Connie Bernard says she will not resign from EBR Parish School Board

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Connie Bernard has issued a statement saying she will not resign her seat on the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board.

Bernard’s statement comes in defiance of four of her fellow board members who asked for her to resign at a news conference Monday.

WAFB obtained the following statement from Bernard Monday afternoon:

“I regret that I have become a distraction to the important work we have to do to educate our children. After prayerful consideration and consultation with my family and friends, I will continue to serve all students as elected by my district three times.”

Bernard has come under criticism after she initially defended the name of Lee High School in Baton Rouge and the Confederate general it was named after during a school board meeting Thursday, June 18.

RELATED: Connie Bernard faces renewed calls for resignation from colleagues on EBR school board, community over Robert E. Lee controversy

During the same meeting, Bernard was accused of shopping online on her laptop computer to avoid conversations about the name change.

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