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The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
Last week’s meeting of the Rutherford County School Board grew tense as the group reversed their support of closed borders, updated their policies on DEI, and then voted to remove several books from school district libraries.
The board began by discussing a resolution that was adopted two weeks ago, supporting a closure of the country’s borders, after Rutherford County had a “significant surge in its English Learner (EL) population.”
According to the board, the school district had nearly 2000 new ESL students this school year, bringing the total to 8,373. They noted that their previous decision was intended to bring attention to the need for more resources to support those learners.
The board also voted on a resolution that would offer support for proposed state legislation that would remove diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies from hiring processes as well as push for the state board of education to change its policy as well.
Board member Caleb Tidwell, sponsor of the resolution, said he was not opposed to diversity, but he did not want that to be the basis of hiring decisions.
Members of the public became heated, saying that removal of DEI policies could lead to discrimination, comparing the resolution to Jim Crow laws.
Board Member Butch Vaughn said, “We don’t have a dog in this hunt. It’s a federal issue and a state issue and they’ve taken care of addressing it.”
Initially, the resolution passed with a vote of 4 to 3.
However, the group revoted after a brief recess and comments from board chairperson Claire Maxwell, who said the district always uses an individual’s qualifications to make hiring decisions and there was no reason for the district to push for a change to the state laws.
With the new vote, the resolution failed to pass by one vote.
Following this, the board reviewed more than 40 books that had been recommended for removal from district libraries.
They ultimately decided to remove 32 of the books while leaving 10 but restricting them for use only by 11th and 12th grade students with parental permission.
