Maury County school board declines to add Stevenson’s June 3 statement to official minutes; minutes remain unapproved
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Summary
The Maury County Board of Education voted down a motion to attach a board member’s June 3 statement to the official minutes and failed to approve the June 3 minutes as presented. Members debated whether a read-aloud statement is sufficient to make text part of the official record.
The Maury County Board of Education voted against adding board member Sue Stevenson’s June 3 statement to the official meeting minutes and then failed to approve the June 3 minutes as presented, leaving the minutes unapproved and to be returned to a future voting meeting.
Stevenson told the board she had asked for the text of a statement she read at the June 3 meeting to be attached to that meeting’s minutes “because the minutes are the official record.” She said, “A lot of people think the videotape is the official record but it’s not, it’s the minutes.” Stevenson moved to add the text to the minutes; the motion received a second.
Board members debated procedure and decorum. Chair comments during the June 3 meeting were cited in the discussion; one board member opposed adding the text because it was, in his view, “disparaging of multiple members of the board” and said he would not vote to include it. Another member urged deferring action until the next voting meeting so board members and the public could review the proposed written addition beforehand.
A motion to defer consideration of Stevenson's request to the next voting meeting failed. The subsequent vote on the motion to include the text in the minutes did not carry. Later, a motion to approve the June 3 minutes as presented also did not pass. The chair said the items “will be put on our voting meeting in August” (also noted they will appear on the work session agenda).
Board members repeatedly noted the distinction raised by Stevenson between the video recording and the written minutes: Stevenson argued the statement must be in the written minutes to be part of the permanent record; others said the board must decide what to include. Legal and procedural clarifications were offered by the board attorney during the discussion about appeals of chair rulings and the duties around preparing minutes.
The board did not adopt any change to the June 3 minutes at this meeting; the item will return to a future meeting for another vote.
