Board rejects Bardwell condemnation

• By JACQUELINE COCHRAN
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Nov 5, 2009 - Page: 4B

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AMITE — Tangipahoa School Board President Danny Ridgel failed Tuesday in an attempt to have board members approve a resolution criticizing controversial racial views held by former Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell.

The opposition was led by board member Sonya Traylor, who argued that, among other things, the message in the resolution had little to do with public education or responsibilities of the School Board.

The proposed resolution named 8th Ward Justice of the Peace Bardwell and put the board on record as disapproving of Bardwell’s refusal revealed last month to perform interracial marriage ceremonies.

Bardwell, who served as a justice of the peace since 1975, resigned that position just hours before Tuesday’s School Board meeting, the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office confirmed.

Ridgel said prior to the start of the School Board’s meeting that it was his idea to address Bardwell’s refusal to marry such couples through passage of the resolution.

“We’ve had a lot of attention with desegregation,” Ridgel said. “I wanted (people) to know it’s not where we stand.”

The board had directed Superintendent Mark Kolwe last month to write a resolution about the Bardwell incident and submit it to the board for review.

“I cannot and will not support a resolution that singles out and specifically names any elected official,” Traylor told the board, “nor will I support passing a resolution that speaks out for or against the decisions made in the course of his or her elected duties unless the topic specifically relates to education in Tangipahoa Parish.

“If we do this,” Traylor continued, “we might as well take a stand, as a board, on issues such as abortion, stem-cell research, health-care reform, gun control and the war in the Middle East.”

Traylor said that by including the wording, “adopted by unanimous vote,” within the first sentence of the proposed resolution, an assumption was made that all board members would support it.

When the resolution was offered for board approval by Ridgel, it was not read into board minutes, leaving those in the audience bewildered concerning Traylor’s statements.

Traylor offered a substitute motion to rewrite the resolution so it reflected less opinion about issues outside the realm of education.

“I would support a resolution that would, in general, state that the Tangipahoa Parish School Board is in opposition to not only racism,” Traylor said, “but also discrimination against gender or national origin within the Tangipahoa Parish school system.”