Overview
- The Washington County Board of Education set an emergency meeting for Wednesday to address what the chair called a “grossly inappropriate” comment caught on a livestream.
- Video from the meeting shows board member Keith Ervin putting his arm around a student board member and saying, “God, you’re hot,” then asking where she goes to school; the student is a high school senior who has not been publicly named.
- Board chair Annette Buchanan said the remark objectified and diminished the student, and she said she would ask the board to consider a censure motion.
- An online petition calling for Ervin’s removal topped several thousand signatures, with organizers also criticizing Superintendent Jerry Boyd for appearing to laugh and planning a protest.
- Ervin defended his conduct in interviews, saying he meant the student was “on fire” with smart questions, while any immediate discipline is likely limited to censure given recall is the formal path to removal.