Hilton Head parent threw bag of chicken feed at school board
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
The Beaufort County Board of Education (BOE) convened for a special meeting Thursday night to discuss their safety and security plans after a community member threw bags of chicken feed at them during the public comment at the June 27 meeting.
The Board met in public session for just less than three minutes, long enough to say the Pledge of Allegiance and pass a motion to go into executive session to discuss the “receipt of legal advice regarding Beaufort County Board of Education’s Safety and Security plans.”
Screenshots of the draft version of a letter from the Beaufort County Board of Education to David Cook. Screenshot from Beaufort County Channel
Members of the Board were in executive session for roughly one hour and 40 minutes before reconvening public session.
As the majority of the 97 books removed from the shelves for review in October have been returned to school libraries, David Cook has been vocal about his opinion of the school board and the results of the book review committees. Cook stood up during the public comment portion of the June 27 BOE meeting and told the Board members that they are too chicken to remove the books from schools before tossing bags of chicken feed at their feet.
A letter notifying Cook of the consequences of his actions during the June 27 meeting was drafted and discussed in executive session on Thursday and, after some discussion among Board members, it was decided that the letter would be modified and finalized during executive session before the public section at the scheduled school board meeting on Tuesday, July 11.
The finalized letter would then be hand-delivered to Cook before public session, or mailed to him if he is not present at the meeting on Tuesday.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) recommended to the Board that it would be better to notify Cook beforehand, so that he wouldn’t be surprised or embarrassed at Tuesday’s meeting, according to board member Richard Geier, but members of the board agreed that it was necessary to wait until executive session on July 11 to finalize the letter so that they can be advised properly by legal counsel.
John Regal, legal counsel for the Board, advised the board members against modifying and passing the draft electronically among themselves because of the Freedom of Information Act.
Regal, during Thursday’s special meeting, then said if any modifications are made, they need to reconvene another special meeting or executive session to discuss and finalize the letter.
A motion made by Board member Angela Middleton and seconded by Chloe Gordon to “notify the community member who violated the policy at the last board meeting pending approval of the notification at the July 11, 2023, board meeting,” passed on Thursday with five board members voting for it, one against, one abstaining and two members marked absent.
In a draft of the letter as seen in the video footage posted live to the Beaufort County School Board’s YouTube page from Thursday’s special meeting, Cook is advised that the school board has passed a resolution to prohibit him from “participating in in-person presentations in future public comment sessions until December 27, 2023.”
According to the draft, he will be allowed to attend school board sessions in person, but he will only be allowed “to address the board during public comments from a phone at a location outside of the school board meeting site.”
The draft states that Cook violated the “Rules of Speaking” that can be found on the backside of the form that he filled out when requesting to be recognized to speak before the board.
“The “rules” clearly state that speakers will not conduct a “breach of respect of the Board” during the speaker’s comments,” the letter went on. “Throwing objects at the Board is clearly a breach of respect and is an actual act of battery against Board Members.”
The decision to prohibit Cook from speaking in person for six months was made in accordance with the Beaufort County Schools, Board Governance Policy, GC-2-23, item IV, paragraph B, which states: Should a participant fail to abide by the reasonable directives of the Board’s or committee presiding officer, the Board or committee may prohibit the offending speaker from participating in future public comment sessions for a period not to exceed six (6) months.
Board member Earl Campbell made the motion to also have the policy read at the beginning of the next meeting and all following meetings with the motion passing with seven voting for it and two members absent.
A motion to not allow bags at future board business meetings was also passed during the special meeting, again with seven voting for it and two members absent.
The Island News reached out to David Cook for comment about Thursday’s special called meeting and he declined to comment.
Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She joined The Island News in August 2022. She formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana, Virginia and Kentucky. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
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