FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In a quorum court session on March 19, Washington County leaders reviewed a resolution addressing multiple school walkouts that happened in February. The resolution, seeking to encourage schools to revisit policies and procedures and teach responsible citizenship, was rejected.
Resolution 11 emphasized “Good citizenship among the youth of Washington County schools,” and was put forward by Justice of the Peace David Wilson. The protests in question happened over the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Arkansas.
During the session, Wilson mentioned that he took copies of the resolution to the superintendent offices in Springdale and Fayetteville, and one to Har-Ber High School. However, none of the offices got back to him.
Wilson made it clear that the resolution didn’t prevent anyone from doing anything or require them to do things differently. However, Wilson quoted article two of the resolution saying, “renewed efforts be made by each school to teach responsible citizenship to students.”
Several had questions on what good citizenship meant with JP Vladimir Rivera Lopez saying, “I do not support this resolution, and it’s not because I don’t support the safety of children…The wording here ‘to be a good responsible citizen,’ I don’t think there’s anything more good or responsible than holding our administrations to account.”
JP Shawndra Washington also had questions about the resolution stating, “there’s a lot of language in this resolution, in my opinion, that is vague and subjective…what is a number of citizens? What does respectful mean?”
She also urged her colleagues to consider the optics and consider what this resolution was saying to the people and students living in Washington County.
Some of those who spoke at the meeting argued that the main issue, regardless of political affiliation, was the separation of powers, as Arkansas Code states that county governments cannot enact legislation regarding schools. Many cited this concern including JP Evelyn Rio Stafford, JP Robert Massingill, and JP Gary Ricker. JP Suki Highers, who wasn’t there, shared her stance in a letter.
When County Judge Patrick Deakins opened the session to public comments, many stated their opinion, including Miller Rawn, a student at Fayetteville High School and co-president of the school’s Young Democrats chapter.
He cited an interview where Fayetteville Superintendent John Mulford said, “You don’t want kids leaving campus. You don’t want kids missing class. There’s always a part that makes you proud when kids do it the right way. If they’re going to protest, they’re going to do a walkout, we want to do it the right way. I feel like the kids today, for the most part given the number, did it the right way.” The comments were made in an interview with KNWA on Feb. 2.
In an interview after the meeting, Rawn said, “I feel that this motion oversteps the boundary of the quorum court and that is a little paternalistic and diminishes the capability of students to express themselves.”
With the small number of young people at the quorum court meeting, he stated, “I feel that young people are underrepresented and we saw it today. While many supported young people, there were also many justices who openly called them irresponsible, disrespectful and belittled their intelligence. I feel that a wider representation of the quorum court would help improve the reputation of the younger generation, as well as better represent how they feel about these issues.”
At the end of the meeting Washington County leaders voted 5-6, with one abstaining, to reject the resolution. JP Lisa Ecke, Charles Dean, Willie Leming, Butch Pond, and Wilson all voted yes and spoke in support of the resolution. Wilson, who introduced the resolution, declined to comment after the meeting.
