ARUNDEL – The Arundel Select Board has 30 days in which to appoint someone to fill a Regional School Unit 21 School Board Director vacancy created by the March 23 resignation of Ryan McQueen. Whomever is selected will serve until a replacement is voted during town elections June 13.
That is the word from Town Manager Keith Trefethen, as spelled out in the Arundel Charter. The term expires in June 2024.
McQueen, who was elected unopposed to a partial term in June, had come under fire last week in connection with his social media posts.
The school board and Superintendent Dr. Terri Cooper issued a statement Tuesday afternoon March 21 regarding Twitter posts made by a school director, though the statement did not name the individual. “We are aware of disturbing and offensive posts made online by a sitting school board director,” the RSU 21 statement noted, in part. “The posts on Twitter were hateful toward transgender people, people of color, and women. Individual board members do not speak for the board or the RSU 21 school district.”
Early Wednesday evening, March 22, McQueen said he had resigned, effective immediately.
“RSU 21 put out a slanderous statement based on their opinion of the post, not what the post actually said,” McQueen said, in part. “It’s sad to see how far people will go to silence people who don’t agree with them … nothing I say will stop this from interrupting all the hard work we as a board have done in the past year. And now I have resigned. I did not volunteer for this position to be attacked and slandered.”
Screenshots of the Twitter posts recently began circulating among parents and complaints were made to the RSU 21 school board, which held an executive session Monday, March 20.
One of the posts, among several sent to the Kennebunk Post, was a meme which stated, “People are similar to sharks because all the great ones are white.” Some of the posts were retweets of memes posted by other people. There are references to the LGBTQ community, and others.
Sometime on Tuesday March 21, McQueen changed his Twitter settings; one must now be a follower to see them.
RSU 21 School Board Chair Erin Nadeau said in issuing the statement, the board wanted it to make clear that it does not condone the online postings that were brought to their attention. “We are committed to supporting our staff and our students,” said Nadeau. “It was important to the board to share this statement right out front.”
Parents who spoke to the Kennebunk Post prior to the resignation had screenshots of the posts and expressed dismay at the content. One mother said she was concerned about what McQueen might try to accomplish as a member of the school board’s policy committee.
Another parent said she believed the best course of action would be for McQueen to resign.
On Wednesday March 23, Arundel resident Sarah Cote took initial steps to begin the process of a recall vote to oust McQueen. He resigned later that day.
The RSU 21 School Board has 12 elected directors. Arundel has elected three including Nadeau, Ken Levesque – and now, the vacant partial term. Kennebunkport has three board members, and Kennebunk has six.
People interested in appointment to the position may contact the Arundel town clerk or town manager.
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