KATC: Vermilion Parish teacher removed from meeting in handcuffs after asking about teacher pay

[smilesammich 10,727]

2 minutes ago, Ban Hammer said:

who can release eyerolls?

in this instance..bill

[smilesammich 10,727]

On 1/9/2018 at 12:31 PM, Bill & Katya said:

Exactly, her being asked to leave the meeting and her being cuffed may have been due to different actions.  She was asked to leave the meeting because she kept trying to ask questions during the public comments portion of the meeting, and she appeared to be complying.  Then off camera, something happens and she is being cuffed.  We do not know why, but to jump to the conclusion she was cuffed for simply asking the board questions seems to be a bit of a stretch.

Quote

During a public comment period at the board meeting, Hargrave stood up and voiced opposition to superintendent Jerome Puyau receiving a raise.

"I have a serious issue with a superintendent or any person in a position of leadership getting any type of raise," she said calmly. "It's absurd that we're even considering giving someone a raise when these teachers are working this hard and not getting a dime."

   

The board then voted to approve the raise for Puyau, reportedly moving his salary from around $110,000 to more than $140,000.

At that point, Hargrave addressed the room again. "How are you even going to take a raise?" she asked. "It's basically taking our money."

At that point, a security officer, later identified as a deputy city marshal paid by the school board, approached Hargrave and asked her to leave the meeting. "You're going to leave or I'm going to remove you. Take your things and go," he said.

She asked whether it was against policy to stand as she spoke and pointed out that the board was directly addressing her. She then complied with the officer's request and walked out of the room.

Seconds later, the video shows the security officer forcibly putting Hargrave in handcuffs as other teachers voice outrage.

"What are you doing, can you explain?" Hargrave asks.

"Stop resisting," the officer replies.

"I am not, you just pushed me to the floor," the teacher says.

Outside, the officer says he gave her "many directives to leave" and ushers her into the back of a police vehicle.

Hargrave was booked into jail overnight, according to KATC, even though the superintendent said that "shortly after the meeting that he had called to inform police that the system didn't want any charges pressed."

The city appears to be distancing itself from the officer. Funderburk, the city's attorney, emphasized in his statement that the officer "is not acting in any official capacity on behalf of the city of Abbeville." He also stressed that "the city of Abbeville has absolutely nothing to do with the events of the other night."

The ACLU of Louisiana said Hargrave's expulsion from the meeting and arrest "are unacceptable and raise serious constitutional concerns." It adds: "The Constitution prohibits the government from punishing or retaliating against people for expressing their views, and the fact that a schoolteacher was arrested at a public meeting of the school board is especially troubling."

Board President Anthony Fontana defended the officer's behavior in a statement to KATC.

"If a teacher has the authority to send a student, who is acting up and she can't control, out of the classroom to the principal's office, under our policy we have the same rules," Fontana said. He added that the officer "did exactly what he was hired to do. He followed the procedures completely. She's the one who made the choices that got her arrested."

Two board members have complained that the board does not treat women fairly, according to The Associated Press.

"No reason for anyone to be treated this way. So far in three years, only women have been removed from board room meetings," board member Sara Duplechain told the wire service.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/10/577010534/outcry-after-louisiana-teacher-arrested-during-school-board-meeting

 

more info..