A federal judge has ruled that school board meeting attendees can swear at meetings, as long as swear words are free of sexually explicit material.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story ruled that Forsyth County Schools must stop enforcing some of its rules while the lawsuit plays out.
The lawsuit was filed by two Forsyth County parents, who call themselves the Mama Bears, after one of them was banned from school board meetings for reading offensive passages from a book that was in her son’s middle school library.
Alison Hair was banned in March from the meetings after reading the excerpt from the young adult novel in question. The school board said she would be allowed to attend meetings again if she followed their rules.
She and fellow parent Cindy Martin then sued the school system.
Hair’s primary concern is sexual materials in books.
The school board previously had rules that prevented speakers from making loud or boisterous comments and using words deemed profane. Story’s order did not strike down these rules, but he ruled that Forsyth County Schools cannot enforce them. He did not determine what words are considered obscene.
The lawsuit is ongoing, but both parents will be able to attend the upcoming December school board meeting.
