Lloyd Greer, Jr., Pine Bush board president, apologized for his remark during a discussion on the addition of seventh grade Spanish.

During a 2019-20 budget presentation, Greer and board vice president Gretchen Meier opposed adding seventh grade Spanish as a curriculum option in 2019-20. They said while foreign language is not unimportant, the district’s and students’ resources and time would be better served by more technology classes. During the discussion, which was held at the March 12 meeting, Greer made a comment that angered members of the community.

“I’m an American; I think that everybody here should speak English,” Greer said.

At a meeting on March 26, Greer apologized for his comment, saying sometimes one says things they don’t mean.

“I made a comment that I didn’t mean. It wasn’t meant to be racist. Sometimes I say things in the wrong context and that was one night I did,” Greer said. “So, I apologize if I offended anybody, but it definitely wasn’t meant to harm anybody. Sometimes I take this job a little seriously, and it comes out the wrong way.”