MARTINEZ, Calif. – A California school board member is apologizing to parents and teachers after comments she made that many believe were racist toward Hispanics.

At a March 30 school board meeting Denise Elsken tried to explain why students at Las Juntas Elementary are in less need of air conditioning than their classmates at nearby John Swett Elementary, InsideBayArea.com reports.

“Elsken … said the Las Juntas students, who are predominantly Hispanic, could tolerate the heat better than those at John Swett Elementary, a largely white campus, because they were less likely to have air conditioning in their homes and would be ‘more acclimated’ to the higher temperatures,” according to the news site.

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“I would say 95% of the students at La Juntas do not have air conditioning in their homes. So whether that means those students are more acclimated and can handle a little more heat than the John Swett students — which I would say 95% of their residences have air conditioning in their homes,” were Elsken’s exact words, according to CBS San Francisco.

A video of the meeting was posted online with edited audio, which generated outrage among Las Juntas parents who packed a school board meeting this week to vent their frustrations.

“I used to volunteer in there and do a lot of work in the classrooms, and it gets really warm,” parent Rickie Webb told CBS San Francisco.

“I think somebody who thinks that way has no business being on our school board,” another parent, Carrie Rochin, told ABC 7. “I had to listen to it a couple of times to make sure I heard it right before I got upset.”

Elsken also mentioned at the March meeting that Las Juntas has a cooler roof and the school may be able to utilize shade trees to help fend off the heat. She told the media her comments were not intended to offend anyone.

“I’m sorry that was taken in a way that sounded discriminatory. It wasn’t discriminatory, it was fairly factual,” she told CBS San Francisco.

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“It’s not about Latinos, it’s not about poor versus rich schools,” she said, adding that her two children attended Las Juntas without air conditioning.

“I am from this school, I live in this neighborhood, I care deeply about these kids.”

Elsken also issued a formal apology in a prepared statement.

“I was simply trying to make a point that in light of the fact that it already has cool roofs and some temperature control that I believed there were other more important needs at Las Juntas that would better serve its students,” she wrote, according to ABC 7.

And despite Elsken’s apologies, some simply refuse to let it go.

“This woman must immediately be removed from her position and attend at her expense a training on Human and Civil Rights. Her mentality and attitude is not only of a white supremacy bigot; but it is detrimental to the school district’s vulnerability for a major discrimination, human and civil rights law suit,” Katya Franco posted to the CBS San Francisco site alongside an image depicting “One Continent, One Culture.”

Others questioned whether the issue is overblown.

“Is this really an issue, or are some people just being a bit over sensitive?” JR questioned on the ABC 7 site.

“It’s an issue if you’re a board member and you ‘misspeak.’ I mean, what she said and what she said she meant to say, aren’t even close in context. She said these poor kids don’t have air conditioning at home, so they don’t need it at school. These well off kids are used to air conditioning and they need to have that luxury at school too,” Theyamess countered.

“That’s not over sensitive, that’s bull****.”