KNOTT COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18)- Parents and staff gathered outside the Cordia School as officials with the Knott County Board arrived on property and began to remove items from the building.
The last day for students was last week. A restraining order was granted to prevent the closing of the school earlier this year.
Parents and staff arrived on the notice that buses and cars had arrived at the school to unload items. Feeling that this was a violation of the previous restraining order, the protestors used their vehicles to form a barricade to prevent the buses from leaving.
Kentucky State Police arrived to de-escalate the situation. Eventually, the buses were allowed to leave.
The attorney for the school, Ned Pillersdorf, says that the parents had a right to assemble on the school’s property and that the school board is in violation of the restraining order.
"Despite a restraining order preventing the Knott School Board from closing the school, board employees showed up at the school and began disassembling property. Just got off the phone with the State Police who were concerned that the parents who showed up to protest were blocking the road with their vehicles. The road is actually property owned by the school…advised that the protesting parents had a right to assemble. Did advise them to allow those who wanted to exit the school to be allowed to do so. None of this would have happened if the Knott school board had read the portion of the restraining order that said it was to remain in effect during the pendency of the action. The Knott board employees told the Cordia officials the restraining order only applied until the school year was over. That is not what the order says," Pillersdorf wrote on his Facebook page.
