Williamson County Parents Call for School Board Social Media Policy

 

FRANKLIN, Tenn. -  A war of words that started on social media took center stage at Monday's Williamson County School Board meeting.

A group of parents showed up outside the central office building prior to the meeting with signs to protest a recent tweet by board member Susan Curlee.

In the tweet Curlee was critiquing the twitter handle of the @WCS_CitizenTwit group. She included the Urban Dictionary definition of the word "twit" as "the kind of person that makes a retarded chimp look smart." It immediately sparked outrage from parents and advocates of special needs students.

Some addressed board members during the meeting and shared their concerns.

"The R word has no place in our vocabulary," said Donna Isbell, with Williamson County ARC. "Make no mistake the word is hate speech."

At Monday's meeting Curlee apologized and said, " I am so sorry, and I hope you accept my apology."

Parents still called for the board to consider enacting a social media policy to set guidelines on what is acceptable.

"Social media can be a blessing and a curse," said one parent. "There should be training on what we should be putting out there."

"A social media policy should include being considerate to all you encounter, and recognize that respect is formed by how we treat each other," added another parent.

The board does not currently have a social media policy. For one to be enacted, it would have to go through the policy committee and be approved on two readings. The Williamson County School District does have a social media policy for students and teachers.

In other business, board members voted unanimously to name Gary Anderson the next board Chairman.
New District 4 school board member Anne McGraw was also sworn in.