Two candidates for the Hamilton County school board, Tom Decosimo and Marco Perez, have taken the opportunity to speak out about the student protest in Chattanooga on Monday over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
The student event at Coolidge Park was advertised with a black-and-white image on social media showing a raised fist above the words “silent and nonviolent” and called on students to “protest against police brutality.”
Incumbent Kathy Lennon – the school board member Decosimo and Perez are vying to replace – posted the image on Facebook, something Decosimo criticized in a post of his own which has since been deleted.
“Our current District 2 School Board member posted this on her Facebook page,” Decosimo wrote above a picture of the event flyer. “I don’t think any further comment necessary. I ask my opponent, who has received the full-throated endorsement of this member and served as her treasurer, what say you? Is this the strident attitude we want our students to adopt? Let’s get our school board back into the hands of people with conservative values and traditional values!”
Some educators are concerned about Decosimo’s own post.