Earlier this week, a North Carolina school system made national news when it voted to allow high school students to carry pepper spray–supposedly as a defensive measure against getting jumped in the bathroom. The timing couldn’t have been worse; it came on the heels of furious debate over the state’s grossly homophobic “bathroom bill.” Well, the backlash was severe enough that the policy’s main proponent now says he will vote to reverse it at the board’s next meeting.
During a work session held on Monday, the school board of Rowan County, northeast of Charlotte, voted to allow high school students to carry Mace and pepper spray on campus during the school day. The board had originally discussed removing the longstanding ban on pepper spray at an April meeting.
According to board chairman Josh Waggoner, the board initially intended to clarify seemingly inconsistent policies regarding weapons on campus. While staff were barred from having pepper sprays on campus, board policy was silent on whether students could have them. However, it was an open secret that the great majority of girls at high school football games carried pepper spray as a defensive measure.
One board member, Chuck Hughes, supported the use of pepper spray as a “defensive tool,” especially for girls. Hughes appeared to suggest that Mace could come in handy in the event the courts toss out HB2.
“Depending on how the courts rule on the bathroom issues, it may be a pretty valuable tool to have on the female students if they go to the bathroom, not knowing who may come in.”
A number of board members expressing concern that Mace and pepper spray could be used for purposes other than self-defense. Indeed, the system’s attorney recalled some instances of a teacher being sprayed by a student.
However, the board discovered that the state law banning weapons from school grounds did not explicitly ban pepper spray and Mace. With this in mind, the board voted to amend the policy on prohibited items in a manner they believed to be consistent with the law. When this vote and Hughes’ comments became public knowledge. it appeared that the board had brought Rowan County as much infamy as Rowan County, Kentucky–home to Kim Davis. (The North Carolina county is pronounced “Row-ann,” the Kentucky county is pronounced “Rohw-an.”) Watch more details here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWy7qyswISw
But by Wednesday, Hughes realized he had stepped in it. He told BuzzFeed that he never intended for students to be “bathroom police” at all. Rather, he wanted girls to be able to defend themselves against “perverts and pedophiles,” regardless of gender identity. As he saw it, transgender people never intend to “create havoc.” He did, however, say that after hearing feedback from the community, he realized that the “cons outweighed the pros,” and even went as far as to say that he would vote to reverse it at the board’s next scheduled meeting on May 23.
Some perspective is needed here. Rowan County is one of the reddest counties in North Carolina. It has gone Democratic in a presidential election a grand total of two times since 1960; in 2012 Mitt Romney carried it with 62 percent of the vote. It also voted for the now-shredded state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage by a punishing 74-20 margin. In other words, you would think that voters here would have no problem with using pepper spray as a “defensive tool.” Apparently even voters in this crimson-red county have limits.
Hughes isn’t the only one who is having second thoughts. On Wednesday, someone called Waggoner and told him that the new policy would put the board and the system in significant legal danger, statute or no statute. Waggoner said that had these concerns been raised on Monday, most of the board would have had second thoughts about putting themselves in a “vulnerable position.” Waggoner didn’t elaborate, but if I had to hazard a guess, a student or teacher could have grounds for one whopper of a lawsuit if an attacker sprayed them.
It’s really telling that the board initially approved this despite concerns it could give carte blanche to attackers. It shouldn’t have taken fears of homophobia to reverse this wrongheaded policy. Still, better late than never.
