Does a school board member still have the right to be a complaining parent in public?

That seemed to be the question when the husband of a Thomas Hunter Middle School teacher took issue with negative comments a school board member made about his son’s experiences with his math instructor.

Harry Barker of Cobbs Creek, spoke out at the public comment period at the start of Tuesday’s Mathews County School Board meeting, demanding an apology for comments made about his wife by a school board member. Barker alleged that the school board member in question had said that THMS math teacher Martha Barker was "the deadwood of the entire school system." "I take that as a personal slap," Mr. Barker said.

School board members, Barker said, "should be held to a higher standard" and when they make comments about a particular teacher, the public "takes that as a reality."

When asked why a school board member would feel it necessary to discu...