Texas Scorecard by Jacob Asmussen September 17, 2021
School Board Blocked Citizens From Entering Public Meeting—Then Raised Their Taxes
“I want the community to understand what happened last night. It is very concerning.”ROUND ROCK — “I called you today because I want the community to understand what happened last night. It is very concerning.”
As parents across Texas speak out against their school districts’ recent harmful mandates, Danielle Weston, one of seven school board trustees in the Round Rock Independent School District, spoke out Wednesday about the troubling events at their public meeting the night before.
Weston, a former Air Force officer and mother of five with children in the district schools, told the Todd and Don Show the school board has gone too far with their authority and is now violating state law.
What is Going On?“I really take seriously the rule of law, and I’m out of patience with some of these violations,” she began. “What happened last night was we showed up for our regular board meeting, and I was surprised to see that we had many members of the public who were refused entry into the meeting.”
She said 15 to 20 citizens were outside the meeting hall, and school board president Amy Weir unlawfully directed the district police to keep them out. Video of the parents outside, barred from the room by officers, has gone viral on social media.
“Now for some people who might not be aware, last summer, [Gov. Greg Abbott] allowed school boards, commissioners courts, city councils, [and] other elected bodies to suspend parts of the Texas Open Meetings Act. That’s how elected officials were able to participate virtually,” Weston explained.
“But all of those rules or all of that flexibility in suspending those provisions expired on September 1,” she continued. “So as of September 1, there’s no more flexibility in the Texas Open Meetings Act; none of that is up for debate or negotiation anymore. The public has a right to be in the meetings of their elected officials, and my colleagues, for whatever reason, just would not budge on this.”
The board had placed only 21 “available” public chairs in the hall, according to a district spokeswoman, even though Weston said she believes the large room’s capacity is more than 300.
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/local/school-board-blocked-citizens-from-entering-public-meeting-then-raised-their-taxes/
