The Tennessee school board member who sidled up to a female senior year student and told her she was “hot” was branded a “liar” and ordered to keep his hands off girls after he offered a meek defense for his crass remarks.
Washington County board member Keith Ervin faced growing calls to resign after his comments from last week’s meeting went viral as he claimed he meant “no disrespect,” desperately trying to justify what he meant by the word “hot.”
“When I mentioned she was hot, I meant she was on a roll,” he said at an emergency meeting on Wednesday after claiming he wasn’t good with words.
Ervin, previously censured in 2009 over a lewd sexual gesture he admitted to making in front of students, couldn’t even finish his pre-prepared address before being heckled.
“You’re a liar,” one man in the audience shouted.
Ervin, who hailed the student for asking “good questions” during the discussion about school restructuring and the curriculum, claimed the video “speaks for itself,” prompting one woman to quip: “It sure does!”
Another person heckled, “Keep your hands off girls,” The Nashville Tennessean reported.
During the highly-charged meeting, Ervin said he wouldn’t “say anything on purpose to offend anyone” but speakers ordered him to show accountability.
“There was no disrespect meant, and I apologize to her and her family,” the shamed board member added.
One woman claimed he wouldn’t have sidled up to the student if they were male.
“If that had been a male student next to you, you wouldn’t have done that,” she said.
“You wouldn’t have put your arm around her and said, ‘Oh, yeah!’ The days of men thinking it’s OK for you to put your arm around a female, around their waist, or hug them, get in their face, are over.”
Some board members called for Ervin to resign before they unanimously censured him.
“I believe it’s in the best interest of the board, our students, the community that Mr. Ervin take responsibility for his actions and step down from his position,” fellow board member Whitney Riddle said.
Ervin’s latest censure comes more than 15 years after he was punished by education bosses.
He made the gesture in front of 15 students and two teachers at David Crockett High School after one child spoke about their job, which they earned $8 an hour.
One student was left “visibly upset” by the gesture, according to court docs seen by WJHL.
Ervin admitted to making the gesture and was ordered to stay away from campus buildings.
He has also been accused of using profanity in front of students.
“He said he guessed he was trying to be 18 again. He said the students were talking and he just joined in and he had made a mistake,” Ervin reportedly said in a report documenting the incidents.
