A Tennessee high school student called out her local school board after a member creepily put his arm around her and said she was ‘hot’ during a board meeting.
The teenager, who has not been named as she is a minor, appeared before the Washington County Board of Education during a livestreamed meeting last week and read a scathing statement blasting the board as ‘cowards.’
‘Thank you for teaching me that no one will stand up for me, besides myself,’ she told them bitterly.
She prepared the harsh words in response to a perceived lack of discipline for board member Keith Ervin, who made the sleazy comment and gesture on April 2.
‘God, you’re hot, you know that? Damn. Where do you go to school at?’ Ervin said that day as he put his arm around the teenager and pulled her towards him.
Uncomfortable laughter filled the room after the board member’s comment, and he could then be seen placing his hand on the student’s back once again.
The meeting carried on and concluded without further incident, but the footage of Ervin’s actions immediately sparked backlash within the community and online.
Some parents demanded Ervin’s resignation or removal at an emergency board meeting on April 8, and he was placed under review.
Washington County School Board member Keith Ervin was captured on video putting his arm around a female student during a board meeting and called her ‘hot’
The student recently blasted Ervin and the rest of the board as ‘cowards’ after Ervin was not fired and did not resign. The moment Ervin put his arm around the student is pictured
But Ervin did not give up his position, and he was not fired.
The Washington County Board of Education said that elected officials cannot be terminated, but they censured him, which is an official and public condemnation of his actions.
To the high school student, that slap on the wrist was a wholly inadequate measure, and she gave the board of piece of her mind on April 7.
‘Gaining global attention for sexual comments and assault is not the reputation that Washington County deserves,’ she said, referencing the widespread media attention Ervin’s actions received.
‘Everyone on this board shares that blame, as does every voter who put you into office,’ she continued. ‘I believe that you are all cowards.’
The teenager called Ervin’s actions ‘unwelcome,’ ‘sexist’ and ‘derogatory,’ and she said that the board’s ‘failure to act… was and is equivalent to his actions, and it has hurt me just as much.’
She also called out a religious argument used by several board members to justify their soft-touched discipline of Ervin and blasted ‘those who used their god as a cop-out for forgiveness.’
‘I do not forgive you, and I do not accept your fake apologies used to protect yourselves,’ the teenager continued.
The teenage student read her scathing statement during a livestreamed board meeting on April 7. Ervin can be seen (third left) without other board members sitting next to him and listening with his arms crossed
Ervin (pictured) has defended his actions. He said his statement was misconstrued and that he ‘meant she was on a roll’
‘I do not believe you deserve that peace of mind, so every time you feel a little bit of discomfort from the public, I want you to remember that it isn’t even a fraction of the discomfort that I felt on April 2.’
She concluded her statement by thanking the board for teaching her ‘that no one will stand up for me besides myself’ and for ‘showing this community what you think it means to protect our children.’
Ervin has previously defended himself by saying that his statement was misconstrued and previously told NBC News: ‘When I mentioned she was hot, I meant she was on a roll. It was nothing to do with her appearance.’
Last month, Washington County Board of Education Chair Annette Buchanan released a public statement that said, ‘Mr Ervin has explained that he meant nothing offensive and that we have simply misunderstood his intentions.’
She also said, however, that ‘Mr Ervin knows his own intentions, but the rest of us have to judge his words and his actions,’ which she called ‘shocking’ and ‘grossly inappropriate.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Ervin and the Washington County Board of Education for comment.
