INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Opponents of the school superintendent’s decision not to let students see President Barack Obama’s nationally televised back-to-school speech live, lashed out at him Tuesday night.

“You have chosen to put politics in front of good citizenship and good patriotism,” Vero Beach resident Peter Hyatt said during a public comment period at the beginning of a school board meeting.

Hyatt called for Schools Superintendent Harry La Cava’s resignation.

Board members took no action following speeches by about 10 people.
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INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Local ministers, NAACP officials and Democrats say they will go to school board offices early Tuesday in an attempt to persuade officials to reverse a decision to not allow students to hear President Barack Obama’s live noon speech on education.

The Indian River County Democratic Executive Committee announced it plans for a “large group” of pehaps more than 50 people to gather outside School Board offices to protest the decision.

“How is it that the Indian River County School District can take it upon itself to censor the president of the United States of America?” said the Rev. Vernon Reason, a member of the Indian River County Pastor’s Association.

Reason said leaders for the group of about 18 churches met Sunday after learning that Indian River County schools would not air the program live.

School officials announced Thursday that School Board policy requires the broadcast be first taped and reviewed to determine if the material is educationally relevant.

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