Franklin Mayor apologizes for using the word ‘thugs'
The city's recovery could take another hit as the public school system faces turmoil now.
Superintendent Dr. Carlton Carter's job is on the line amid complaints from earlier this year when he reassigned the popular principal of Franklin High School.
Wednesday, Dr. Carter agreed to sit for an interview with 10 On Your Side, but upon arrival at Morton Elementary School, Carter reversed course and issued a statement.
'Ma'am, unfortunately, the School Board has directed me not to comment on this [reassignment controversy] at this time,' said Dr. Carter, who was sworn in as Superintendent in March of 2023.
At the time, Dr. Carter promised to increase parental and community engagement. The engagement turned against him on Valentine's Day when some students at Franklin High School attempted a walk-out in protest of Dr. Carter's decision to reassign the principal of Franklin High School to administrative duties, which included coordination of extra curricular activities.
Mayor Paul Kaplan, who has previously called for Dr. Carter's resignation, used a pejorative term to describe Dr. Carter and his supporters in a July 9 email. The email was addressed to a former teacher who is apparently taking legal action. 10 On Your Side shared a portion of the Mayor's email with Mona Murphy, who is a former member of the school board and the city council.
The email in part reads:
… I was a big supporter of Dr. Carter and the board until Feb. 14th when all hell broke loose and Carter and his central office staff were proven to be what we've discovered they are. Especially the staff. I believe some of the board has just drunk the kool-aid like I had. I found an antidote and I don't understand why they haven't. It's an absolute shame what this board has allowed Carter and his thugs to get away with. I pray we will find a solution to this terrible situation very soon!
Murphy was visibly upset by the tone and tenor of Kaplan's email.
'To call us thugs, I think is the most racist tone that you can get. [To] call our staff, to talk about Dr. Carter like that, because he has done more in the few years that he has been the superintendent than the past history,' said Murphy, who is a community advocate.
During Monday's Council meeting and in a telephone interview with 10 On Your Side, Mayor Kaplan doubled down on the use of the word 'thug'.
Regina Mobley: So you continue to stand by the use of the word thug?
Paul Kaplan: Yes, because of the retaliations that are done against staff members… against staff who have spoken out, and corroborated reports, of what appears to be retaliation and that's why I use the word 'thugs.'10 On Your Side asked the mayor if he suspects fraud is an issue in the Franklin School system since the word thug is often associated with criminal activity.
'I don't have any reason to believe, at this point, that anybody was padding their personal bank accounts, but I think there was there's a possibility that [whether] they were watching the use of their money properly. My hope is that all of this gets cleared up and that they were using their money properly,' Kaplan said.
The controversy apparently exposed the mayor's improper use of city email. The email in question was addressed to a former teacher, but was sent to Dr. Carter, members of the School Board and every member of the City Council.
During Monday's council meeting Mayor Kaplan explained that he accidentally hit reply all instead of reply in responding to the former teacher's email.
The one click mistake may have created a violation since the widely distributed exchange may have formed virtual city council and school board meetings. State law requires public notification when three members or more gather to discuss city business.
Later in the telephone interview, 10 On Your Side pressed Mayor Kaplan on the use of the word 'thug' by revealing Mona Murphy called the statement racist and stated that the former schoolboard and council member called for his resignation.
'[Murphy] knows me very well and she knows me better than that. I have actually been a champion for racial equality my entire life,' Kaplan said.
Is an apology in order?
'Apology? Maybe for the choice of that word that I've used,' Kaplan said.
Did he also use the word in a city council meeting?
'I don't know if I said the word,' Kaplan said. 'I think I said I stand by what I said. But it's certainly not intended as a racial slur in any way, shape or form. And I've never heard the word thug as a racial slur.'
The Franklin School Board meets Thursday evening for a regularly scheduled meeting. A full schedule of their meetings can be found here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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2 days ago
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Parkland Shooting Survivor Jaclyn Corin Calls Out AG Pam Bondi
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She talked to TIME from D.C. about the way the gun lobby and resistance movements have changed and why the group is organizing a social media, petition, and advertising campaign calling out 'Parkland Pam,' the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. You've recently taken over the leadership of the organization you co-founded. What are you hoping to achieve? The gun-violence-prevention movement has evolved significantly since 2018. We have been able to accomplish a lot; over 300 gun-safety laws were passed on the state level, the NRA was effectively bankrupted, and young people really started to prioritize gun-violence prevention as a key political issue. But as urgency faded in the public eye, in some ways, the crisis deepened. In the time of all the federal progress, we saw the gun lobby adapting. It moved away from the NRA bluster and towards a quieter, more dangerous strategy, of dismantling enforcement and targeting vulnerable communities with militarized marketing. So we are focusing on accountability, going back to the real human impacts of this issue, so as to not let those we've lost or been damaged by this issue go forgotten. Do you see the NRA as defanged permanently or just dealing with a setback? March For Our Lives played a major role in taking down the NRA. We exposed their corruption. We filed a legal complaint that led to Wayne LaPierre's downfall, and since we marched in 2018 they've lost over a million members and nearly half of their revenue, but the larger infrastructure of the gun lobby has not weakened. It has diversified and become more difficult to track. The most alarming shift is the lobby's strategic focus on eroding enforcement. The absence of enforcement, especially under attorneys general like Pam Bondi, has created a de facto deregulation that makes it easier for illegal gun dealers, domestic abusers, and others to access deadly weapons when they shouldn't. U.S. Attorney General Bondi was the attorney general of Florida at the time of the Parkland shooting. Did you meet with her in the aftermath? Yes. One week after the shooting, I sat across from Pam Bondi with nine friends as a grieving 17-year-old, still processing the loss of my classmates, and she looked us in the eye and told us she was with us. I was disturbed that she kept moving the conversation from guns to a hollow school-safety message, and yet, because of the political conditions and conversation in Florida, she ended up publicly supporting measures like red-flag laws and raising the age to buy a firearm in Florida from 18 to 21. But once the cameras were gone and her political career advanced, she quietly reversed course. Have you asked her about the differences between the Florida legislation that she endorsed and the types of rules that she's endorsing now? I wrote her a letter, and we sent it to her team last week, but we have yet to receive a response. We are initiating a campaign to publicly showcase the hypocrisy she has demonstrated. It's not about vengeance, but rather accountability: if she's not willing to meet with us and reckon with the promises she made back in 2018, then we will continue to call out the discrepancies in what she has claimed she will deliver and what she is actually doing. What were the promises she made in 2018? She didn't make specific promises in our meeting, but publicly, she did advertise her fervent support of those red-flag laws and raising the age to buy a firearm, and more than that, she consistently reiterated her commitment to supporting victims and families. I couldn't think of a worse way to support victims and families than to destroy all of the progress the gun-violence-prevention movement has made over the last few years. 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At the time, Dr. Carter promised to increase parental and community engagement. The engagement turned against him on Valentine's Day when some students at Franklin High School attempted a walk-out in protest of Dr. Carter's decision to reassign the principal of Franklin High School to administrative duties, which included coordination of extra curricular activities. Mayor Paul Kaplan, who has previously called for Dr. Carter's resignation, used a pejorative term to describe Dr. Carter and his supporters in a July 9 email. The email was addressed to a former teacher who is apparently taking legal action. 10 On Your Side shared a portion of the Mayor's email with Mona Murphy, who is a former member of the school board and the city council. The email in part reads: … I was a big supporter of Dr. Carter and the board until Feb. 14th when all hell broke loose and Carter and his central office staff were proven to be what we've discovered they are. Especially the staff. I believe some of the board has just drunk the kool-aid like I had. I found an antidote and I don't understand why they haven't. It's an absolute shame what this board has allowed Carter and his thugs to get away with. I pray we will find a solution to this terrible situation very soon! Murphy was visibly upset by the tone and tenor of Kaplan's email. 'To call us thugs, I think is the most racist tone that you can get. [To] call our staff, to talk about Dr. Carter like that, because he has done more in the few years that he has been the superintendent than the past history,' said Murphy, who is a community advocate. During Monday's Council meeting and in a telephone interview with 10 On Your Side, Mayor Kaplan doubled down on the use of the word 'thug'. Regina Mobley: So you continue to stand by the use of the word thug? Paul Kaplan: Yes, because of the retaliations that are done against staff members… against staff who have spoken out, and corroborated reports, of what appears to be retaliation and that's why I use the word 'thugs.'10 On Your Side asked the mayor if he suspects fraud is an issue in the Franklin School system since the word thug is often associated with criminal activity. 'I don't have any reason to believe, at this point, that anybody was padding their personal bank accounts, but I think there was there's a possibility that [whether] they were watching the use of their money properly. My hope is that all of this gets cleared up and that they were using their money properly,' Kaplan said. The controversy apparently exposed the mayor's improper use of city email. The email in question was addressed to a former teacher, but was sent to Dr. Carter, members of the School Board and every member of the City Council. During Monday's council meeting Mayor Kaplan explained that he accidentally hit reply all instead of reply in responding to the former teacher's email. The one click mistake may have created a violation since the widely distributed exchange may have formed virtual city council and school board meetings. State law requires public notification when three members or more gather to discuss city business. Later in the telephone interview, 10 On Your Side pressed Mayor Kaplan on the use of the word 'thug' by revealing Mona Murphy called the statement racist and stated that the former schoolboard and council member called for his resignation. '[Murphy] knows me very well and she knows me better than that. I have actually been a champion for racial equality my entire life,' Kaplan said. Is an apology in order? 'Apology? Maybe for the choice of that word that I've used,' Kaplan said. Did he also use the word in a city council meeting? 'I don't know if I said the word,' Kaplan said. 'I think I said I stand by what I said. But it's certainly not intended as a racial slur in any way, shape or form. And I've never heard the word thug as a racial slur.' The Franklin School Board meets Thursday evening for a regularly scheduled meeting. A full schedule of their meetings can be found here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
New York Post
16-07-2025
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