Kansas governor: School official 'must' resign after remark

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday called on Kansas’ top public school administrator to resign following reports that he made an offensive remark about Native Americans during a recent conference.

Kelly issued her statement after the State Board of Education called a special meeting for Friday to discuss Education Commissioner Randy Watson’s remark during a two-day conference on virtual education last week. The 10-member elected board appoints the commissioner to run the State Department of Education.

The board’s agenda says it will have a closed session to discuss personnel matters and confer with its attorney. Board Chair Jim Porter said board members expect to review video of Watson’s remarks. Porter said he has not seen the video, but Watson informed him and other board members of the situation.

“Some statements were made that were offensive to a group,” Porter, a Republican from southeast Kansas, said during a telephone interview, later adding: ”“Offensive to the Native American community.”

Watson has not responded to a request for an interview Thursday.

“While Education Commissioner Randy Watson has had a long career in advocating for our children in Kansas, the State and the Kansas Board of Education must take issues of derogatory and discriminatory language seriously,” Kelly, a Democrat, said in her statement. “There is no question that Randy Watson must resign his position immediately.”

Democratic state Rep. Stephanie Byers, of Wichita, one of three Native American state lawmakers, said she saw the video Thursday morning but declined to comment further, saying the three legislators planned to release a joint statement. The Associated Press and other news organizations have filed open records requests to obtain the video showing Watson’s...