On April 23rd, The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU) printed this statement on their website:
The ACLU today sent a letter to the Williamson County School Board demanding that it cease retaliation against school staff for engaging in free speech protected under the First Amendment. Members of the school board reportedly threatened disciplinary action against the educators, including discharge, for their participation in a private meeting at which school board policies were discussed.
“The educators who attended this private meeting have a constitutional right to speak out on matters of public concern such as school board elections—and they did not give up this right when they chose to dedicate their lives to public service,” said Thomas H. Castelli, ACLU-TN legal director. “The First Amendment clearly protects the right of these educators to discuss, and even criticize, the elected school board on their own time. If the school board does not immediately end its retaliatory attempts to chill free speech, we will have no choice but to take further action.”
The letter was sent on behalf of six Hillsboro School teachers and administrators who were part of a group that met in September 2014 to discuss the school board, its actions and statements, and the then recent school board election campaign. The meeting took place after school hours, off of school grounds, and no public funds were expended for the meeting. Recently, an audio recording of the gathering, which had been altered to delete any references that it was held off campus, was circulated to the media, leading to false allegations that the meeting was mandatory and took place on school grounds during school hours.
The letter demands that the school board immediately “call off any further investigation into the protected speech of its employees; cease the investigation into irrelevant matters and the nature and character of the protected speech; and retract and condemn all threats by individual Board members calling for the discipline or discharge of employees for speaking on matters of public concern.”
You can read the entire statement from the ACLU here.
Today, April 27th, WCS Board Chairman PJ Mezera and Superintendent Dr. Mike Looney have released an official reply:
More NewsThis letter is written in response to a press release issued by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on April 24, 2015 relating to an ongoing investigation in Williamson County Schools.
The investigation is being conducted based on a complaint made by an employee at Hillsboro Elementary/Middle School. An independent investigator has been tasked with determining whether or not school or district level administrators improperly used government resources, compelled subordinates to attend a political meeting on or off school grounds, or improperly influenced employees by creating a hostile working environment. There are no allegations of wrongdoing by teachers; teacher conduct is not under investigation.
The Board’s Executive Committee has asked the independent investigator to suspend the investigation until such time as WCS has completed standardized testing as required by the Tennessee Department of Education.
Therefore, it is impossible to meet the deadline requested by the ACLU. However, we are committed to completing the investigation expeditiously without compromising its integrity.
The independent investigator has been charged with handling this matter fairly and equitably and has been directed to cooperate with legal counsel of any involved parties.
In closing, the WCS’ administration and School Board place the utmost value in our teachers and staff members and we are absolutely committed to respecting the rights of all employees as afforded by The Constitution for the United States of America, laws, and regulations. WCS will take no action to infringe on these rights.
