social media is long-lasting. I talk to my own children about that routinely. If you put it out there, you better be ready to stand to it. It’s one of the reasons I don’t have social media because anything can be misunderstood.”

Wetmore, the school board’s finance committee liaison, is also the Plum Democratic Committee chairwoman.

Others came in support of Wetmore, including the founder of the BLM Plum page, Amy Badali.

She said the page was created to have conversations and show support for one another, and also in response to offensive comments she saw on other social media.

“When I saw comments of ‘bring out the fire hoses and run them down with their cars’ on a Plum community Facebook page in regard to people protesting, I knew it wasn’t an option to pretend it wasn’t happening,” she said.

She said Wetmore is a tremendous asset to the district, and her comments were in reference to another discussion.

“Amy was elaborating on what other members were discussing and sharing an article,” Badali said. “There are hundreds of other articles and videos that say exactly what Amy Wetmore said.”

Badali noted she and other members of her page received threats because they said, “Black Lives Matter.”

“We are very concerned about the people of color in this community,” Badali said.

Badali’s page is not affiliated with the official Black Lives Matter organization.

Pivick PTO President Renee Richardson also came to Wetmore’s defense. She was disheartened to hear the calls for Wetmore’s resignation from Plum Mayor Harry Schlegel and others.

“Our experiences with Amy have been nothing but positive,” Richardson said. “She has been nothing but supportive (with) the diversity initiative and an advocate for equality and equity in our district at Plum. Someone like this is who we need on our board helping to make decisions and advocating for changes and improvement in our district and community practices.

“As black members of our community, parents of black students and concerned citizens, we strongly support Amy and her position on the board and oppose any actions to ask for her to resign.”

Richardson encouraged people to attend the next borough council meeting and speak against the mayor.

Wetmore edited her post on July 9. She changed the broad stroke of all white people being racists to, “I would argue that racism doesn’t care about political parties. Rather, if you are white and you are living in the United States, you are a product of white privilege. I say this as a white woman.”

Brian Wisniewski, a Republican and former school board member, shared an anti-Muslim post on his personal Facebook page while on the board last year. He stepped down in February 2019 after criticism for his post.

He came to Thursday’s meeting to speak up against what he called a political double standard, and said he understands what Wetmore’s going through.

“In these unprecedented times, it has become evident that there is an absolute double standard with respect to which political party an individual is affiliated with,” Wisniewski said. “The actions and comments that are acceptable and unacceptable are in direct contrast to which side of the political fence you sit on.”

He encouraged Wetmore to resign and contact him if she wished to compare personal opinions versus memes shared on social media.

Board President Mike Devine said Wetmore’s post does not reflect the thoughts or views of the district, and that the board had no conversations regarding her post.

He referenced a joint statement made a few weeks ago by the district and other superintendents of Allegheny County.

“We are committed to nurturing schools where each and every child is respected and valued as an individual regardless of skin color, gender, orientation, religion, ability or disability, or any other category,” he said.

The full statement is available on the district’s website.

Wetmore sat quietly while one after another came before the microphone both in the high school library and auditorium to talk about her comments.

After the meeting, she thanked folks for coming out.

“I appreciate that everyone came out and voiced their concerns or support, and I’ve heard what was said,” she said. “I feel like we do have some work to do in the area of diversity and inclusion here in Plum. I hope that I can be part of the conversation and bring some of the folks who are angry to the table and talk.”