By Staff Reporter |

Over 1,500 individuals want the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) to remove one of its board members for criticizing an overweight health official. 

Board member and state senator Carine Werner made the comments during a presentation by Nutritional Services Director Patti Bilbrey at a board meeting last month. It appears Werner intended to make the comments to herself, but her remarks were caught on a hot mic. Werner was attending the meeting remotely.

“This is what I have to listen to,” said Werner. “She’s in nutrition services and she’s like morbidly obese.”

Werner also uttered the comment “chub” amid some indiscernible audio. 

General Mills Foodservice has recognized Bilbrey as the only “trayblazer” in Arizona — one of around 40 nationwide — for her innovative approaches to feeding students. 

A coalition of mainly progressive parents and community members say Werner, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, had committed fat-shaming in conflict with board policy. Werner has previously caught the ire of this coalition of parents for pushing to rid SUSD of books advancing DEI and LGBTQ+ ideologies.  

An organization, Swing Left, organized a protest to demand Werner’s resignation during the September 9 board meeting. Around 50 individuals showed. Werner was absent, as was board president Donna Lewis. 

Public comment focused on Werner’s remarks from last month’s meeting. 

Shea Najafi, an SUSD parent and progressive activist organizer who founded Scottsdale Women Rising, has led efforts to recall Werner. Najafi is gathering signatures to hold a recall campaign, which would require around 4,000 signatures. 

“It was deplorable. We couldn’t believe she called a beloved district employee ‘Chubs’ during a presentation in which she was speaking about how we can feed kids during the summer,” said Najafi. 

Najafi and others seeking Werner’s recall plan to attend the October 7 meeting with TV crews in tow. 

“You’re f****d, Werner,” wrote Najafi in a Facebook post. 

SUSD governing board vice president Mike Sharkey, who Najafi and other progressives support, disclosed that he asked legal counsel whether Werner could be censured over the remarks. According to Sharkey, counsel advised the board couldn’t act in that manner. 

Sharkey then read aloud a pre-written statement to the protesters.

“I do not condone the conduct of the board member given what I heard at the board meeting on August. 5. I know what I heard, but only the speaker can know why she said what she said,” said Sharkey during the September 9 meeting. “This behavior does not reflect the board member ethics as adopted in policy nor is it representative of SUSD’s core values.”

Yet, Sharkey later admitted in a statement to The Progress that he didn’t hear what Werner said at first. It was only after he reportedly received an email containing Werner’s remarks that he understood what had been said. 

“I heard crosstalk at the original August 5 meeting but didn’t comprehend what was said,” said Sharkey. 

Scottsdale Unites for Educational Integrity stated that an AI analysis of the board meeting audio compared to prior board meetings indicated the audio had been enhanced to make Werner’s comments audible. Those who attended the meeting in person reported not hearing Werner’s commentary.

AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.