The Tennessee Star has apparently fallen out of the good graces of the Williamson County School System.
Sources in-the-know, who requested anonymity, told us last week The Star was no longer available for viewing through the school district’s Internet network.
Teachers, students, school administrators could not read The Tennessee Star, at least not at work, and not while using the school system’s Internet.
This week sources told us our stories are still unavailable for viewing.
The Star emailed school system spokeswoman Carol Birdsong for comment early Thursday afternoon. By Friday evening Birdsong had not responded to our request for comment.
As The Star reported during March, school teachers had to watch videos preaching “white privilege” and America’s supposed dysfunctional history.
Superintendent Mike Looney thought up the idea.
At a gathering in Franklin late last month, Looney told parents they were never supposed to see these videos and even publicly scolded a County Commissioner for asking questions about this curriculum.
Many parents have told The Tennessee Star they don’t believe Looney has shown enough transparency with board members, the public, or the media.
Many parents wonder if transparency is the order of the day when it comes to how the Williamson County School System does business — and they say the problem starts at the top, with Looney.
At the most recent Williamson County School board meeting Looney told board members that, yes, they approved the in-service training program for academic year 2018-2019 when they approved the top line budget.
But board member Candy Emerson said she had no idea she voted for such a thing as in-service teacher training that featured “white privilege” when she voted yes to approve the top line budget for academic year 2018-2019.
As best The Star can determine, not a single member of the 12 member WCS board had any idea that the in-service teacher training included in the top line budget they approved for academic year 2018-2019 included “white privilege.”
The Star published the first three modules of this WCS Cultural Competency teacher training last month, the third of which emphasized that teachers should monitor their “white privilege.”
It was apparently not until the publication of these modules in The Star last month–March 2019, ten months after the board approved the budget in May 2018–that anyone on the board knew anything about “white privilege” training.
Also as reported, people involved in the Williamson County School System’s Cultural Competency Committee and people who support those efforts sent emails about the need for social justice and how to handle teachers who resist change.
Emails also reveal Cultural Competency Committee members did not want publicity or for members of the media to attend their meetings.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
What arrogance . Used to b the Williamson County schools were highly respected and offered good public education. Looks like ALL has changed. PC rules, sadly.
This is why we home school our children