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Calls continue for Connie Bernard's resignation following release of more records

4 years 3 months 1 day ago Friday, July 10 2020 Jul 10, 2020 July 10, 2020 6:40 PM July 10, 2020 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE- The calls are growing louder for East Baton Rouge Parish School Board Member Connie Bernard to resign after a public records request for all board members laptop browsing history revealed she was the only one doing things not pertaining to school board business.

The records indicate two board members used their personal devices. Two used EBR issued Chromebooks with a generic board member account. Five board members: Connie Bernard, Dawn Collins, Mark Bellue, Dadrisu Lanus, and Tramelle Howard used district-issued devices.

The search of those records show only Bernard was doing things not pertaining to school board business during a June 18, 2020 meeting where she came under fire.

At that time, Baton Rouge activist Gary Chambers caught her shopping online. He blasted her at the podium in an address that went viral around the nation.

Since then, the slogan #byeconnie has been used as groups created a recall petition and demanded her resignation.

School board member Dadrius Lanus is leading the recall effort. He said he's not surprised at what the records show.

"They were doing the job they were elected to do," Lanus said. "That's being a voice for the people and being a voice of the people. In Ms. Bernard's case, she was not doing the work of the people.

Bernard has come under fire in the past after she was filmed in a 2018 video where she entered a neighbor's house and grabbed a teenager by the neck as she shouted profanities.

She entered not guilty pleas in that case, which is still pending.

We reached out to Bernard for a comment. She issued the following statement today. 

"I lead from the heart and remain committed to continue working to better the lives of all students in East Baton Rouge.

Right now we are all shouting past one another. We need to stop and listen to one another. It's only when we stop and listen that we can truly learn from one another."

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