A member of the Washington County, Tennessee, school board has reportedly been censured for allegedly referring to a female David Crockett High School student as "hot" during a recent public meeting, per WSMV. The incident occurred at a livestreamed meeting of the Board of Education on Thursday, April 2. Keith Ervin reportedly said to a female student near him, "God, you're hot. Do you know that? Where do you go to school at?"
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Some People Were Furious
According to the outlet, Ervin's comments were met with laughter by fellow board members. However, when the clip with Ervin's controversial comment went viral, there was outrage. Thousands of livid citizens reportedly put their names on a petition recommending that Ervin be ousted from the board. It was also evidently recommended that Superintendent Jerry Boyd be let go as well.
The board decided to censure Keith Ervin for his inappropriate remark at a subsequent meeting on Wednesday, April 8, per People. He allegedly explained his comment in a statement. Ervin contended that he simply meant the female student was "on a roll" during the earlier meeting. Furthermore, he observed, "When I mentioned she was hot, I meant she was on a roll. It was nothing to do with her appearance."
He reportedly has apologized to the high school student and also to her family.
An Angry Father Confronted Ervin
Per the outlet, one highly upset dad attended the meeting on Wednesday, April 8. That irate parent vented his wrath and let everyone know exactly how he felt. First, he was reportedly advised that he wasn't permitted to ask a question at the meeting. He was not deterred, however. He persisted, saying, "Well, I'm asking a question. You don't have to answer. But let's just say if you were really offended by that, just raise your hand. If it doesn't offend you, keep your hand down."
According to People, no board members raised a hand. The dogged dad said, "Do you see what I'm saying here, guys? How would you like your kid talked to like that? We have to worry about our kids getting shot up in schools and all this other stuff, right? But what we don't need to be worrying about is the comments of a man to a minor. Would you want your kid around that guy without a camera around? I wouldn't."
His comments drew applause from onlookers.
The Father Kept Speaking
The dad was not done. He added, "And I'm astonished by every single person here, and I'm gonna tell you straight up that if this guy still has a job here soon, I'm going to do whatever I can to raise as much money as I can to get every single one of y'all out of here. No joke."
He tossed in, "And the rest of them [in the audience] is with me. We gon' get down here every meeting and everything. That's unacceptable, man."
Then he pointedly and directly called Keith Ervin out. "And look at your face — you don't even care. This is your community that you're supposed to be serving. Look at the distraction. You put us on the map — nationally, embarrassed us. And you don't even have the backbone just to walk off, dude."
Ervin Was Censured Once Before Years Ago
Per WSMV, a previous incident involving Keith Ervin allegedly happened at David Crockett High School. "According to records obtained by NBC affiliate WCYB, Ervin got in trouble with the board in 2009 after he made a 'lewd, juvenile gesture of a sexual nature.'" He reportedly acknowledged that he made the gesture and uttered profanity also.
Ervin was censured for that. He was barred from being at the school unless it was to be at a public event or if he was accompanied by a senior administrator.
