John Matthews
WMAL.com
John Matthews
WMAL.com
MANASSAS, VA – (WMAL) The Prince William County School Board is set to vote Wednesday night on a proposal to include transgendered persons on the list of protected classes in the school system’s non-discrimination policy, and a long-time opponent of the effort is accusing the chairman of the School Board of attempting to “stack the deck.”
A long list of residents has signed up to testify at the meeting. When the issue was brought up last year, there were dozens of speakers – most against the policy change.
A similar-length list of speakers is expected Wednesday night, and under School Board rules, speakers are supposed to be heard on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. However, Del. Bob Marshall, a vocal opponent of the transgender policy, says School Board Chairman Ryan Sawyers, a policy advocate, attempted to front-load the speakers list with policy advocates.
Marshall discovered through a Freedom of Information act request that Sawyers had done just that – sending a list of speakers to the School Board clerk to be “added to the top of the list” for the meeting.
“The clerk clearly acknowledged that Mr. Sawyer’s submission was done after a number of people had signed up,” said Marshall. “I spoke with one woman who signed up in May,” he added.
Marshall now says he’s not sure what the order of speakers will be, and he’s concerned that not all of them will be heard before a vote is taken. He himself is #61 on the list, and although he’s been told he can move up to the front of the line, he says he will refuse that offer.
“You sign up, you speak in that order. That’s the way it should be,” Marshall told WMAL. “Otherwise, you’re engaged in content discrimination, which is patently illegal and unconstitutional,” he added.
WMAL News has reached out to School Board Chairman Ryan Sawyers through both telephone and email, and has not received a response.
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: PW County School Board)
