The Williamson County School board met for its regular monthly meeting on Monday, February 20th at 6:30pm. The meeting lasted exactly 3 hours and all 12 board members were present. In terms of audience attendance, this meeting had a mostly full room of citizens. The majority were showing support for naming the new elementary school for Amanda H. North.
Public Comment
11 citizens signed up to speak and the chair gave each of them 3 minutes.
- Nine of the speakers were wearing OneWillco shirts and asked the board to do more to prevent racism and even asking the county seal to be changed as well as taking an “anti-racial” act of naming the new school Amanda H. North elementary.
- Marie Fellhauer spoke to the board and let them know that she has started a Moms for America chapter in Williamson County after relocating here from Southern California. She retired after 25 years as a police officer. She said their goal is to empower moms, promote liberty and raise patriots.
- One parent spoke on the library book reconsideration and said students have a first amendment right and as such, no books should be banned.
Superintendents Report
- Nothing to note
New Business
- There was a long discussion regarding annual school fees (these are legally just a request for donations). However, fees charged for extracurricular activities are required (not optional).
- A few board members think we should just raise taxes or receive more state funds as to not require these. As such, the vote was 10 yes and 2 no (Mitchell and Galbreath).
Reconsideration committee book review
- Speak, Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Field Guide to the North American Teenager, and Where the Crawdads Sing.
- All of these books violate the Tennessee Age Appropriate Act of 2022. When board members asked WCS Legal Counsel, Dana Ausbrooks about the legal precedent, she stated that removing the books would be a violation of the students 1st and 14th amendment. Then, board member Eric Welch defended keeping the books in the library and curriculum because “statistically, some of the children in these schools will experience sexual assault and reading these books will prepare them for those incidents”. WOW!! I highly encourage each of you to watch the clip from the meeting (around the 1 hour 55 minute mark) and reach out to our lawmakers to hold this board accountable. In a similar manner, Jennifer Aprea defended keeping the books because she stated that minors should read about rape and violent sexual acts so they can experience them without experiencing the actual trauma.
- Josh Brown offered an amendment to the reconsideration committee that the books remain in the library but parents would have to approve their students access to them prior to being checked out. Mr. Galbreath seconded his motion but asked that he limit the permission to only Perks and Where the Crawdads Sing.
- Dana Ausbrooks continued to share with the board members that courts in other states have upheld that if a parent says a student can’t read a certain book, that it is a violation of the students rights. That parents don’t have a say in what their children read in a school setting because that would violate the students rights. And then when Dan Cash tried to defend giving parents an option, Mr. Mitchel called a point of order and asked counsel to tell Dan to wrap up his comments. They don’t like hearing from the opposition.
- Ultimately, in the end, Mr. Wimberly asked that we get outside legal guidance and move this to the April meeting. Mr. Brown tried to asked questions about the motion to defer and again, Mr. Mitchel asked legal counsel to shut him up and they did stating that his question wasn’t relative to the motion. The motion to defer to April passed 9-3 with Mrs. Clements, Mr. Welch and Mr. Haugh voting no. As such, the books will remain on the shelf while this is being discussed.
- Mr. Welch mentioned that when these book review discussions come up and make the news, the book authors love it because they sell many more of their books. This is true, but that shouldn’t be at the taxpayers expense. If a parent wants their kids to read these, they should be the ones to purchase them. And if the school board is not going to create a rating system for these books, they will probably also recommend removing the web filters from the chrome books. Where does it stop?
New Elementary School
- The final items on the agenda were the names for the new elementary schools. The new school on Cox road passed quickly with the name “Arrington Elementary School”. The Wilkes Lane vote took a bit longer because most board members wanted to add their praise for Ms. North. When the vote was taken, it was unanimous for “Amanda H. North Elementary”.
