School Board debated several topics
photo by Thea Marshall
The County School Board on Thursday evening voted to support a ban on transgender athletes and to add a new position to support homeless students. The board also decided to ask board members to sign a letter critical of Hillsdale College president Larry Arnn instead of casting votes on a resolution. Signing the letter were Marco Perez, Jenny Hill, Tucker McClendon and Karitsa Mosley Jones. Tiffanie Robinson was absent.
Dr. Arnn had said, “Teachers are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country.”
After much debate on the ban for transgender athletes, Ms. Hill made a motion to deny. Mr. Perez joined her, but five voted in favor.
“To me this is a bullying law,” said Ms. Hill. “I will be voting against this. I have witnessed in the schools that I represent, trans students that have been deeply hurt by other laws that our legislators have passed that target them and make them less than a person. That is not what any student in Hamilton County schools should expect when they walk in the doors.”
Rhonda Thurman said there is a difference between male and female athletes and is a safety issue. She said she thinks this law is “common sense,” and that it is about competitiveness and fairness.
“Females fought for years to get equality in our athletic facilities and our sports,” said Ms. Thurman. “To allow boys to play girl’s sports and go into girl’s dressing rooms - I cannot imagine that.”
“I cannot believe we are having this discussion,” said James Walker. “I couldn't imagine what a coach or one of our teachers would have to go through when someone accuses them of cutting their child because of their gender. It amazes me and I’m going to vote yes because I do care about our educators. I’m going to come off as a bad guy when I vote for this, but I’m not a bad guy because I’m not going to pretend along with somebody else.”
The school board also decided to approve a “homeless specialist” position, funded through grants, that deals specifically with Hamilton County’s 1,700 homeless students.
“I’m not an educator but I can’t imagine the effect of homelessness on these students' capacity to learn in the classroom,” said Mr. Perez. “To that group, you belong. You belong in our community, you belong in our society and we will serve you.”
The new position helps seek out students who are homeless and inform them of their rights. Ms. Jones said the board may have to look to sustain the position after the grant ends due to the growing homeless population in Hamilton County.
“There’s a lot of discussion about priorities and public money going places in this community right now when we have 1,700 kids sleeping without a roof over their head,” said Mr. McClendon. “We as a county need to make sure we have our priorities straight.”