NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — There are new developments in an ethics complaint against a Metro School Board member after the school board said it's moving on and can't investigate it.
The Metro Nashville Board of Education said it can only form an ethics committee to investigate if there are financial conflicts. All of this stemmed from some back-and-forth on Facebook – not money.
Just last month, school board member Fran Bush commented on social media, saying teachers should quit their jobs if they're not willing to work in person during the pandemic.
Amanda Kail, the president of the Metro Nashville Education Association, put together an ethics complaint, which MNPS board chair Christiane Buggs said was a first.
But at Tuesday night's school board meeting, we learned the complaint can't move forward because the board's policies say it can only investigate ethics concerns when it comes to money. Buggs revealed the board held a retreat last Friday to get on the same page.
"It was not necessarily a kumbaya session, but I think that we were able to level-set expectations as colleagues, as board members who are managing 81,000 students for the whopping $14,000 a year we get paid,” said Buggs.
Both Fran Bush and Amanda Kail released statements following last night's developments:
I knew the ethics complaint was baseless and I was well within my rights to respond to Amanda Kail's comments. However there has been a serious complaint that has been filed by MNPS parents with the Human Resource Department against Amanda Kail for using racial comments in her Facebook post after the incident. If you need the information I will provide the information per your request. I am also available for comments today.
I understand the board's decision and how it is limited by state law. It is a shame that this limitation legally allows elected officials like Fran Bush to publicly bully, harass, and threaten the employees they are charged with representing, especially at a time when those same employees are being asked to work harder than ever and to do it while forgoing concerns for their health and safety as well as that of thier families, their students, and their students' families. It is also a shame that Ms. Bush's constituents in Antioch, an area that has seen more infections and deaths from Covid than almost any other part of Nashville, seems far more interested in trolling teachers on Facebook than ensuring the safety of the students and staff in Antioch's schools. Antioch's families deserve better.
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