The Augusta Board of Education approved a new public comment policy Wednesday to change sections invalidated by a federal judge in a First Amendment case last month.
The new policy, approved in a 6-1 vote, removes references to gossip and abusive or vulgar language — parts of the rules governing public comment periods that U.S. District Judge Stacey D. Neumann said “impermissibly burden protected speech” when she issued an injunction last month.
Conservative activist Nicholas Blanchard sued the school board earlier this year over the rules after being shut down repeatedly during public comment by board chair Martha Witham.
Litigation is ongoing. Blanchard, who goes by the nickname “Corn Pop,” is now running for an at-large seat on the board in a June 9 special election.
Following the advice of Drummond Woodsum, the law firm that represents the Augusta School Department, the board suspended requirements for holding more than one vote on the new rules and adopted them immediately. Superintendent Michael Tracy said the board needed to act as soon as possible to come into compliance with Neumann’s order.
“And we do believe that it will honor the requirements of the First Amendment,” he said.
In a statement provided to the school board and read earlier this month by Witham at the policy committee meeting, Drummond Woodsum attorney Melissa Hewey said the the changes are intended to comply with Neumann’s ruling and remedy First Amendment concerns, while maintaining “decorum and civility” during meetings — a line she said is often approached by Blanchard.
“It is important to note that the court’s opinion was based on the language of our public comment policy, not on a specific treatment of Mr. Blanchard,” Hewey’s statement said. “We do not read the Court’s opinion as giving Mr. Blanchard or anyone else free reign to disrupt the business of the Board, and we are committed to conducting our meetings in a way that exemplifies civility and respect for all.”
Blanchard, who attended Wednesday’s meeting and took to the public comment podium, disagreed. He began his comments by passing out Neumann’s order to the board and ripping up a piece of paper.
“This is what I think of your new policy,” Blanchard said. “Because it’s still unconstitutional.”
He did not specify which parts of the new rules he thought were still in violation, but called on Witham, the chair, to resign, as he has repeatedly for the past year.
Ward 1 board member James Orr, who has long railed against the board’s majority, was the lone vote against approving the new policy.
Neumann’s ruling could have wider impacts on boards across the state. Attorney Isabel Ekman, who leads the school law group at Portland law firm Drummond Woodsum — which represents a majority of Maine districts — said last week that the ruling could clear the way for claims against many other districts over their policies.
The Maine School Management Association told board chairs and superintendents across the state that they may soon recommend changes to their sample public comment policy.
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