COLUMBIA HEIGHTS — Gov. Mark Dayton said a school board member in a Minneapolis suburb who allegedly posted racist remarks about Muslims on Facebook should resign. 

Students at Columbia Heights High School staged walkouts this week to protest the comments on Grant Nichols’ Facebook page. Nichols allegedly wrote a post disparaging Muslims and calling their bathroom habits “unsanitary.”

Nichols said someone used his phone to make the post.

Dayton visited the school Friday and called on Nichols to resign. The city’s school board allowed Nichols to keep his seat in a vote earlier this week. He was elected to the board in 2014.

Columbia Heights is a town of 20,000 people just north of Minneapolis.