BONNIE COBLENTZ
Starkville school board members voted to table the issue of uniforms Tuesday night after hearing from representatives of a roomful of community members who came opposed to the issue.
The board heard from Anastasia Elder, a parent, and Kelly Oliveri, a high school student, who gave reasons why they objected to school uniforms. They also heard from Sue Snow, a retired educator, who spoke of her positive experience with school uniforms and gave her arguments for them.
The 25 seats in the Starkville School District’s board room were full, and more than 20 more people crowded the hallway outside to listen. A school resource officer stood guard in the door to not let any more people in the room than could be seated.
At one point when the conversation level rose in the hall, he shut the door, closing the public’s access to the public meeting. Voices could be heard outside protesting that they couldn’t hear what was going on. A few minutes later the door opened and remained open to the mostly silent attendees in the hallway.
Later in the meeting, board member Bill Weeks noted that closing the door was not a good idea.
“We were probably in violation of the Mississippi Open Meeting’s Law when Officer Shumaker closed the door,” Weeks said. “We should have made accommodations for the crowd” and not left them in the hall, he said to applause.
Read complete article at Commercial Dispatch.
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