New Hanover County School Board chair offers condolences, acknowledges recent arrests in alleged sex crimes

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — New Hanover County Schools Board of Education chair addressed the recent arrests of employees at Tuesday’s meeting.

Before opening the floor for the call to the audience, Board Chair Stefanie Adams acknowledged the allegations against David Bostian and Ron Strickland, as well as Bostian’s death.

“First, I want to offer my sincerest condolences to the Bostian family. David Bostian was an educator with decades of experience, but more importantly, he was a father and a husband. I can’t imagine what his family is going through at this time, but I have seen the outpouring of support from our community and I know that they will continue to do so as those close to David Bostian try to navigate through this difficult time. Second, when it comes to the allegations against David Bostian and Ron Strickland, I want to acknowledge many of your feelings of shock and disbelief. While I cannot speak to those incidents specifically due to ongoing investigations and employee records policies, what I want to address is what New Hanover County Schools is doing about it and plans to do about it. Among all of the hurt and the tragedy we have experienced, some positive outcomes must emerge. Everyone within the district is working diligently to eradicate behavior that harms students. In fact, recently, after reading comments on a social media post, one of our own board members took immediate action following up with Superintendent Dr. Charles Foust who wasted no time putting his team into action. I also want to commend Dr. Foust for his willingness to take the necessary steps to critically examine and improve our district.”

Following Adams’ statement, one woman who addressed the board during the call to the audience suggested that condolences should be offered to the victims of the alleged sex crimes.