Norwin School Board voted Monday to censure one of its members.
Alex Detschelt has been a regular point of controversy on the board for years. There was his use of a slur regarding people with intellectual disabilities that he shared on social media. There was his subsequent opposition to a book that used the word, in context, regarding a person with autism.
He has sued the board twice — once in federal court for criticizing his Facebook post using that taboo word. He was censured that time, too. After the November 2023 elections didn’t go his way, he posted a lengthy diatribe snarling at parents, women and unmotivated Republicans.
Now Detschelt promises more action after the latest censure. Six board members voted to rebuke him and demand his resignation. The demand has no teeth but still speaks to how seriously the matter was taken. Only one director present didn’t call for censure. Christina Baverso, Detschelt’s sometimes ally, abstained without saying why.
What is all of this about?
Detschelt has moved his outbursts from social media to Substack, a personal publishing forum that allows anyone to deliver an opinion. What YouTube did for video, Substack does for op-eds.
His Substack is called “Behind Groomer Lines,” and it is a more pointed attack on areas Detschelt deems ugly, awful and un-American. He promotes his politics. He does it with language that might make some blanch and others gag. Even Baverso, while not voting against him, stressed she would never use the words he does.
The pieces he publishes are not daily or weekly. There have been just 13 since January 2024. They include personal verbal attacks on individuals that would not be allowed by many news outlet opinion pages because of libel and defamation, as well as fact-checking.
While the board seems within its authority with the censure and Detschelt appears to be under no obligation to bow to the demand to resign, he is within his rights to say what he wants on Substack. At least until or unless someone challenges him in court and a judge says otherwise.
Detschelt has a First Amendment right to freedom of speech. On his latest Substack post, he draws lines between what he has said as a board member and what he has said as an individual. While those lines are sometimes muddy, he is not wrong — especially with Substack.
On Facebook, people are connected to things based on an algorithm that links you to people, businesses, organizations and communities that might interest or involve you. Detschelt’s words could land in your eye line whether you sought them out or not. Your kids could see them. Your kid with a disability could see them. Your kid with a disability whose education falls under Detschelt’s authority could see them.
There is definitely a reason for people to be upset about that. Whether there is recourse to that is a different question.
On Substack, you have to seek Detschelt out. You have to want to read what he says — whether you agree with him or are outraged by it. As an American, Detschelt is free to say what he wants within the parameters of the law.
But he needs to remember the Bill of Rights contains no freedom from consequences. Anyone, especially an elected official running for reelection, can and often is held accountable for the words said and the statements published.
And resident Brooke Roney was not wrong at the meeting Monday when she said board members should be held to the same standard of conduct as students when it comes to respecting rights. Indeed, they should hold themselves to a higher standard if they expect voters to do the same.