The Chairwoman of the Montgomery County School Board says she intends to keep her job after storming out of a meeting earlier this week and offering the position to the speaker at that meeting.
“I have not resigned,” Sue Kass told The Virginia Star by email Thursday.
It was previously reported that Kass was considering resigning.
Kass did not provide further clarification for the outburst, but the confrontation began when a speaker at the meeting began showing Kass Facebook photos of herself, mask-less.
The speaker was attempting to illustrate that while children in the Montgomery County School District (MCSD) were forced to wear masks in schools, school board members were choosing not to wear masks outside of school.
The exchange was recorded by a meeting attendee, who posted the video to TikTok Wednesday.
“Here’s a picture of you on Facebook with a crowd of people with no mask on,” the speaker told Kass, holding up her cellphone for reference. “Here’s another picture of you with no mask on.”
Kass then interrupted the speaker, banging a gavel and yelling.
“I’m sorry Ms. Vaughn, if you are going to sit there and disparage a member of our school board, then you can sit down,” Kass said. “If you have something effective to say …”
“I have facts and truth on my side,” the speaker said.
“I am not going to sit here – can we have a police officer, please?” Kass asked.
“No, I’m not scared. I don’t care. I don’t like you,” Kass said, shouting over the protests of the speaker. “You can either talk about something – you can talk about something that concerns our school. Is there something about our students that you would like to talk about?”
The police officer then approached the speaker.
After some back-and-forth discussion, the speaker was not escorted out of the meeting.
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A second video, taken after the argument, shows Kass storming out of the room.
“We’re coming for your seat,” the speaker told Kass.
“You can have my seat,” Kass said, walking away from the meeting. “You can have it. It’s all yours.”
The speaker then encouraged the rest of the attendees to run for a seat on the school board.
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The confrontation occurred on the same day that Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) signed into law a bill banning mask mandates in schools. That law comes on the heels of an executive order issued on his first day in office ordering the same.
The Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has already said it will sue Youngkin over his mask-optional law.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Sue Kass” by MCPS. Background Photo “Auburn Middle School” by Auburn Middle School.
