Protesters Again Demand Toms River School Board Member Resign

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Anger over social media postings targeting two Muslim congresswomen by a member of the Toms River Regional Board of Education continues to simmer, and on Wednesday evening led to a protest and heated comments at the school board meeting.

Daniel Leonard, who represents Beachwood on the school board, has been the focus of public ire for nearly a month, after postings he made to Facebook in April about Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ihlan Omar. Screenshots of the posts surfaced in mid-July and were sent to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which called Leonard's posts racist and anti-Muslim and demanded his resignation.

In one, Leonard shared an article about Tlaib's support for a hunger strike to protest actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials with regard to family separations, and above it Leonard wrote that his "life would be complete if she/they die." Leonard has said it was a reference to the hunger strike; critics called it a death threat. A second called Omar a terrorist, and a third that stirred anger was a meme called "Sharia Barbie," showing a Barbie doll mocked up with bruises.

The school district has been inundated with calls and emails demanding action to remove Leonard, who at the July 24 school board meeting said he would not resign. Board President Joseph Nardini and district Superintendent David Healy have denounced Leonard's comments, and Nardini has called for Leonard to resign. Leonard has refused, but did drop his plan to run for reelection, citing the distraction to the district and attacks on his family that have included death threats.

On Wednesday, protesters carrying signs saying "RESIGN NOW" and "Hate Has No Home Here" — the slogan on a campaign by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office that aims to address a number of conflicts in the community — stood outside Toms River High School North for about 20 minutes, speaking about the need to combat hate and decrying Leonard's remarks.

Supporters of Leonard, nearly 800 of whom have signed a petition backing him, had talked of holding a counterprotest, but there was no evidence of any counterprotest outside the meeting.

While the board tried to focus on what lies ahead for the school year, including the installation of playgrounds at the district's elementary schools and positive news about the bonds that support the $147 million referendum — the district expects to save nearly $19 million in interest on the bonds because the interest rates were significantly lower than anticipated — the public comment focused solely on the anger over Leonard.

Two young women, both Toms River schools graduates, said they felt Leonard's continued presence on the board sends the wrong message, encouraging those who harbor hate to harass other students.

Lilah Saber, who graduated from Toms River East two years ago and is of Arab descent, said she was falsely accused by a classmate of carrying a bomb in her clarinet case, leading to an investigation of her, among other harassment.

"How can you assure students they will be safe?" she said to the board.

Austin Reid, who graduated from Toms River South, said she was welcomed to the school when she transferred in as a junior and praised the diversity of the school. She said Leonard's comments undermine the school's messages about acceptance.

"I appreciate your military service," said Reid, who said she comes from a military family. "But right now we don't need you serving us."

Rich Denicola, who served with Leonard in Afghanistan, was one of several people in the audience who came out to support Leonard. He said he has never seen Leonard do anything racist, bigoted or against women. He said he saw Leonard treat Muslim children with kindness a day after those children were encouraged to throw rocks at his military vehicle, and saw Leonard rescue a Muslim child from a burning building.

"Everything can be taken out of context," Denicola said, adding that in his view, Leonard was calling out what he saw as hate speech by Tlaib against Jews. Tlaib is of Palestinian descent and has supported boycotts over Israeli government actions involving Gaza.

The meeting was tense, with people continually yelling from the audience, shouting down speakers at the microphone in response to remarks that struck already raw nerves. One man who spoke in defense of Leonard admitted he'd not read the posts, but rejected the idea that of hate speech, calling the reaction political correctness is essentially censorship. After the meeting, the man admitted he didn't even know who Leonard was.

Board Attorney Stephan Leone said the issue is that as a member of the school board, Leonard is held to a higher standard when it comes to public speech, under the code of ethics that covers every school board member in New Jersey. "There are limits," Leone said. "You can't yell 'fire' in a theater" and Leonard is limited because of his role, because his speech reflects on the school district.

Leone also had to correct a woman who criticized Leonard and demanded the board remove him — even though that issue and the board's role was addressed a month ago — pointing her to letters posted on the district's website denouncing Leonard's remarks and calling for his resignation.

The continual shouting over speakers forced Nardini to give his gavel a workout as he worked to maintain order, but the board and Healy were mostly silent while speakers railed at them and at Leonard.

There was one speaker who prompted an angry reply from Healy. Jean A. Czarkowski, a Toms River resident who is one of the Democrats running for Ocean County freeholder, got up to speak about the issues of bullying that districts across the state face surrounding race, religion, gender identity and other areas. She mentioned that she is the anti-bullying coordinator in another school district (a search shows she works in Old Bridge), and sits on its Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying committee.

"We're told when we're reviewing HIB reports, 'Make sure you don't 'Toms River' it,' " Czarkowski said, adding the implication was that issues are covered up.

The remark appears to refer to a bullying case that happened in the district in the 1990s that led to a 1999 lawsuit that the Toms River schools settled in 2013. That case was part of the impetus behind the state's HIB laws.

Healy angrily responded, calling the characterization an unfair slam on the district's administrators, and called the comment unprofessional. Healy was hired in 2014, more than a year after the lawsuit was settled. Czarkowski's remark also angered a number of members of the audience, who responded by yelling as well.

Leonard, who had engaged with commenters at the July 24 meeting, did not speak at Wednesday's meeting and left as soon as it was adjourned. But he has continued to post critical remarks about Nardini, Leone and those calling for his resignation on social media in the days since he announced he would not seek reelection this year.

Some posts to his Team Leonard Facebook page happened during the meeting, including one mocking a woman who was at the protest, and who was the last speaker before Nardini gaveled the meeting closed.

"I'm not even on social media. Why are you targeting me?" she said, yelling at Leonard while holding up a smartphone someone handed her showing the post. "Why are you targeting me?"

Leonard didn't respond, but on Thursday denied making the post to the Team Leonard page. It went up at 7 p.m., while the board was in executive session.

"That's why it's called Team Leonard," he wrote.

• School Board Member's Anti-Muslim Facebook Posts Stir Anger
• Toms River Board Member Refuses To Resign Over Facebook Posts
• Petition Backs Toms River School Board Member, Calls For Rally
• Toms River School Board Member Not Seeking Reelection

Note: Superintendent David Healy has not called for Dan Leonard's resignation. This article has been updated to correct the information. Patch regrets the error.

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