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Fairfax County School Board member heard using slur against mentally challenged during meeting

A member of Fairfax County’s School Board apologized after a hot mic picked up her use of a slur against people with mental disabilities during Thursday’s meeting.

At-large member Karen Keys-Gamarra can be heard saying “We cannot be this r———-” while other board members were discussing how to let a guest speaker proceed, according to social media clips of the interaction.

“[During Thursday’s] Fairfax County School Board meeting, I said something that I deeply regret,” Ms. Keys-Gamarra said Friday in a statement. “While I did not intend an offensive word to refer to any particular person or the parent community, I did insult my fellow school board members, and in turn, offended members of the community.