Chris Kolb resigns as JCPS board vice chairperson after explicit tweet

Justin Farris

Former vice chairperson of the JCPS board Chris Kolb has voluntarily resigned his leadership position after tweeting an expletive at Kentucky state senator Whitney Westerfield. The tweet in question was this one, where Westerfield asked if anyone had considered the harm that a mask mandate would do to students.

In response, Kolb tweeted at Westerfield, “F*** you.” In the wake of the event, Kolb has resigned from his leadership position on the board, though he remains a board member representing District 2. The board’s chairperson, Diane Porter, said that Kolb’s comments  “do not reflect the expectations for individual board members or the board as a whole.”

The interaction between Westerfield and Kolb.

This comes in the wake of increasing controversy over the use of masks in Kentucky. Governor Beshear recently issued a mask mandate for JCPS running into 2022, which is likely to garner backlash from opponents of the mask mandates and lockdown.

The problem is one that’s been rearing its head across the country– Florida’s school system and Florida governor DeSantis are having a standoff over the latter’s order that parents must be allowed to decide whether their children wear masks to school. It also comes as the Delta variant of the Coronavirus causes a nationwide surge in infections and hospitalizations.