A Utah high school student is now under police protection after a member of the Utah State school board, Natalie Cline, publicly suggested Tuesday the student was transgender without evidence.
On her public Facebook page, Cline made a since-deleted post that included a flyer for a high school girls’ basketball team, writing “’Girls’ basketball,’” to imply one of the pictured players is not female and shouldn’t be able to play.
That incited anger among many of Cline’s followers, leading many to respond in the comments by threatening the girl, calling her vulgar names as well as identifying her and her school. The student in the picture is not transgender, according to Equality Utah.
Granite School District said in a statement they have “significant concerns with the apparent intent of Board Member Cline’s post and are working to ensure the safety and wellbeing of this student.”
The Daily Utah Chronicle is not naming the school or the student’s name to protect her identity.
Cline made a statement on Facebook on Thursday that acknowledged her post led to “personal information as well as derogatory comments about the player” to be made by several commenters.
“To protect the player, I have removed the post,” Cline wrote in her post. “My deepest apologies for the negative attention my post drew to innocent students and their families.”
Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson released a statement on Wednesday where they said they were “stunned to learn of the unconscionable behavior” of Cline.
Cline has been scrutinized a handful of times for previous social media comments that she’s made during her time on the board, which started when she was elected in November 2020.
“Sadly, this is not the first time that board member Cline has embarrassed the state of Utah and State Board of Education,” Cox and Henderson wrote in their statement. “We urge the State Board of Education to hold her accountable and we commend Granite School District for taking swift action to protect this student’s safety and well-being.”
On Thursday, leaders of the Utah State Board of Education promised to take “prompt action” against Cline. The board has received at least 180 complaints about Cline’s post as of midday Thursday, according to its records officer.
“We are deeply saddened by the events that have taken place,” the board wrote in their statement, “and will be taking prompt action regarding this matter as determined by the full board.”
But the board’s leadership did reiterate it has “no power or authority to unseat an elected official.” Utah House Democrats, though, have called for the immediate resignation of Cline, saying her “repeated misconduct highlights her unsuitability” to be a school board member.
State Sen. Kirk Cullimore (R-Sandy), who is an attorney, told the Salt Lake Tribune that according to his analysis, the Utah Legislature does have the authority to impeach Cline. But Cullimore said he’s not sure whether that’s the right move.
Rep. Brian King (D-Salt Lake City) said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Cline “needs to resign. If she won’t resign, we need to take action to impeach her.”
While members of the school board cannot be unseated, they can be censured. The board can also vote to formally disapprove of her comments.
The board did do this once with Cline in fall 2021 when they issued a letter of reprimand to Cline in response to a social media post she made that was critical of LGBTQ students and led to some of her followers to threaten violence. That was the first time the board has ever taken disciplinary action against a member.
Cline’s term ends this November, and she has filed to run again. She faces Amanda B. Bollinger, who is a longtime administrator in Jordan School District, and Will Shiflett, who oversees a business program at Salt Lake Community College and has filed as the sole Democrat.
The race is for District 9, which encompasses southern Salt Lake County and northern Utah County.
a.christiansen@dailyutahchronicle.com
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