NEED TO KNOW
-
A concerned father in Tennessee confronted Washington County school board member Keith Ervin, who called a female student “hot” during a public meeting on April 2
-
The confrontation occurred during an April 8 emergency meeting in which the board voted to censure Ervin
-
Ervin, who was previously criticized in 2009 for making a sexual gesture, defended her comments, saying “hot” implied the student was “going wild” with her questions.
A concerned father in Tennessee confronted a school board member who called a female student “hot” during a recent public meeting.
Less than a week after Washington County school board member Keith Ervin called the teenager “hot” during a livestreamed meeting on Thursday, April 2, the Washington County Board of Education held an emergency meeting to discuss the comment on Wednesday, April 8.
During the meeting on April 2, an unidentified female David Crockett High School student shared some of her thoughts, after which Ervin touched her and asked, “God, you’re so hot, you know that? Where do you go to school?”
At its latest meeting, the school board voted to censure Ervin, who was previously censured in 2009 for making a “lewd, juvenile gesture of a sexual nature” during a class discussion, according to records obtained by NBC affiliate WSMV.
Before the vote, some community members confronted Ervin and the rest of the school board — including a father whose comments about the situation went viral on social media.
After being told that he was not officially allowed to ask the board a question during the emergency meeting, the father said: “Oh, I’m asking a question. You don’t have to answer. But let’s say if you’re really offended by it, just raise your hand. If it doesn’t offend you, then put your hand down.”
When no board members raised their hands, he continued, “Do you understand what I’m saying here? Do you want your children to talk like that?”
“We have to worry about our kids being shot at school and all that stuff, right? But what we don’t need to worry about are a man’s comments to a minor. Would you want your kids to be around that man without cameras around? I wouldn’t,” he said, as community members at the meeting applauded in agreement.
“And I’m amazed by every single one of you here, and I’ll tell you straight up that if this guy still has a job here anytime soon, I’m going to do whatever I can to raise as much money as I can to get each and every one of you out of here. No kidding,” he said, prompting more applause and comments of approval from attendees.
Referring to other concerned community members, he continued, “And the rest of them are with me. We’ll be down here at every meeting and everything. That’s unacceptable, man.”
The concerned father then turned his attention directly to Ervin: “And look at your face – you don’t even care. This is your community you’re supposed to serve. Look at the distraction. You’ve put us on the map – nationwide, embarrassing us. And you don’t even have the guts to walk away, man.”
“It’s sad that you’re still here. It really is,” he then added, before saying, “When I was growing up, if someone said something like that — accident or not — you were gone.”
David Crockett High School
Credit: google maps
Never miss a story – sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with the best information PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling stories of interest to everyone.
Other concerned community members also spoke up, including one who told Ervin, “If it had been a male student sitting next to you, you wouldn’t have done it.”
Ervin has since defended his comments during the April 8 emergency meeting about them, claiming in a statement that by “hot,” he meant that the girl “is succeeding” due to her questions during the meeting.
“Obviously I saw the clip. Look, I get it, if that’s all you’re seeing, I understand why people reacted that way. But it wasn’t the full conversation, it wasn’t even close,” Ervin said, adding that the student “asked good questions, she was engaged, she handled herself very well, especially right before the clip in the conversation with the proctor about hot topics.”
“When I refer to her as hot, I mean she’s hot. That has nothing to do with her looks,” he said, adding that “when you take a few seconds out of a two-hour meeting, that can change how things sound. And frankly, that doesn’t give her the credibility she deserves.”
“I am sorry that this has overshadowed what would have been a bright moment for one of our students,” Ervin said.
Read the original article about Humans