Kate Bishop: School board president resigns after backlash over 'sexual peak' tweet
CHULA VISTA, CALIFORNIA: The president of the Chula Vista Elementary School District board stepped down Wednesday night, September 15, and apologized for her “careless and inappropriate” tweets that outraged parents in the district.
In an interview with Fox News this week, Kate Bishop, who was elected to the board last year, apologized for tweets dating back as far as 2011 that appeared to joke about her own sexuality, her 3-year-old son hitting on girls in the park, as well as several tweets mocking former President Donald J Trump.
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Bishop acknowledged that community members were "rightfully upset" about her past social media post. “I was an aspiring stand-up comedian at the time, parenting my young children and only engaging politically to vote and make offhand comments as a member of the public,” Bishop said as she opened up Wednesday's meeting. “Now as a parent of schoolchildren and involved in education policy, I see this as a teachable moment, that things put on the internet last forever. The intent of these tweets was to be funny, but they weren’t. They were hurtful and I’m very sorry.”
In 2012, Bishop demanded that someone bring her an 18-year-old boy while joking that she had hit her sexual peak. "I'm pretty sure I hit my sexual peak today. Somebody bring me an 18-year-old boy, STAT!" Bishop tweeted at the time, adding the hashtag "#hormones." Parents brought up another tweet she posted in 2011, in which she said she was "Off to the park to see what hot 3-year-old girls my kid can hit on," this time adding the hashtag "#ValentinesDay."
In one tweet from 2012, Bishop wrote that she wanted to "hate-f*** (former House Speaker) Paul Ryan, while he is g*gged with my absentee ballot on which I voted for Obama." The same day she also tweeted, "Couldn't take it anymore. Had to fart on the nearest Prius." The following year, Bishop tweeted about having a d**do purchase on her credit card statement.
Then, on Election Day 2016, Bishop railed against Trump. "Dear Rust Belt, He lied. Your manufacturing jobs are NEVER coming back. You f***ed us. No love, Kate," she wrote. In another tweet, she added, "Hey 'burn it all to the ground because we hate the DNC' liberals! How's that going for ya? #IDontLikeHilarySoYayFacism #Elections2016." The tweets, which have since been made private, resurfaced last week and were shared in a Facebook post by a parent in an email to the district’s interim superintendent.
Speaking to Fox 5, Armando Farias, a former member of the board and a district parent, said he was joining several others in calling for Bishop's resignation as district board president. “Even though they happened years ago, this brings out the character of the individual,” Farias said.
He explained that parents were frustrated back in August with the appointment of a new board member. “The community feels the process wasn’t transparent or ethical then,” he said. “All of a sudden, it was brought to my attention a few days ago (about) those tweets and it’s very concerning.”
Bishop said Wednesday night that she intended to continue serving on the board after stepping down as president. The district announced in a tweet that her resignation was effective as of the end of the meeting. “It is my sincerest hope that in doing so, we’ll be able to re-focus in earnest on our children and their safety and education during this ongoing pandemic,” Bishop said. “I pledge to continue my outspoken advocacy for fairness, transparency, and communication within our school community. And, as always, I am here to listen to anyone who wants to share their concerns tonight," she added.
