Reporter removed from school meeting

A sheriff’s deputy on Friday asked a local reporter to leave a meeting with school board members, schools officials and teachers at a North Carolina junior high while they discussed student-teacher relations.

The reporter, who works for The McDowell News in Marion, N.C., was there at the start of the meeting when an attorney began discussing the propriety of student-teacher relations at East McDowell Junior High.  According to the newspaper, the attorney said teachers should avoid getting involved in situations that cause "funny tummy feelings."

Then School Resource Officer Randy Slagle with the sheriff’s department asked the reporter to leave. Slagle said if the reporter remained, he could be arrested for trespassing. Slagle said he was acting under direction of the superintendent. 

Four members of the school board were present at the meeting, calling into question whether the meeting constituted a meeting of a committee or full public body. If so, The News reported the meeting could have been improperly closed under state open meetings laws.