By Lev D. Zilbermints
“Here comes the bulls—.” – That is what Josephine C. Garcia, the President of Newark’s Board of Education, called the public comments portion at the January 28, 2021 online meeting. Now the board president, whose term expires in 2023, is facing calls for her resignation.
The incident occurred during the January 28 online meeting. In a one-minute video clip that has been shared numerous times on social media, Board President Josephine C. Garcia is heard saying on live air, “Here comes the bulls—.”
“Local Talk” attempted to verify this controversial statement.
In her written responses to a ten-question interview, Yolanda Johnson, president of Parents Educating Parents, Inc., described in detail how the controversial remark came to be.
“Around the 47 mark and in the live section of the Newark School Board meeting on 1/28/21 where parents were questioning board president commentary, board president Josephine Garcia motioned to move the meeting to public speaking, where Arsen the attorney had introduced the public portion. Board President Garcia can be heard talking over Arsen saying, “Here comes the bulls—“. This is what captured the public’s attention,” Johnson wrote in her email.
It did not take long for the public to express its displeasure with President Garcia’s quote. Jaz West-Romero, an education activist, parent and mother whose children attend Newark’s schools, wrote a blistering post on Facebook demanding both “an apology and an explanation as to why we [the public] were called bulls— last night [January 28].”
In her Facebook post, Jaz West-Romero blasted the Newark Board of Education for deleting the video taken of the Jan. 28 NBOE meeting. She also demanded an official statement on the matter immediately.
“I’ll give you until Monday [Feb. 1] to release an official statement & follow-up consequence, otherwise I will be organizing a protest and we will be present and HEARD THROUGH THE BS”, Ms. West-Romero wrote on Facebook.
According to Facebook posts, West-Romero was demanding that the same standard be applied to the Board President as to the Director of Recreation last October. The director, who made disparaging remarks, received a suspension. However, the director is not an elected official. Ms. Garcia, on the other hand, is an elected official whose term expires in 2023.
Denise Cole, an education activist, said that this is the first time she heard a president or chairperson talk like that. The board members of the past were more civil.
“We always were able to agree to disagree with other board members,” Cole said.
According to Cole, “People are watching. The Board of Education should be held accountable [for what is going on]. She [Garcia] needs to resign. Why does she feel like we are BS when we have legitimate concerns? No board member stopped the meeting and said what happened was unacceptable. The student representative [Kimberly Gonzalez] was sitting in shock,” Cole said.
On January 29, the day after the incident, the Newark Board of Education President posted an apology on Facebook.
“I would like to apologize for a comment that mistakenly went over the air last night. Please know that this comment was not directed toward, or a characterization of, any member of the public or the public participation process.
I have dedicated over two decades to public service and will continue to work with the community that I love on the behalf of its children and families.”
The apology was shared six times between Friday and Sunday. Research by “Local Talk” staff showed that all 11 people who approved of the apology were either former Newark Board of Education members, its employees or were politically connected. Tellingly, only one current board member, Vereliz Santana, wrote that she approved of the apology. The other members of the board maintained their silence.
Santana is the policy director of State Senator M. Teresa Ruiz. Critics say her appointment is a conflict of interest and undemocratic.
In her interview with “Local Talk,” PEP CEO Yolanda Johnson blasted the apology as not worth anything.
“It was an insincere apology because she should have apologized right before public participation during the live board meeting versus waiting two days when other news outlets had [the episode] circulated,” Ms. Johnson wrote in her response.
Johnson said that she is prepared to go to court if Garcia does not resign and ignores the petition.
According to Johnson, there is a process of recalling a member of the board of education. Currently there is an online petition with hundreds of signatures demanding that Garcia be either forced to resign or be recalled.
Former Newark Board of Education member Leah Z. Owens wrote on her blog, blackwomenteacher.net, “That sentiment [expressed by President Garcia] expresses how the board, under her leadership, views the democratic process. For them, deliberation has no place in our public education system.”
