Cobb school board members claim censorship in comments ban

Cobb school board members will no longer offer comments at the end of business meetings. At the end of a long and contentious discussion Thursday, they voted themselves into silence.

The 4-3 vote along partisan lines came after more than 90 minutes of often heated debate, including interruptions, seven amendments and accusations of censorship.

The ban does not affect the public comment period held at the beginning of meetings, and that allows remarks from parents, students and others from addressing the board.

The board members’ comment period is typically uncontroversial, with elected officials speaking about school visits, rooting for prep sports teams and noting academic and extracurricular achievements.

Board chairman David Chastain, who represents the Kell and Sprayberry attendance zones, said he has become concerned over political and personal opinions being expressed by board members.

Chastain, part of the four-member Republican board majority, said he’s noticed in recent months that some of the comments have become too partisan, and some aren’t even about school matters at all.

There hasn’t been a board policy regarding comments.

David Morgan, one of three Democrats on the board, said a better solution would be for the board to craft a comments policy.

He proposed several amendments to that effect, but they were all defeated, most by the same 4-3 partisan split.

Chastain countered that having a policy would put the chair in an awkward position of having to judge the appropriateness of colleagues’ remarks.

“The chair is supposed to be chairing a meeting, and then becomes an arbiter,” Chastain said. “This chair does not want to be the scorekeeper.”

Charisse Davis, one of two first-year Democrats on the board, said the board didn’t have a problem when members talked about football games and mourning police officers slain in the line of duty.

“When a couple of us get here and bring up words like ‘equity,’ we’re censoring,” said Davis, who represents the Walton, Wheeler and part of the Campbell clusters. “You want to censor members on the board agenda. That’s not okay.”

During their comment time, Davis and Democrat Jaha Howard, the other newcomer, have on occasion discussed calls that the Cobb County School District hire a diversity officer.

A group calling itself Stronger Together also has been demanding cultural training in Cobb schools to address what it calls lingering racial concerns it claims the district isn’t handling well.

Howard pressed Chastain for examples of comments that crossed the line, but he didn’t offer any. Howard, who represents the Osborne and Campbell districts, also wanted the other Republicans to explain why they supported a comments ban.

None of them did, and Chastain said there are “all sorts of ways to talk about personal opinions” outside of a board meeting, including the use of the Internet and social media.

“This discussion is nothing but partisan,” Davis said at one point. “Right now, we’re not being heard.”

At last month’s board meeting, Howard made references during the board comment period to the year 1619, when the first slaves arrived in the American colonies from Africa, recent deadly mass shootings and immigration:

“Depending on where you live in Cobb County, you have neighbors and family members that have been a part of ICE raids where someone that you know may have been separated from their families. These kids are coming to our schools, and it would be a horrible mistake to have a disconnect of these realities from our schools.”

Howard also mentioned gun violence “in our own backyard” and cancer concerns stemming from the Sterigenics lab in Smyrna, near where he lives, that is closed for the time being.

“Yes, this is a school board meeting, but we exist in a context, and I’m just highlighting the context that we live in,” he said.

At the end of his remarks, Howard discussed what he called “hypocrisy” over praising leaders “who are anything but respectful, responsible and role models. Who’s going to call them out?

“I’m tired of it, so get used to hearing me calling it out,” he said.

Howard didn’t name names, but said that “we have significant ethical issues at the top of the political food chain with our commander-in-chief and many elected officials here in this county and this state. It needs to be called out.”

At Thursday’s work session, Howard defended what he insists is a need to discuss larger concerns beyond the schools.

“Guess what? Cobb is complicated, and we shouldn’t be running from this. This is cowardice.”

Chastain pushed back, saying “no sir. Public comment isn’t the place for that. That’s not censorship.”

Howard tried to get the board to delay imposing a ban so as not to “make a rushed decision.” His final amendment, somewhat sarcastic in tone, would have allowed for board members who were “good” to offer comments.

Chastain interrupted him, saying it was a “frivolous motion, and you’ve talked this thing to death.”

The motion to ban comments was passed 4-3, with the four Republicans (the others are David Banks of East Cobb, Randy Scamihorn and Brad Wheeler of West Cobb) voting in favor, and the three Democrats voting against.

The only amendment that passed was a measure by Howard to allow Superintendent Chris Ragsdale to offer comments.

Since the ban was effective immediately, only Ragsdale spoke at the end of a brief Thursday night board business meeting.

Among his remarks included thanking the Wheeler culinary arts students for what he said was an excellent pot pie meal for him and the board before the meeting.

“I can attest to that because I had two helpings myself,” Ragsdale said.

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