Rising anger at school boards raises concern
In a nation beset by the dual issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and a reckoning with racial justice, the debates have come home to roost on local school boards.
From Pennridge in Bucks County to Downingtown in Chester County and Haverford in Delco, debates about school mitigation plans against the spread of COVID, or diversity and equity policies – or both – have brought a rising anger into school board meetings at a time when boards and administrators are working hard to navigate a full return to in-person learning.
Conflicts are getting out of hand.
The West Chester Area School Board in Chester County last week announced its next meeting would be held virtually because of concerns for safety if held in person. Following reports of out-of-state email, phone and social media threats targeting school board President Chris McCune, the district has moved its August board meetings to live-streaming on the district’s YouTube channel, according to an announcement on the district website.
The threats now being investigated by local police and the FBI followed the national airing of a confrontation between McCune and an East Bradford woman over the issue of whether the district of some 12,000 students currently teaches Critical Race Theory in its 16 elementary and secondary schools. McCune, upset by the woman’s insistence at speaking beyond her allotted time, directed that she be escorted out of the meeting room by a police officer.
The exchange was captured on the district’s video and reported on national news, sparking calls for McCune to resign and then a statement of support from his fellow board members.
Parents have flocked to school board meetings in Downingtown and Owen J. Roberts in Chester County, Souderton in Montgomery and Pennridge in Bucks, among others, accusing boards of pushing Critical Race Theory.
Board members and administrators repeatedly point out the once-obscure academic theory has never been part of elementary or secondary curriculum. Parents jeer at the administrators and accuse board members of lying.
Then there’s the masking debate, an unrelated but equally emotional hot button.
Parents say masks are “medical experiments’ on their children, claiming boards have an agenda to force masking and citing an obscure reference to “Nuremberg.”
School superintendents and board members repeatedly point out that their only goal is to reopen schools and keep them open for in-person learning in the face of a resurgence of COVID-19 cases driven by the delta variant.
For the most part, board members and administrators have listened patiently in meetings that are stretching to three hours or more. When they have tried to curb comments, things have gotten heated.
The West Chester incident was one example; another was the North Penn School Board meeting last week in Lansdale when commenters started shouting as the board abruptly adjourned, prompting the husband of the board president to call police.
School board members are being accused of abusing power, when in fact they are regular citizens and parents doing their civic duty. Of course there are some who may aspire to higher office, but for the most part, boards are comprised of regular people who care about their communities and the educational future for children. Serving on a board and sacrificing personal time to attend meetings and board duties doesn’t come with a high salary or satisfaction of influence.
Board members don’t deserve to be harassed, ridiculed, yelled at or threatened, whether at a public meeting, via email, on social media or in the grocery store. There is a place for debate and discussion, and parents’ opinions are important. But no one has the right to shout down others or compare officials to atrocities in history based on false information and hysteria.
Has anyone asked teachers exactly how they discuss race and its role in the teaching of history?
Has anyone asked kids — in a non-intimidating atmosphere — whether or not they find masks a burden?
The accusations being thrown about are unfounded in our local schools, where the past year and a half has required incredibly difficult decisions and hard work to keep children safe and engaged in learning in unprecedented circumstances.
It’s time to stop the fingerpointing and verbal attacks and end this crisis of spreading anger.
Let us instead appreciate and hear school officials explain their plans for opening schools safely and in an atmosphere of equity that respects the rights of all. That’s a tall order and a tough job — and it warrants respect.