Students at Johnston High School will wake up Tuesday morning to a new club on campus: Turning Point USA.
For months, parents and students have stood in front of the board and asked members not to approve the conservative club, claiming it would be damaging to certain groups of students and would reflect poorly on the district.
The Johnston School Board gave approval to the Turning Point USA club with a 5-2 vote Monday. Board members Soneeta Mangra-Dutcher and Jennifer Chamberland dissented.
The vote had previously been delayed because a parent informed board members the group was missing documents required for its application. District policy states if a new club is affiliated with an off-campus organization, that organization's constitution and bylaws must also be submitted.
Monday's vote was nearly delayed again because some parents said the group still had not submitted the necessary materials. Student representative Lucas Gorsh, who submitted the group's application for recognition as an official club, said Turning Point USA does not have bylaws and instead included a mission statement.
"I agree that getting into the weeds about this is really frustrating, but when we already delayed one vote to ask for documentation that wasn’t supplied it’s frustrating that we’re going to go ahead and vote without still having documentation," Chamberland said.
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