Tichi Pinkney Eppes is once again a full member of the Richmond School Board.

The 9th District representative was one of five members who voted to end the ban on allowing her to serve on board committees.

The vote came last week, six months after she ran into trouble for her service on the Discipline Committee.

In October, Ms. Pinkney Eppes resigned from the committee and was censured by the rest of the board after she admitted her attempt to release confidential student files to a private company that provides psychological services for students with behavior problems.

As the Free Press reported at the time, Ms. Pinkney Eppes was unable to breach a Richmond Public Schools computer’s security to obtain the information. School officials confirmed during last week’s meeting that none of the files’ information had been obtained.

Ms. Pinkney Eppes said at the time that she was trying to gain assistance for one student, but ended up mistakenly providing the names of 20 students to the private company whose services are covered by Medicaid.

She said her action, while misguided, was the result of frustration that the school system was moving too slow to secure the psychological help some troubled students need.

She apologized and agreed not to serve on any board committees. The board could not prevent her from participating and voting at its regular meetings.

Before the vote to reinstate her, Ms. Pinkney Eppes promised she would follow procedure.

School Board Chairman Donald Coleman, 7th District, supported lifting the ban on her committee service and giving Ms. Pinkney Eppes a second chance.

Also voting to lift the ban were Mamie Taylor, 5th District; Shonda Harris-Muhammed, 6th District; and Derik Jones, 8th District.

Four others wanted to continue the ban: Glenn Sturtevant Jr., 1st District; Kimberly Gray, 2nd District; Jeffrey Bourne, 3rd District; and Kristen Larson, 4th District.

Mr. Bourne first sought a two-week continuance and reluctantly voted against reinstatement when his request for a delay was rejected.