CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Clarksville-Montgomery County School Board is once again considering changes to its public participation rules, including new limits on where audience members can hold signs.

This comes after several tense meetings where audience members have walked around the room with signs and voiced their frustrations with the board.

At the June 16 formal board meeting, tensions boiled over as the public was removed following repeated disruptions from some audience members. Later in that meeting, the board approved its proposed changes to public comment, reducing speaking time from five minutes to three and eliminating the option for one speaker to give their time to another.

This new proposal follows another contentious board meeting on July 21, when one person was removed for repeated disruptions and others walked around holding signs toward the board.

Potential changes to decorum rules

At Tuesday’s study session, board member and state Rep. Aron Maberry said he would send the board some additional proposed changes related to meeting decorum to be voted on at the July 21 formal session.

“I’m going to be sending the board a policy change or two … which will be on the agenda at the next meeting … wanting to address the decorum in this room,” said Maberry, who did not seek re-election to the board. “Going forward, in the months ahead, I won’t be here anymore. But we just need to make sure that we have good decorum inside of our room, and that’s what the policy changes will reflect.”

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The proposal, shared by Maberry with Clarksville Now, outlines changes to public comment that define what behavior constitutes disrupting or interfering with the meeting. The draft states no one may “disrupt, interrupt, distract from, or interfere with a recognized speaker’s presentation” at any point during the meeting. Examples listed “without limitation” include:

  • Loud verbal comments or noises.
  • Standing behind or near a speaker while holding a sign.
  • Standing between a speaker and the board or obstructing the board’s ability to see or hear a speaker.
  • Attempting to stop a speaker from reaching the podium or microphone.

“If a member of the audience wishes to hold or display a sign, he or she must remain at his or her seat while doing so, as long as the sign does not obstruct or interfere with another citizen’s ability to observe the meeting,” the proposal states.

Maberry says changes aim to balance decorum and public participation

Maberry told Clarksville Now the changes are meant to preserve order while still protecting public participation. “This proposed policy change is about maintaining decorum at School Board meetings while protecting everyone’s right to participate,” he said.

He added that the policy is not to limit protest but to ensure that others are not prevented from observing the meeting. “I fully support an individual’s right to peacefully protest and hold a sign, but that right should not come at the expense of someone else’s ability to see, hear, or participate in the meeting,” Maberry said.

“The proposal would still allow signs, provided individuals remain seated and do not obstruct the view of others,” he said. “Peaceful protest is a right; disrupting a public meeting or preventing others from participating is not.”

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