HOWARD — Questions surrounding the district’s dress code and an elementary school boy wearing a dress were the primer for approximately 50 people attending this week’s East Knox Board of Education meeting.
At December’s board meeting, the second grader’s attire drew attention as well. The parents of the second-grade student heard about the board meeting via a Knox Pages article published in mid-December.
“My wife, myself and concerned citizens are here for our son who was discussed at the last board meeting without our knowledge because on three occasions he has chosen to wear a fully dress code compliant dress to school,” David Daugherty said. “As a result, ourselves and our son has been exposed to bullying, name calling, and claims that we should not be parents. These include insinuations of violence against him as well made by adults.
“The goal of the school board should be the education of students but this school board and members in this community seem to lack knowledge in several areas.
“If we account that neither his teachers nor his principal have suggested that such a distraction exists we have to conclude that ‘distraction’ is not the appropriate word — more accurate word would be expression.”
People who disagreed with the student’s parents voiced their opinions at the meeting, too.
“These children are image bearers of God,” Knox County citizen Jeff Cline said. “They’re created by God, male and female. We’ve talked about this for months, confusion we put into these little kids heads. Ever since we removed the good things out of the schools whether it be prayer (…) they’ve become dark. They’re going to get darker and darker.
“As soon as you take out something good the bad comes in. These kids are struggling in life with confusion. It is about the Good Lord, it is about prayer, and it is about Biblical moral values.”
Cline said, as Christians, “we’ve got to stand up and protect these little ones.
“I don’t want the enemy coming in and messing with the minds of these little kids and then we have to bring in psychiatrists in the schools now, health and wellness programs to try to fix them because they’re all messed up.”
Arguments between both sides erupted when former Heath and London football coach Dave Daubenmire addressed the board and audience. Daubenmire was sued by the ACLU in 1999 for leading his London team in prayer. The religious advocate’s website is titled Pass the Salt Ministries.
“Do you know what they’re try to do, to label a guy like us? A hater,” Daubenmire said. “I don’t hate anybody. I don’t hate these people. I don’t hate their child. But the reality of it is folks that there (are) other children that go to the school and they have to go home and ask their parents, ‘What’s going on?”
Daubenmire was cut off mid-sentence by some members of the crowd, with other audience member yelling, “Let him talk.”
“So listen, we all agree in individual rights and I remember the movie Hoosiers. But you remember the coach was confronted one time by the school board president of all things and the school board president says ‘There’s one thing about getting naked and going out barking at the moon and there’s a difference between that and doing it at my house.’
“So we’re under the tyranny of the minority.”
An audience member replied, “Separation of church and state.”
“You’re an idiot,” Daubenmire replied. “Folks, do you understand how this game works? You understand the bullying going on right now? They don’t want the truth spoken. They’re going to stand up. They’re going to yell back at me because they don’t want you to hear the truth. I want you to know something. I pray for these people.”
East Knox Supt. Steve Larcomb said to Daubenmire “your comments are to be made to the board. You are not preaching to your choir.”
“I’m not preaching to anybody,” Daubenmire replied.
“You’re decent people, you know what’s going on here,” he continued. “Are you going to stand up now and protect the children or not? They can’t just brush me off saying I’m a hater. That’s it right? Who’s trying to push whose values down whose throat?”
Larcomb said after the meeting at the moment, “We don’t have a compelling reason to make a change in the dress code.”
“We review student code of conduct handbooks every summer usually in June and/or July and ask for board approval at that time.”
