Written by Antonio Pellulo
A post made on Facebook days after the election has led to calls for the Slippery Rock School Board President to step down from her position.
Days after the Presidential election Slippery Rock School District President Heather Scott, who was first elected to the board in 2014, made a post on social media calling those who voted for the President-elect Donald Trump “selfish f****** a******.” On Friday, Slippery Rock Mayor JonDavid Longo made a post on the social media platform formerly known as twitter, X, with Scott’s comments. Longo also shared a donation that Scott made to the “Santanic Temple” to “Protect Abortion Access and Reproductive Rights.”
In the post Longo said of Scott, “She is one of many thousands across America who have infiltrated our institutions and are responsible for leading our country off the rails.”
When asked for a comment Longo said to refer to his social media posts on X and Facebook as his comment.
On Monday night, community members gathered in the Slippery Rock Area Middle School for the monthly school board meeting. The room was filled. Not for the school Athletic Director being honored by all nine school board members, not for the announcement establishing a PIAA Girls wrestling team, or concerns about ongoing construction impacting air quality at the high school. They gathered to express disappointment and frustration at the social media post.
Three school board members called for Scott to resign from her position.
Including Vice President Greg Schiller.
“I firmly believe that everyone has the right to say or post their thoughts and beliefs,” said Schiller. “The first amendment guarantees this right in the case the statements made denigrate people for exercising their right to vote for their candidate.”
John Scott, Heather Scott’s husband, also spoke in defense of his wife and shared that their home address had been shared over social media and they have received threats over Facebook and her school district email. John has been a resident of Slippery Rock since 1977.,
“Since I’ve been living in this community I have never felt unsafe,” said John Scott. “I have never locked my doors, I never locked my windows, but thanks to comments that have made it across the internet for who knows how long, for the first time I feel uncomfortable living in my house.”
At the end of the 30 minutes the school board had the option to end public comment or let three final speakers share their thoughts. They all approved to allow the final three to speak.
At the end of the public comment Scott shared a prewritten statement.
“I am sorry the post has upset so many of you as is a one time donation to my one time donation to a cause I believe in,” said Scott. “I stand by my feelings and opinions, as I do have a right to them. I did not encourage violence, I did not use any slurs, I did not say I was bringing my politics to school.”
When asked for comment after the meeting Scott did express some regret to the language she used.
“Do I wish that maybe I hadn’t used those words, yea, but I’m still entitled to feel how I feel and I’m still upset about the election,” said Scott. “Maybe I would have changed the vocabulary had I known it was gonna be screenshot and posted elsewhere.”
Scott only has one School Board meeting as President before they have their yearly reorganization meeting. Then Scott has one year left on her term on the School Board where she has said she was not planning on seeking reelection after all her children graduated from the school. Her youngest child graduated in 2022.
Scott has yet to decide if she will resign before her current term is complete.
“I don’t dismiss their feelings and their outrage is kinda like my outrage with the election,” said Scott. “That’s all I can say.”
