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School Board Member: ‘We Have Prepared Our Students’ To Protest Ferguson Decision [VIDEO]

Alex Griswold Media Reporter
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Missouri Democratic state senator and University City school board member Maria Chappelle-Nadal said on MSNBC that her school district had taken steps to prepare their students to protest in the wake of the Ferguson grand jury decision, including changes to the school district’s curriculum. (RELATED: Reports: Ferguson Grand Jury Reaches Its Decision [VIDEO])

MSNBC’s Joy Reid began by noting the large amount of young people who have been taking part in the Ferguson unrest. “Are there preparations in place, state senator, to deal with the fact that you could have a lot of young people out on the streets, a lot of young people protesting and marching?”

“Yes, absolutely,” Chappelle-Nadal said. “In fact, I’m proud as a school board member that we have prepared our students for this.”

“We have been changing our curriculum,” she added. “We are providing safe spaces for our students in our school district so they can protest, not necessarily being at ground zero, but within our own communities. We want our children to experience their First Amendment right, and they’re eager to do that.” (RELATED: Ferguson Schools Closing Before Wilson Indictment)

“But we want to make sure that they are in a safe situation, and our protocols we have put in place in the last month certainly signifies that we are going to allow them to have their free speech and they’re going to be safe.”

In 2011, Chappelle-Nadal was accused of threatening to stab a fellow Missouri lawmaker in the neck at a Lil Wayne concert. The altercation apparently came a week after Chappelle-Nadal had called the same Missouri representative a “house slave” over a disagreement on a bill.

Chappelle-Nadal has also been a fixture among Ferguson protestors. Earlier this August, she tweeted at Democratic Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (uncensored): “F*CK you, Governor. I’m calling your bullsh*t! …You don’t know sh*t bc you never communicate. F*CK you, Governor!”

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