Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office will no longer provide security at School Board meetings

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, WTOP

ALERT | TOP STORY

Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office will no longer provide security at School Board meetings

Adele Uphaus 21 hrs ago

Spotsylvania County Sheriff Roger Harris this week informed School Board members that effective Oct. 14, his office will no longer provide security at board meetings. ... Harris communicated the decision to School Board members in a letter dated Sept. 14. ... “Our deputies on numerous occasions have been put in a position to side with one or more members, regarding ‘disruptive’ citizens,” Harris wrote in the letter.

At Monday’s School Board meeting, chair Kirk Twigg called for deputies to remove two speakers while they were in the middle of making public comments.

One, William Scheff, was telling School Board members that Twigg made changes to acting superintendent Kelly Guempel’s contract without knowledge of the entire board. ... The other, Erin Beardsley—the parent of a county high school student and women’s lacrosse coach at Massaponax High School—was expressing her disapproval of the choice of Mark Taylor to be the next division superintendent.

Twigg threatened several other speakers with removal on Monday. ... Harris wrote in the letter that the Sheriff’s Office will still respond to “any emergency situation.”

Adele Uphaus–Conner: 540/735-1973

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@flsadele

[underpants]

1. Shouldn't the deputies be following the Board's direct on this?

I’m assuming there’s a head of the board or they could appoint one member to be the one directly in charge of admin including security.

Spottsylvania sounds like it’s a mess.

[Timeflyer]

2. Wasn't there a time, long ago, when school boards could meet without a security force standing by?