Hamilton County School Board Attempting To Restrict Speech At Meetings

Image Credit: Brian Wangenheim / Unsplash & Moms for Liberty – Hamilton County Chapter

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

According to the Hamilton County chapter of Moms for Liberty, the school board of education will discuss the possibility of implementing a new policy this week that will effectively restrict the speech of parents and community stakeholders at the county’s school board meetings.

On the agenda for the upcoming meeting on October 20th, 2022, the school board affirms that any resident of Hamilton County may appear at a school board meeting to comment on the operation of the county’s schools. The board “desires that complaints and concerns be resolved as quickly as possible and by the employee or administrator having responsibility over the issue in question” before bringing the matter before the board. 

However, the board then wishes to limit the topics on which residents may speak by requiring written approval from the board if a topic is not listed on the agenda for the next scheduled meeting. 

The agenda reads:

Any resident of Hamilton County desiring to address the Board regarding the operation of the Hamilton County Schools on a topic that is not listed on the agenda, must submit a written request setting forth the topic upon which the individual wishes to address the Board as well as any supporting documents and materials. 

This request must be submitted to the Director of Schools at least three days prior to the meeting and there is no guarantee that the request will be granted.

If the Executive Committee of the Board approves the request, the individual will be listed on the Board’s printed work session agenda and recognized at the appropriate time.

If a resident wishes to speak on a topic already listed on the agenda but fails to sign up three days in advance, they may sign up at least thirty minutes before the meeting begins but the board will only allow the first three people who signed up.

In addition, the Board wishes to limit the number of people speaking on the same topic, unless they get prior approval.

If a group of individuals wishes to address the Board about the same matter, the group must select one (1) individual to speak on its behalf unless the group specifically requests permission for multiple individuals to speak on the same topic.

Hamilton County residents may email the Board members about the proposed changes at the Board’s group email: ghcdeboardmembers@hcde.org

Phone numbers for all members of the Board can be found HERE.

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.