Public commenters urge broader support for students and scrutiny of resource-officer arrangements

During the public-comment portion of the meeting the board heard two substantive statements from community members. Barbara Pryor delivered a prepared statement about education inequality, urging the board to value multiple kinds of skills and to recognize students who do not fit a single testing profile. Pryor said systems that emphasize a single metric can lock students into lower-opportunity paths and urged broader curricular and assessment approaches.

Ruth Ann Reeves addressed the board about the memorandum between the sheriff’s office and Amherst County High School, urging the board to review the agreement and the process for selecting and overseeing resource officers. Reeves said she believes an officer currently assigned had failed to report an assault involving her son years earlier and asked that the sheriff examine protective-order records; the Chair reminded the public commenter that the meeting policy discourages naming private individuals in the public setting.

Board members acknowledged the comments and said the administration and sheriff’s office would be appropriate avenues for follow-up where investigative or personnel actions are involved. The board did not take formal action on either public comment during the meeting.