So are the Conway School Board “patriot” and her comrades already growing weary of democracy? First they banned books. Now, they’re temporarily banning speakers from the public, even students’ parents.
Normally, the board allows speakers from the public to comment for up to five minutes as long as they sign up in advance and even then limits the number of speakers.
Now the board has decided to ban all speakers at its meeting Tuesday night while it considers further limiting its speaker policy to three minutes.
The board also has opted to move its meeting from the high school auditorium to a small room in the school’s administration building on Prince Street. If that makes you feel unwelcome, here’s more.
The proposed policy also would forbid speakers from yielding their time to an additional speaker, something the board already does but now wants to put the matter in writing.
Bill Polk, a retired Conway planning director who helped guide the city during much of its growth, said the school district has now twice denied his requests to speak. First, he was told the agenda was already full. Then, he was told speakers were on hold while the policy was being revised.
“I don’t understand why they would refuse” to let anyone speak, Polk said.
Polk, who has three grandchildren in the school district and one who recently graduated, said he had wanted to talk about book banning, how that can endanger a city’s growth. “It will have a negative impact on businesses” wanting to locate here and people “wanting to live here and people wanting to work here,” Polk said.
“A lot of … businesses are just not interested in locating in a community that’s going to ban books,” Polk said. Book banning suggests a city is “close minded” and “not as open to a lot of ideas.”
You may recall that the school board recently voted to remove two books about transgender youths from the junior high school library despite a committee recommendation that the books should remain in the library.
I’ve asked the school district when the board voted to change its speaker policy. I’m waiting for an answer.
As for Polk, he said he plans to ask the board for a third time to speak at a future meeting. Here’s hoping he succeeds this time.