Norwin director censured for offensive social media post

A controversial Norwin School Board director was censured Monday by his fellow directors for posting a social media meme of a Halloween costume that used offensive language.

Five school board members voted to censure Alex Detschelt: Darlene Ciocca, William Essay, Joanna Jordan, Patrick Lynn and Raymond Kocak.

Detschelt’s political allies on the school board, Shawna Ilagan and Robert Wayman, joined Detschelt in opposing the motion. Christine Baverso, another Detschelt ally, was absent.

The motion called for Detschelt to apologize to the community for “both his offensive comments and his disrespectful comments made to members of the public.” The censure calls for Detschelt to make clear that he makes those statements on his own and not on behalf of the school board.

Ciocca, the president of the board, proposed censuring Detschelt on the grounds that he has made comments that are not consistent with the district’s core values, including comments criticizing diversity and inclusion.

In response to the call for him to apologize, Detschelt said in a statement that “nobody can force anyone to speak, especially providing an apology, as that would be forced speech.”

Detschelt angered some parents of special needs children on Oct. 25 when he posted the meme of a Halloween costume in a bag, labeled with a swear word and an offensive word. He said he later removed the post because a parent of a special needs child told him how the word used in the meme was hurtful to her son. Detschelt did not apologize for using the meme, saying that he never typed those words and the words were never directed at anyone, “let alone a child.”

In a prepared statement, Detschelt said the meme is protected political speech and was made in response to other political speech. The other political meme he was referring to had a Halloween costume bag with a picture of Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman titled “Supersized Slacker.”

“The content had no bearing on school matters and was made on a social media page in an individual capacity with no requirement to qualify it as such,” Detschelt said.

Detschelt on Oct. 28 stood by what he considers the “humor of the overall meme.”

Superintendent Jeff Taylor issued a statement Oct. 28 saying that the district objects to Detschelt’s use of the language that many people find “to be insensitive and offensive, not only to our families of students with special needs, but to members of our school community.”

Detschelt’s statement contends that Taylor’s statement was “factually false, misleading, defamatory, and made with retaliatory intent.”

Ilagan criticized Taylor’s statement and said parents of special needs children have told her they were not offended by Detschelt’s posts. Ilagan said those people would have come to defend Detschelt but were afraid of retaliation.

She characterized Detschelt’s critics as being “politically motivated.”

Detschelt has a First Amendment right to express his opinion, regardless of whether people agree with him, Wayman said.

Former Westmoreland County Commissioner Ted Kopas, whose son, Quinn, has Down syndrome and has been a Life Skills student, said at the meeting that Detschelt’s post was “beyond reprehensible.”

The only “R” word that Detschelt should use is “resign,” Kopas said.

Resident Kris Horvath, whose 20-year-old son also has Down syndrome, said Detschelt’s posts were not political but personal.

Detschelt’s posts “lacked human decency,” Horvath said.

Dawn Lewandowski, who lost a bid for the school board in 2021, said she was defending Detschelt’s First Amendment rights, not what he posted.

Lewandowski said she was “watching a lynch mob” in the audience that applauded Detschelt’s critics, and she added no one in the audience “is without fault.”

Former school board member Tracey Czajkowski, who lost a bid for reelection in 2019, said that political games are being played on the school board but those games should end “so that the district can focus on education.”

Detschelt left the board table, opting to sit in the back of the auditorium, while several critics chastised him. He returned for a board discussion and the vote.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with the correct spelling of Dawn Lewandowski’s name.