School Board Member Resigns After Statement About Kids With Food Allergies, ‘Just Shoot Them’ [Video]

A Michigan school board member has submitted her resignation following a controversial comment she made during a November 10 school board meeting. The member in question, Linda Grossmann, made a joke about children with food allergies noting that the school should “just shoot them.” It seems that families and other school board members didn’t find the comment in good taste and Grossmann resigned after outrage from parents.

The incident happened at a Clawson Public Schools board meeting. According to ABC 7, the comment was made when the discussion turned to food allergies in the elementary school. The board discussed about 20 students at Kenwood Elementary who have food allergies. When the food allergies were mentioned, Grossmann had a solution to the problem.

“Just shoot them!”

She then raised her hands in the air and began to shake them attempting to indicate that she was just joking. The board member directly next to her also began to laugh loudly. However, others in the room seemed uncomfortable and attempted to move on from the statement quickly.

Interestingly, most public schools have a no tolerance policy when it comes to threatening violence, joke or not. In fact, a 5-year-old girl in Pennsylvania was suspended last year after she threatened to shoot another student with a pink gun that dispensed bubbles.

The Detroit Free Press notes that the Board of Education of Clawson Public Schools released a statement following the incident noting that were “stunned and saddened by the comment.”

“Although the comment was an inappropriate attempt at humor, it was most insensitive, and has resulted in the resignation” of Grossmann, the statement read. “It does not represent the views of our district nor our Board of Education.”

Many parents say the resignation is not enough and think the other board members should have stepped up during the meeting to tell Grossmann the statement was inappropriate. Heather Maurer, whose son has a nut allergy and is a fourth-grader at Schalm Elementary, told the Free Press that she was disturbed by the number of other school board members and people in attendance that laughed at the comment.

“An immediate consequence needed to happen there.”

Mark Drinkard of Clawson, who has five grandchildren attending Clawson schools, also had some harsh words for Grossmann’s comment.

“I know she was joking, but it was a very poor joke,” Drinkard said. “If you had a life-threatening allergy, would you think it was so funny if someone made fun of you?”

Clawson Superintendent Monique Beels also had something to say about the incident.

“The remarks by this Board member in no way reflect the opinion of the Clawson School District or the Board of Education. Our District enjoys an outstanding reputation as a welcoming, innovative educational community for all children. We will not permit this single incident to interfere with our mission to continue to meet the needs of all our students.”

The full meeting can be viewed here if you would like to see the conversation leading up to the controversial statement.

What do you think of the food allergy statement made by Grossman? Should more action be taken by the school district or is her resignation enough?