A mother who has been arrested twice at Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) School Board meetings spoke to The Georgia Star news Monday.
“I am unhappy that our school board keeps violating constitutional rights of its constituents and that parent rights are being usurped each and every day by a power- and control-hungry Board of Education,” Karen Pirkle said. “I am devastated that my child was involved and they violently arrested me in front of her. I will continue to fight for my child no matter what. As a result of the board actions, my child will no longer attend GCPS schools, as they have now banned me from all school property –– which limits this parent’s right to drop off and pick up my child. I will continue to fight for my child and her rights.”
Pirkle had signed up to speak, and was granted permission to speak at Thursday’s meeting, though GCPS claims that it notified Pirkle that it had rescinded her speaking ability before the meeting.
Pirkle was first arrested alongside another concerned parent, Brenda Stewart, at a GCPS School Board meeting in November when parents attended to protest COVID-19 mask mandates.
Not only is Pirkle a mother of a now-former GCPS student, she is also a former sheriff’s deputy. She said in November that her arrest was unnecessary, and also violent.
“Someone came from behind me and jerked my arm up. Mind you, I am a retired deputy sheriff. I know the routine,” Pirkle said at the time. “They were trying to handcuff me, but their handcuffs were in my palm, so they weren’t getting it onto my wrist. And they kept saying I was resisting, which I was not. Then I asked the officers if I could at least give all my stuff to my husband. They said yes.”
The tiff between Pirkle and the school district revolves around COVID-19 mask mandates in the school system. Parents have banded together to protest those mandates as School Board meetings, but they have been cracked down upon by heavy security.
“At our school board meetings, we have 30 School Resource Officers (SROs) plus about 15 or so additional staff members, metal detectors, bag searches, video cameras and wands,” Stewart told The Star on February 4. “It is a blatant attempt to violate the First Amendment rights of parents. Fear is being used to silence us. It is fundamentally wrong. We currently have about 75 to 100 visitors at school board meetings, so basically one staff member for every two or three citizens. It is insane.”
In response to Pirkle’s Thursday arrest, a GCPS spokeswoman called Sloan Roach told The Star the following:
I can confirm that Karen Pirkle was arrested prior to last night’s meeting and charged with criminal trespass. Attached you will find the incident report for this case.
The school district had issued a trespass warning to Mrs. Pirkle in October, following the October 21, 2021, School Board meeting. She had appealed that warning and in December district leaders notified her that the warning was being amended to expire April 22, 2022. While the trespass warning is in effect, she is not permitted to enter the J. Alvin Wilbanks Instructional Support Center (ISC). This facility is where the Gwinnett County Board of Education holds its monthly business meetings.
Mrs. Pirkle used the electronic request form available on the school district website to submit a request to speak to the Board of Education at its February 24, 2022, meeting. She was not on the original list of 30 speakers; however, when some of those speakers indicated that they would not be able to attend she was erroneously added to the alternate speaker list. At approximately 1:40 p.m. on February 24, Mrs. Pirkle received a phone call from the district’s Executive Director of Policy and Administration alerting her of this error and reminding her that she was not allowed on the property due to the current trespass warning and that she could not attend the meeting in person. During that call, she stated she had permission to attend and would be there at 7 p.m. She then disconnected the call.
That evening before Mrs. Pirkle entered the ISC, she was again reminded that due to the trespass warning she was not allowed to enter the building. She ignored that warning and attempted to enter. At that time, she was arrested.
As of today, the school district has not conducted any further review of her trespass status, including any actions to extend it beyond the April date. Nor are we aware of any conditions of bond that may affect this situation.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
