Emotions escaped during Thursday evening’s Trigg County Schools Board of Education meeting, when board member Charlene Sheehan and a consistently gathering party of concerned parents each took up defensive positions in their respective cases.
Still at the heart of the matter:
+ A group of adults seeking for Sheehan to A) apologize for a now-removed social media post about children at a playground, B) resign from the board, C) have some penalty set upon her, or D) some combination of all options.
+ And Sheehan, a long-retired teacher and grandmother, who asserts that her personal social media accounts have no reflection of her efforts on the Board of Education, nor should its discussion consume the Board’s time.
Parents Kevin Hestand and Dawn Pickett once again brought their cases to the table.
Sheehan noted that Board Attorney Jack Lackey Jr. has maintained a neutral post in the matter, and has given appropriate counsel to both her and the parents, as both parties seek resolution.
Furthermore, Sheehan confirmed that she has since ordered a cease-and-desist letter through local attorney H.B. Quinn, which states the following:
+ That the public statements being made about her are “false and malicious,” particularly the ones specifically referring to her as “taking perverted and horrifying” action and abusing children on a public playground;
+ That the accusations of her pressuring coaches and school staff to “harass and berate” the children are also “false and malicious;”
+ And that all said information is “demonstrably false,” and that the misinformation has submitted Sheehan to “public hatred, ridicule, contempt or disgrace, and imputes a crime that could injure her reputation.”
Quinn’s letter also notes that Sheehan has received threats of bodily harm, should not be subject to defamation, and that any further statements — verbal or written — will result in “legal remedies” against the families, including — but not limited to — compensatory and punitive damages in a legal matter.
Inflamed, Hestand and Sheehan exchanged retorts.
And it continued.
In other school board news:
— Trigg County’s official collective will reconvene in special session at 3 PM next Thursday, May 15, in preparation for the school year’s end and May 22 graduation, a discussion about the school’s budget with Chief Financial Officer Holly Greene, the potential opening of several bids for the Trigg County High School Gymnasium elevator and renovation, and another chapter of Superintendent Rex Booth’s first-year evaluation.
FULL AUDIO:
