Hot mic audio of a school superintendent was released after he was fired for calling a principal a “bitch” in an off-air rant with a radio host.
Claude Tiller Jr., former superintendent of the Green Bay Area Public School District, announced his resignation on Feb. 17 after the school board reviewed his comments on the program.
Tiller appeared on WAOK and spoke with host Dr. Adriene Harrison Berry on February 5 and discussed his role as superintendent.
During the show’s commercial breaks, Tiller and Berry shared conversations that were captured on their Facebook Live recording.
In one conversation, Tiller said the principal of a district high school was “going after” a teacher who became close to the former superintendent.
He then referred to the principal as an “evil witch” from whom he had to protect the teacher.
‘Of course, the first thing they’ll say is “Who and me?” Well, bitch, of course it’s you,” Tiller said.
Claude Tiller Jr. resigned from his superintendent position in the Green Bay Area Public School District after a radio interview was published.
During a commercial break, Tiller called the principal of a district high school an “evil witch” and a “bitch.” The school board placed him on administrative leave for his comments.
‘We’re talking about you, yes, we’re talking about you,’ the host responded.
It is not clear who the director he spoke of is.
Once the school board viewed the video of the interview, they placed Tiller on administrative leave before he decided to resign from his position.
“In the days following my appearance on the show, it was disheartening to learn that select comments in my two-hour interview were interpreted in a way that inadvertently offended some in our school community,” Teller said in a statement after his resignation.
“It is important to emphasize that my comments were specifically directed at broader systemic issues within public education that contribute to current challenges.”
“My intention was not to draw the attention of individuals, but rather to highlight areas where our collective efforts can catalyze significant improvements in each child’s learning experience,” he added.
More than 40 people showed up at the district office building Saturday to support Tiller as the school board accepted his resignation. He was the first black superintendent to serve in the school district.
After the vote, resident Stephanie Guzman told school board members, “I hope you can sleep at night when our kids see that you didn’t defend Mr. Tiller, I hope you remember that.”
“If they are doing things like this to the superintendent, they are silencing the voices of the community,” said Amanda García, executive director of Casa ALBA Melanie, a resource center for Hispanics. WFRV.
Tiller later announced his resignation on February 17, saying his comments were “specifically directed at broader systemic issues.”
More than 40 people showed up at the district office building Saturday to support Tiller as the school board accepted his resignation. He was the first black superintendent to serve in the school district.
While some people criticized the school board for its response to Tiller’s comments, others supported his decision.
“This man has a FRAGILE EGO, he should have thought better of himself, no, pay up,” one person said on Facebook.
“Get rid of it,” wrote another.
During the nearly two-hour interview, Tiller, who was hired as superintendent last summer, talked about problems in the district and where he saw room for improvement.
He specifically addressed the racial disparities he’s seen when he called the Wisconsin city “lily on lily white” while on air.
“To listeners, I’m a bald man and I wear a bow tie, so first of all, they think I’m Muslim,” he said.
‘They think I like making bean pies, and that’s the furthest thing from the truth, so I had to go debunk some microaggressions… They confuse my passion with being angry.’
During the nearly two-hour interview, Tiller specifically addressed the racial disparities he has seen when he called the Wisconsin city “lily on lily white” while on air.
Tiller also discussed his goals of creating an incentive to get more teachers to work for the district by raising their base salary to $50,000, adding that “there is no sense of community.”
He also mentioned that during his interview process, he and another potential candidate, a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, were the two finalists for the superintendent position.
‘I just didn’t think about it. White, blonde hair, blue yes, a Barbie doll. I thought she would understand that. [job]he said in the interview.
Tiller also discussed his goals of creating an incentive to get more teachers to work for the district by raising their base salary to $50,000, adding that “there is no sense of community.”
The Green Bay Public School District released the live recording of the interview, both on and off air.
The radio station has since removed the live recording from its Facebook and did not respond to comments made in its promotional post for the Tiller interview.
Green Bay is made up of about 100,000 residents, and 72 percent of the population is white, according to U.S. Census data.
Those who identify as black made up about 4.2 percent of the general population.