PARSIPPANY — The Parsippany-Troy Hills School District is aware of the statements that were posted by one of its employees on Facebook..
The district prides itself on its diversity and its acceptance of all individuals and does not tolerate discrimination of any kind.
This pride is reflective of over 1,700 employees who work each day with our students, parents, and community members.
While they understand the value of free speech they do not condone any of their employees making discriminatory and offensive comments about any one particular group of people. The matter is being handled as a personnel issue.
As reported in Parsippany Patch “Local residents expressed outrage after a Parsippany-Troy Hills School District employee took to Facebook Monday afternoon to air his grievances about the lack of Christmas décor at the Rockaway Townsquare Mall.”
In the article “A resident shared the comment, which was posted to the Rockaway Townsquare Mall Facebook page, with Parsippany Patch.
In the comment, Frank Atkins, a bus driver for the district, slammed the business for its lack of Christmas-related decorations this season. What Atkins also did in the post, where he claims to be offended as a Christian, was use the words “towel head,” a derogatory term often used to offend someone of Middle Eastern descent or someone who wears a turban.
According to Parsippany Patch, the comment was posted at 2:40 p.m. Monday, November 9, but removed within 30 minutes. It is not known if the business or Atkins himself removed the post.