‘No confidence’ vote targets school board member after ‘hot’ comment to student

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - The Washington County Commission voted no confidence for school board member Keith Ervin, according to NBC affiliate WCYB.

A motion was made during a meeting on Monday and was seconded. While the vote was passed with a ‘yes’ majority, it does not remove Ervin from his seat on the school board.

Ervin came under fire after he called a student “hot” during a Washington County Board of Education meeting, in which the student presented her research on different schools to the board.

A livestream of the meeting showed her seated next to Ervin, who put his arm around her and said, “God, you’re hot, you know that? Where do you go to school at?”

After Ervin’s comments, laughter broke out in the meeting and continued with seemingly no acknowledgement of the exchange.

Ervin later apologized at an emergency meeting held by the Washington County Board of Education, saying, “I’m not always good with words.”

“She continually fired off questions that thought out valid points,” he said. “When I mentioned she was hot, I meant she was on a roll. It was nothing to do with her appearance.”

It was also discovered, according to records obtained by WCYB, that Ervin got in trouble with the board in 2009 after he made a “lewd, juvenile gesture of a sexual nature.” The gesture, according to the records, was made in front of both teachers and students at David Crockett High School.

Many have called for Ervin’s removal. One Tennessee man said he would do whatever he could to replace the local school board for failure to remove the member.

Instead of being removed, Ervin was censured.

County leaders said school board members cannot be terminated since they are elected, WCYB said.

Ervin is up for re-election in August.