SB Board of Education Meeting Sparks Controversy

by Om Bhaskar ('27) and Karim Salahie ('26)

On May 22, a SBSD Board of Education meeting was conducted at Crossroads North Middle School. Initial proceedings at the meeting were focused on students, HIB violations, as well as general issues with the school budget, including the potential need for “redistricting” later on. Though, when the floor was opened to public comments after these proceedings, controversy began to erupt over the social media posts of a BOE member.

The controversial post was made by the board’s vice president, Ms. Deepa Karthik, who wrote, “As a Hindu I don't consume Halal products. Halal is a specific method of slaughter and contamination. There is no reason for tea, coffee, rice, wheat, spices, vegetables, milk, sweets etc to be Halal certified.”

“Halal” is a religious method of slaughter and does not indeed need to be included in non-meat products, but many people were outraged over the first part of Ms. Karthik’s post, which many viewed as denigrating Muslim practices. 

Some members of the community called for Ms. Karthik to resign, make an apology, or to be removed from her board position.

The Muslim Student Association at SBHS made a petition to the board asking for consequences for her comments, for which 516 students gave their signatures.

An impromptu meeting was then scheduled for June 4 to publicly address the issue. The board went into a confidential executive session for two hours before the floor was opened for one hour of public comments. 

Once the board returned, president Mrs. Laura Hernandez took time to explain the situation, as well as to make an apology to anyone who found the comments made on Facebook offensive. Hernandez announced that Karthik had indeed violated state policy 0169.02. 

She explained further that, although the board can publicly state their dissatisfaction with a member, said board member cannot be removed from their elected seat, as she stated, “Members are elected by the community, not chosen by the board.” 

However, Mrs. Hernandez did remove Karthik from her board committees of education and policy, of which the board itself assigns internally.

Afterwards, Karthik was given the time to speak about her perspective of the situation. 

“I am deeply saddened and hurt that my thoughts were misunderstood,” Ms. Karthik said, “The comment on my personal Facebook page about halal food was my understanding that it’s a specific method of slaughter to restrict contamination, one which I missed expressing thoroughly.”

Omar Asker, SBHS senior and co-president of the school’s Muslim Student Association, said, “It is crucial for students to first be aware of what’s going on with the Board of Education, but secondly, to speak up when any individual or group feels misrepresented. Every community, like our school, has a group of leadership and this is where students can truly voice their opinions and gain experience for the real world; if students are not capable of speaking up within their school district, then they’ll never speak up against injustice in future jobs, communities, states, etc.”

During the meeting on June 4, many people came out to support Ms. Karthik, as well as to address their grievances with actions taken by the board. 

One community activist who came out in support of Karthik, Mr. Satya Duspati, said, “I also happened to fight for my First Amendment rights when I was sued with multiple multi-million dollar lawsuits, once 100 million, and another 20 million dollars, and won in both cases. I am here to support Board of Education member Deepa Karthik and her First Amendment right to express herself without any fear of retribution.” 

Asker disagreed. 

He said, “It is vital for Mrs. Karthik to be condemned as an elected official. Sure, the First Amendment offers free speech, but it is unbecoming of her, a representative of all students, parents, and families, held to a higher standard, to make such comments publicly. She is entrusted to serve and respect members of the SBSD, not hurt them.”

One part of the violated policy states, “Board members shall recognize they are held to a higher standard than the general public with regard to standards of conduct of ethics.”

The polarizing effects of this controversy have been significant over the past two BOE meetings, and with the next meeting occurring on 6/19/2025, the community is yet to see how the situation further progresses. 

In an unrelated development, Board member Ms. Lisa Rodgers resigned on June 10 and is also scheduled to make a public statement at that meeting. To date, it is unclear whether her resignation has been accepted.