KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. — Members of the Kanawha County Board of Education spoke passionately about their role to students and staff in the county during a meeting Thursday.
The board met for a regular session meeting where the topics of transgenderism and dedication to their job were brought up towards the end of the meeting when members of the public had opportunities to speak.
One woman in particular referred to both issues when she spoke to board members.
First, the woman said she was displeased with the presentation of a “progress” flag, a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community, in a county high school. She did not name the school.
The woman said she understood from a previous board meeting in April that transgender issues, or issues pertaining to what the flag represents, were not taught in Kanawha County Schools. She read off a question that was asked by a board member to another from that previous meeting.
“Do we teach transgenderism in our schools?” To which the other board member replied and said “no.”
Board member Ric Cavender addressed the points brought forth from the speaker in his closing remarks made during Thursday’s meeting.
“We’re inclusive of all students,” Cavender said. “We support them and we hope that they are proud of who they are. If you aren’t okay with that then that is a you problem, that is a self-reflection issue.”
Cavender went on.
“I think that this anti-trans conversation frankly is borderline hate speech,” said Cavender. “I hate that any student or employee of our system who we all support could be listening to this and they may not feel accepted.”
The woman also claimed that members of the board didn’t truly care about teachers, other staff, or more importantly the students in Kanawha County. This got the attention of Kanawha County BOE President Tracy White who not only defended herself but the entire board.
“I ran because I care about every single Kanawha student like they were my own child,” White said. “Don’t come in here and say Tracy White, Ric Cavender, Mr. Crawford, Mr. White, Miss Jordan or Dr. Williams don’t care about kids.”
White along with other board members spoke similar words during last weeks hearings on school closures, in which three elementary schools were voted on to be closed and consolidated.
The board president also made it clear that board members are indeed not using their position on the board of education as a “stepping stone” for other positions offices in the future, something else claimed by the speaker.
“I hate to break it to you, but the board of education, we’re not banking the money,” she said.
That discussion was quickly followed by an adjournment.