SALT LAKE CITY — As condemnation continues over "bullying" comments made by Utah State Board of Education member Natalie Cline, the board itself is saying it will soon be taking action on the matter.
Earlier this week, Cline created a Facebook post that appeared to imply that a female member of a girl's basketball team in the Granite School District was transgender. After keeping the post up for nearly a full day, Cline removed it Wednesday and apologized, saying the student-athlete is a "biological girl and always has been since birth. She does have a larger build, like her parents."
Cline's colleagues of the board were taken aback by Cline's comments.
"Here's an innocent youth who may look more masculine than her peers as an athlete and we have a school board member who's attacking her and insinuating she's transgender and using her as a slur against her so that's harmful to that girl, but it's also very harmful to the transgender community," said Board of Education member Sue Robbins.
Fellow board member Sarah Reale was concerned over the damage Cline's words and accusations can do to students.
"Her words and actions are putting people at harm, our students at harm," she said.
In a statement Thursday, Board of Education leadership said it "is very concerned about this post and the harm it has caused to students and families in Utah." The statement went on to say that the board is "saddened by the events that have taken place,"
Although the board has no power or authority to remove Cline from her position, its bylaws do allow leadership to impose discipline on members. According to the bylaws, members must act:
...in the best interest of the school children of the state, using powers or resources of public office to promote the public interest rather than for personal gain or to pursue private interests;
Another bylaw speaks directly about the responsibility of board members to protect the privacy of students and employees:
While Members have the right to freedom of expression, members shall respect the privacy of students, USBE employees, LEA employees, and school level employees, including refraining from direct and indirect identification of such, in a negative light in any public setting, venue, or platform where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.
At least one board member wants to slow things down before condemning Cline and her actions.
"I think what happened was egregious," said board member Joseph Kerry. "I think it was inappropriate, but I also believe in due process and believe in due process and I think that everyone needs the opportunity to tell their side of the story so I would like to have that happen so we have all the facts and can make a decision at that point in time."
Should the full board find a member such as Cline violated any of its bylaws, it can reprimand that member by censure or other measures, including removing the member from committee assignments, prohibiting the member from attending board advisory committee meetings, and prohibiting the member from placing an item on an agenda.
It's not known when the full board will meet to discuss any possible punishment that could be handed down. Whenever the time comes, the support from some that Cline has received on the board may no longer continue.
"We have an interestingly divided board," said member Carol Lear. "Some board members have typically voted consistently with member Cline and they've opposed her sanction for other actions, I don't know if that will still be the case."
Since Cline's comments were brought to the public's attention, several political leaders and prominent organizations have condemned her actions.
Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson released a joint statement that said, "Sadly, this is not the first time that board member Cline has embarrassed the state of Utah and State Board of Education. We urge the State Board of Education to hold her accountable and we commend Granite School District for taking swift action to protect this student’s safety and well-being.”
For a second straight day, Cline refused to comment, pointing towards her response posted to Facebook on Wednesday.
