A member of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation’s board of trustees was blocked from making public comments at a meeting Tuesday night.
School board president Karen Ragland read a quote of the week while Ann Ennis, a board member, tried to get her attention to speak during the public comment period.
Ragland ignored Ennis. She hit the gavel and adjourned the meeting.
There was a brief exchange between the two of them.
"It’s a public comment. You’re a board member," Ragland told Ennis.
"I was told I could make a public comment if I couldn’t get recognized, and I didn’t want to interrupt the meeting," Ennis said.
Their conversation got contentious as others piled on.
Ennis says she wanted to talk about what she sees as an increase in teacher injury reports and student accident and injury reports being filed.
Ragland declined to speak to WNIN after the meeting.
Ennis says she's gone next month but plans to bring up the issue again at the end of June.
Other items from Tuesday's meeting:
- Vectren presented a $100,000 check for the EVSC R.A.M.P. program, which gives students the option to spend part of their day working at AmeriQual.
- Susan Phelps, director of neuroeducation, gave a progress report about the district's implementation of restorative practices and positive behavior interventions and support (PBIS). She says the district's current PBIS initiative has been around since 2012 and that school quality has improved dramatically in that time.
- The school board voted to update its policies regarding the training of coaches to align with new state laws. Coach certification classes now have to teach how to prevent and treat heat exhaustion.
- The board approved a $16,775 agreement with Vector Solutions Safe Schools to provide online training for school employees.