A high school student in Tennessee has taken a stand against her local school board after an unsettling encounter with a board member who made inappropriate comments and gestures towards her during a meeting.
The student, whose identity remains confidential due to her age, addressed the Washington County Board of Education in a live-streamed session last week. She delivered a fiery statement, condemning the board members as “cowards” for their lack of action.
Her pointed remarks were directed at board member Keith Ervin, who on April 2nd, made an inappropriate comment while placing his arm around her. “God, you’re hot, you know that? Damn. Where do you go to school?” Ervin said, pulling her closer.
The room was filled with uncomfortable laughter following Ervin’s comment, and he was seen placing his hand on the student’s back once more.
The meeting proceeded without further incident, but the footage of Ervin’s behavior quickly went viral, igniting a wave of criticism from the community and online audiences.
The meeting carried on and concluded without further incident, but the footage of Ervin’s actions immediately sparked backlash within the community and online.
Some parents demanded Ervin’s resignation or removal at an emergency board meeting on April 8, and he was placed under review.
But Ervin did not give up his position, and he was not fired.
The Washington County Board of Education said that elected officials cannot be terminated, but they censured him, which is an official and public condemnation of his actions.
Washington County School Board member Keith Ervin was captured on video putting his arm around a female student during a board meeting and called her ‘hot’
The student recently blasted Ervin and the rest of the board as ‘cowards’ after Ervin was not fired and did not resign. The moment Ervin put his arm around the student is pictured
To the high school student, that slap on the wrist was a wholly inadequate measure, and she gave the board of piece of her mind on April 7.
‘Gaining global attention for sexual comments and assault is not the reputation that Washington County deserves,’ she said, referencing the widespread media attention Ervin’s actions received.
‘Everyone on this board shares that blame, as does every voter who put you into office,’ she continued. ‘I believe that you are all cowards.’
The teenager called Ervin’s actions ‘unwelcome,’ ‘sexist’ and ‘derogatory,’ and she said that the board’s ‘failure to act… was and is equivalent to his actions, and it has hurt me just as much.’
She also called out a religious argument used by several board members to justify their soft-touched discipline of Ervin and blasted ‘those who used their god as a cop-out for forgiveness.’
‘I do not forgive you, and I do not accept your fake apologies used to protect yourselves,’ the teenager continued.
‘I do not believe you deserve that peace of mind, so every time you feel a little bit of discomfort from the public, I want you to remember that it isn’t even a fraction of the discomfort that I felt on April 2.’
She concluded her statement by thanking the board for teaching her ‘that no one will stand up for me besides myself’ and for ‘showing this community what you think it means to protect our children.’
The teenage student read her scathing statement during a livestreamed board meeting on April 7. Ervin can be seen (third left) without other board members sitting next to him and listening with his arms crossed
Ervin (pictured) has defended his actions. He said his statement was misconstrued and that he ‘meant she was on a roll’
Ervin has previously defended himself by saying that his statement was misconstrued and previously told NBC News: ‘When I mentioned she was hot, I meant she was on a roll. It was nothing to do with her appearance.’
Last month, Washington County Board of Education Chair Annette Buchanan released a public statement that said, ‘Mr Ervin has explained that he meant nothing offensive and that we have simply misunderstood his intentions.’
She also said, however, that ‘Mr Ervin knows his own intentions, but the rest of us have to judge his words and his actions,’ which she called ‘shocking’ and ‘grossly inappropriate.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Ervin and the Washington County Board of Education for comment.
