After a Hamilton County school board ethics committee absolved her of any policy violations Thursday, board member Rhonda Thurman warned against making it easier to bring other members before the panel in the future.
“We’re going to become the morality police,” she said. “I think we all need to put our big girl panties on and grow up.”
The Hamilton County Board of Education’s Code of Ethics addresses a board member using his or her position for personal financial gain. Since none of the complaints against Ms. Thurman accused her of such action, school board attorney Scott Bennett recommended the charges be dismissed.
Complaints against Ms. Thurman came from parents of students at Normal Park Museum Magnet School. They claimed she publicly criticized school system employees and also distributed a Normal Park student directory.
The student directory is not confidential, Mr. Bennett said, and if it were Ms. Thurman, as a board member, would have access to it.
The other complaints accused Ms. Thurman of unprofessional conduct, which is out of the jurisdiction of the ethics committee, Mr. Bennett said.
In 2008, the Tennessee Legislature required all local government bodies to adopt the same code of ethics focused on the issue of financial gain. The move followed the Tennessee Waltz scandal, a sting operation that led to the arrest of seven state lawmakers, including former Hamilton County Board of Education member Charles Love.
Ethics committee member Doug Fisher, Erlanger hospital’s vice president of governmental and community affairs, said he thought the policy now was too narrowly focused and excluded many actions that could be considered unethical.
“I contend that this is flawed policy,” he said. “At the very least, it’s confusing.”
Board member Jeffrey Wilson, chairman of the ethics committee, said he planned to talk with school board Chairman Kenny Smith to schedule a work session about the ethics policy.
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