North Texas school trustee resigns after joking about inappropriate touching in meme
A Granbury school board member who posted a meme on his Facebook page showing an instructor inappropriately touching women as they did yoga exercises resigned Tuesday night, stating that his actions were wrong.
Bob Swearingen, who was elected nine months ago, resigned following a specially called school board meeting where most residents asked him to step down for the good of the district.
In his Facebook post, Swearingen referred to the person as his “evil twin.”
Swearingen issued a statement on the school district’s website apologizing for posting the meme and said that it was removed from his Facebook page.
“As a school board trustee I have worked hard to show compassion towards others, fight for conservative values, and put students and teachers first when making decisions. I am proud to serve a great community and school system. Unfortunately, even after apologizing, my comments have continued to draw criticism and take the district’s focus off of our students and staff.
“I am a fighter and had planned to continue serving in spite of the critics who refused to accept my apology. However, I ran for school board to serve our students and community. It has become clear that this situation will not allow me to fulfill that mission.”
Swearingen did not return email and voicemail messages from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Board president Mark Jackson said in an interview that “All I can say tonight is that I think Bob did the honorable thing by stepping aside for the good of our kids. I commend him for taking the action tonight. Good people make bad mistakes.”
Most who spoke during the meeting called for Swearingen to resign, saying they did not want someone who showed poor judgment making decisions on behalf of the students and district employees.
A parent with children in the Granbury schools said that Swearingen should resign after his inappropriate post.
“Pictures making fun of violations cannot be tolerated. We are in the middle of a pandemic, and we are wasting time discussing your behavior,” she said.
Former school board member Chris Tackett also asked Swearingen to step down.
“When you are serving in a place of honor to make that post is a betrayal of trust,” Tackett said.
But others defended him.
“In my opinion, there is always room for forgiveness,” Vicki Allen said. “He tried very hard to explain himself.”
The school board will hold an election in November to fill Swearingen’s unexpired three-year term.