NEW HANOVER COUNTY — The New Hanover County Board of Education announced at its Tuesday meeting it has sacked one of its attorneys after he posted a derogatory meme about the ICE shootings in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“Effective immediately, Mr. Norwood Blanchard, Esquire, of the law firm Crossley McIntosh, Collier, Hanley & Edes PLLC LC solely will provide all legal services to the New Hanover County Board of Education except in cases involving exceptional children’s litigation, which is handled by another firm,” board chair Pete Wildeboer read at the beginning of the meeting.
READ MORE: New Hanover County school board makes statement on attorney’s ICE comment
Norwood has been serving as a board attorney along with his colleague Brian Kromke since June 2024.
Kromke responded on a Saturday social media post from former Democratic governor and current Senatorial candidate Roy Cooper. Cooper wrote that the shootings — referring to Renee Good on Jan. 7 and Alex Pretti on Jan. 24 — were “targeted” and “horrific.” In response, Kromke posted a meme: “Marked Safe From Being shot by ice because I’m not f*****g retarded.”
After the comment was publicized in the NHC Educational Justice’s social media page, Kromke removed it and apologized.
“All — I deleted that insensitive post and I am sorry that I offended anyone, that was not my intention – Brian,” he wrote.
The board released a statement Monday condemning the remark and said it was addressing the situation “accordingly.”
Board member Tim Merrick, who called for the attorney’s contract nullification to the media on Monday, congratulated the board for its “timely and decisive decision” to cut ties with Kromke.
“I think we’ve seen the outcry from the public, both in our inboxes, being exploded on social media and in the news,” Merrick said. “So I want to give acknowledgement to the citizens of New Hanover County who said: ‘No, this is not what we want. And then I want to acknowledge each of you for showing up.’”
Merrick told Port City Daily he has received more than 70 original emails since Kromke’s comment — “more than for any other issue” since he’s been on the board.
Merrick also pushed for the board to begin its review of Crossley McIntosh, Collier, Hanley & Edes’ contract with the district, which expires in June.
“I want to thank Mr. Blanchard, I think he’s done an admirable job,” Merrick said. “He acknowledged that he didn’t have deep experience in education law, but I think he has worked very hard to make up for that and to show up.”
When evaluating legal contracts in 2024, the board ranked three firms, with Blanchard and Kromke scoring third. However, the firm changed its pricing to be lower than its two other competitors after the initial scoring, and the board ultimately liked that the two attorneys were local to the area, despite their lack of experience in education law.
“But I think as a board, we would be doing our due diligence if we put out a request for qualifications and review other potential legal services that maybe have more experience,” Merrick said.
Board member Judy Justice said she would support starting the firm’s review process earlier rather than later.
Blanchard — who also apologized for his colleague’s comment to PCD on Monday — didn’t respond during this discussion, though board member David Perry said he didn’t think it right to punish Blanchard and the rest of the firm for Kromke’s actions.
“I disagree with the statements of Mr. Kromke on social media, absolutely, but we are all human, and we all make mistakes — if the sole impetus for this is to simply punish the firm for what was posted on social media, I find that ridiculous,” Perry said.
Board member Pat Bradford also spoke to the matter, prefacing her comments by saying the post was “offensive” and “inappropriate” but it was worth acknowledging Kromke’s “quick response, his apology, his ownership of it, his remorse.”
“That speaks of his character to me,” Bradford said. “So before we character assassinate this man, I want to remind you that I find a really good example in scripture of a woman caught in adultery who was brought to Jesus for comment, and he said, those of you who are without sin, you cast the first stone.”
Merrick clarified his intention wasn’t to be punitive in requesting other law firm qualifications. His motion to put a discussion of the RFQ process on next week’s meeting agenda passed 4-3, with Josie Barnhart, Perry and Bradford dissenting.
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