Jefferson County School Board To Consider Committee Recommendation To Squelch Public Speech At Voting Meetings
Image Credit: Jeff Depew & jc-tn.net
By David Seal [Special to The Tennessee Conservative] –
As the ink was drying on Governor Lee’s signature on Public Chapter 300 (2023) requiring a period of citizen comment at all public meetings of governing bodies in Tennessee, the Policy Committee of the Jefferson County School Board was constructing a recommendation to eliminate public comment at school board “Voting” meetings with Director of Schools, Dr. Tommy Arnold concurring.
The Policy Committee consists of Board Members Bill Jarnigan, Nancy Zander, and Chairman Randall Bradley.
The full text of the new act is linked here.
For this article, Director Arnold was reminded via email of the new law that requires a period of public comment at all meetings of governing bodies, which states in part, “A governing body shall, for each public meeting, reserve a period for public comment to provide the public with the opportunity to comment on matters that are germane to the items on the agenda for the meeting.”
Arnold responded as follows: “Attached are the current and proposed [policy] 1.404. Being that the Work and Business sessions are the same day, I don’t have any concerns with the proposed policy.” – Dr. Tommy Arnold, Director of Jefferson County Schools.
In the wake of a citizen watchdog group flooding the March and April meetings with speakers and exposing the Jefferson County School System’s employment of a mental health contractor that, until recently, advertised LGBTQ+ ideology on its website and social media pages, certain members of the board started looking for ways to “make meetings more efficient”.
The proposed policy, if enacted, will eliminate all citizen input at Jefferson County School Board Voting Meetings, permitting citizens to address the board only at “non-voting Work Sessions” on school related topics.
About the Author: David Seal is a retired Jefferson County educator, recognized artist, local businessman,
917 Society Volunteer, and current Chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. He has also served Jefferson County as a County Commissioner and is a lobbyist for the people on issues such as eminent domain, property rights, education, and broadband accessibility on the state level.
Thanks for publishing articles like this. I’m not in that County, but the Libs and bureaucrats use the same tricks in other counties.
Yup, lucifer’s people don’t want input.
Actually, this was intent of Public Charter 300 (2023) that Gov. Lee just signed. HB0448 (SB0551) was sponsored by Rep. Elaine Davis & Sen. Adam Lowe (both Republicans). It’s Orwellian ‘doublespeak’ like pretty much every republican bill. It sounds like its guaranteeing a public commenting period at meetings, but it only applies to meetings in which a vote is taking place. Therefore, it’s actually stripping the people’s ability for oversight during meetings that don’t have a vote scheduled. Rep. Davis also sponsored and passed the legislation the disbands community police oversight boards and hands power back to I.A. so the police can once again investigate themselves.
Monsters, all of them.
https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0448&ga=113
It would seem that since voting sessions are the last chance for the public to express opposition, these are the MOST IMPORTANT opportunities and must NOT be denied.
Precisely who do these people think that they are? Our “betters” that they can tell us, “Shut up and sit down!”? These people are employees of the citizens, not their rulers. Their salaries are paid by those citizens. They are not employed to tell their employers if and when those employers are allowed to speak. Any member of such a board which supports this “Shut up” measure needs to be removed and replaced with a member (employee) who is responsive to the concerns of his employers.