A school board member in Minnesota has survived an attempt to remove him following accusations he posted a bigoted post on Facebook.

KARE reports the boarded voted three to one to oust Grant Nichols. That was one vote short of the four necessary to remove him. There are currently only five members on the board with one vacancy.

The post read:

“They are just unsanitary by bringing water into a bathroom and making a mess. Touching door knobs after they wipe their butt with their hands.”

“The school board meeting and student protest at the high school showcased a community that is united against the bigoted statements made by Grant Nichols,” said Jaylani Hussein, Executive Director of CAIR-MN. The Council on American-Islamic Relations vowed to look for other ways to force Nichols off the board.

Nichols did not show up at the meeting, saying he feared he would not be safe there. He has denied making the post, saying someone else posted it using his phone.

However another school board member says Nichols defended the post to him a week ago.

“What we saw here tonight was a failure of democracy,” John Larkin, the chair of the Columbia Heights School Board said.

You can hear reaction from students to the board’s action in the clip below from KARE.