General Arnold W. Bunch Jr. served in the U.S. Air Force and has no experience teaching children. Leaders of schools Hamblen Co. changed the policy so he could rule.
Hamblen County, Tenn – Humblan County School leaders met Tuesday night to decide who will oversee the school district with 18 schools and about 10,000 students.
Prior to that, they voted to use the emergency protocol to change some council policies. Normally, a policy change proposal would have to take two readings in two separate meetings. However, because they used the emergency protocol, the policy changed after one reading.
They removed the requirement for school principals to have an education. This paved the way for General Arnold W. Bunch Jr. to be elected the next head of the district. Although he has no experience teaching children, he has an extensive resume on military service.
He holds a Master’s degree in National Security Strategy from the National Military College and is currently the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force Material Command. He also flew more than 2,500 hours and received the Medal of Excellence.
“We legally took the direction we did tonight to make him a qualified candidate, and that’s what happened,” said Carolyn Clawson, chairman of the board.
Bunch Jr. was not present at Tuesday’s meeting, and WBIR reporters made several requests to contact him. He did not answer.
He will officially become a warden in the summer. Some parents said they disagreed with the council’s decision to change the policy, using the emergency protocol so it could serve.
“I would think that an emergency would be a natural disaster, for example, when a pandemic started,” Vanessa Palmer told some previous reports, the father in the school system. “The policy is to have a school principal with an educational base.”
Some other parents who attended Tuesday’s meeting said they support him as head of the school district.
“I hope our next school principal does a great job and will be able to learn to address any flaws he may have,” Palmer said at the meeting.
“Children need structure, adults need structure, I need structure,” said another father.
“It’s not often you find an unconventional person who can meet the requirements,” Clawson said.
