photo by: Joselyn King

A capacity crowd turns out for Monday night’s Ohio County Board of Education meeting. During the meeting, board members unanimously voted to suspend two school employees for comments made on social media.

WHEELING — Two employees of Ohio County Schools were suspended Monday over recent comments they posted on social media.

Board members deliberated for just over one hour Monday night before unanimously accepting the recommendation from Superintendent Kim Miller that bus driver Bill Nolan and Unique Robinson-Murphy — a social worker serving as Communities In Schools liaison at Wheeling Park High School — both be suspended for five days for their posts. They also will be required to participate in sensitivity training.

The comments at issue have since been taken down from their Facebook pages.

Miller informed board members before their vote that she had met with both employees and their representatives to discuss the situation “at length,” and both were in agreement with the punishments.

Early in the meeting, board member Molly Aderholt spoke about ill feelings and discord happening in society following the assassination in Utah of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, founder of the Turning Point USA organization.

She noted that the principles of freedom of speech and religion are the foundation of society in the United States.

“I have really wrestled with that over the week,” Aderholt continued. “I have an overriding hope and prayer for our world — specifically for our community — that God will bring good out of all evil. And that neighbors … especially in Ohio County, can come together and have respectful conversations and show each other love.”

Following the vote, Aderholt, board President David Croft, and members Anne Hercules, Bernie Albertini and Andy Garber all said they had no additional comment.

A large crowd filled the board room, though just two members of the community signed up to speak during the delegations segment at the end of Monday’s meeting.

Edward Robinson spoke of the meaning of the words “integrity” and “legacy.” He said Robinson-Murphy had shown much integrity over the years in her role with Ohio County Schools. She has organized such events as the annual Textured Expo and assisted young women in obtaining the items they need to make them feel beautiful at prom and shown them how to use them.

Legacy is “what you leave behind,” he continued.

“By suspending her, you are tarnishing her legacy,” Robinson told board members. “She is everything to these students, and you are about to tarnish her reputation for the rest of her life. She will have that suspension on her record for life. I ask you all to reconsider that because it is not fair to her.”

Former West Virginia senator and state NAACP President Owens Brown, D-Ohio, also addressed the board regarding political rhetoric. He suggested violence doesn’t always mean the use of a weapon or physically injuring someone. He noted that psychological violence also can take a toll on a person or a community.

He referenced Kirk’s questioning of the intelligence of many Black women serving in top government roles — such as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, attorney and former first lady Michelle Obama, former U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas, and Joy Reed, a Harvard-educated television commentator.

“The college dropout had the audacity to question the intelligence and qualifications of these four women,” Brown said. “What if he had said that about your daughters?”