“Here’s a well-written description of what happens when your school board is taken over by extremists. We’ve heard similar stories from other Kansas districts. If you’re in Gardner Edgerton we recommend Aleksandra Nokes, Emma Jones, Heath Freeman and Katie Williams to restore normalcy to your school board, and if you’re in other districts we urge you to be an informed voter in your school board races and make sure the eligible students in your life are registered to vote.
“Our schools help create the future for our students, and watching the Gardner-Edgerton School District be governed by members who adhere to a divisive and derogatory agenda is disheartening, to say the least. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, a slate of extreme ideological candidates were elected to the school board, and their dysfunction quickly pushed multiple board members to resign. Instead of holding an open and transparent process to appoint replacements, they appointed two more members who lacked qualifications but matched their agenda.
Since then, the board has pushed policies that have marginalized trans students, removed books from classroom shelves, opened the door to anti-government extremist groups, stifled public participation in policy discussions, and broken their own policies. Their actions have pushed key staff members out of the district, including the long-tenured high school librarian and the sponsor of the Gay-Straight Alliance club. These essential teachers deserve professional leadership that meets their needs and respects their profession…
“Despite unprecedented engagement from the community, with students generating statewide and national coverage, board members refuse to change course. An essential feature of local government has been manipulated to pick on the most vulnerable of the most vulnerable, providing a distraction from meaningful policy solutions that meet the needs of our students, such as my sister…
“Too often, voters’ lack of familiarity with local elections leaves community governing bodies like school boards susceptible to takeovers from ideologues. We also know this is happening in races across Kansas. Everyone needs to know who is on the ballot and hear why they are even running in the first place.
“Students who will be most affected by school board members’ decisions are watching.”
Read the full op-ed at https://kansasreflector.com/2023/09/19/school-board-changes-can-destroy-students-educational-opportunities-were-paying-attention/?fbclid=IwAR3xSetUTXKHG6CELA8xGjL98-kml7_boPAyqYmVfTN7cbTnNz8p_QlsrTg
Originally posted on Facebook on Sept. 19th, 2023.