A few interrelated articles from across the country on school boards

First up, Governing looks at the culture warrior aspect of school board elections and looks into if that is waning:

There will be other issues that polarize future school board candidates as these shifts ebb and flow according to what’s been successful and what’s failed in capturing voters’ attention. That cycle of controversy is yet another reason why it’s too soon to call these elections results a permanent blow to extreme partisanship in school board elections. Complacency and a sense of too-early satisfaction around some wins in school board elections nationwide can’t help protect students and teachers’ rights.

Two places where it hasn't waned are covered by stories from Virginia and from Kentucky. First, in Lynchburg, VA (some of you may know it as the home of Liberty University), the local board turned down a grant their LGBTQ high school group was awarded for a calming room:

“Their application was so earnest,” said Justin Tindall, a senior director with the It Gets Better Project, a nonprofit created after LGBTQ+ teen suicides in 2010. The group is known for its videos offering testimonies from adults, both famous and everyday, who endured bullying, hatred and self-doubt — and survived. One of the group’s programs, 50 States, 50 Grants, awards grants for student projects that remind struggling teens of the hope and promise that life will get better.

The refusal had, of course, nothing to do with the actual proposal before the board: 

 “Let me be very clear,” said Greg Barry, a grandparent and guardian of a student at the high school, when he spoke to the board and quoted scripture. “The LGBTQ agenda in schools is about indoctrination and grooming our children into an evil and wicked lifestyle,” he said, amid boos from the audience.

Comfy chairs and blankets aren’t dangerous. You know that, right, Greg?

Some have promised to go back to the board for their next meeting to protest; they meet Tuesday.

MSNBC called the turnout at an Anderson County Schools Board meeting what it is: Christian nationalism:

Hundreds packed that Nov. 13 board meeting, held less than 15 miles from the state Capitol. They came, they said in speech after speech, to support the Briscoes, who had filed a complaint stating that their daughter was groomed by a school counselor, and to demand the superintendent and counselor be fired. 

What the school did was support a student who was dating a girl and who knew her parents wouldn't support that. And what was the crowd there for?

 All it took for a small town preacher was to urge his Facebook followers to pack a school board meeting under the guise of protecting children. It did not seem to matter to any of them, caught up as they were in their fears, resentments and grievances, that they were exploiting an innocent child in the process.

 And speaking of children, I really want to recommend taking the time to read Lydia Polgreen's essay in the New York Times (that's a gift link) on allowing children the right to make decisions, some of which they may regret: 

We allow children to make irreversible decisions about their lives all the time, ideally with the guidance and support of the communities that care for them. Sometimes they regret those decisions. The stakes vary, but they are real. So what are we saying, really, when we worry that a child will regret this particular decision, the decision to transition?