Opinion: Forest Hills board provides blueprint for how to poison a school district
Want to know how to quickly create bitter divisions in a peaceful community?
Ask the Forest Hills School Board.
Under the guise of rooting out critical race theory, a board majority in two months managed to turn neighbor against neighbor and make the district a regular source of negative news that’s reached a national audience.
It started by canceling Diversity Day, prompting a walkout by high school seniors. It followed with passage of a "Resolution to Create a Culture of Kindness and Equal Opportunity," an Orwellian exercise of double-think and Newspeak, which basically bars discussions of race, same-sex relationships, or anything else that could make someone feel "uncomfortable."
And so the cynical use of critical race theory and anti-diversity rhetoric by Republican politicians to scare and confuse voters for political gain has found a new home in the Forest Hills district, just as it has in Texas where educators might have to start calling slavery "involuntary relocation" and in Florida, where teachers have to try to work around the new anti-CRT and "Don’t Say Gay" laws.
It took awhile for most people to figure out that critical race theory is a graduate school level academic examination of the role of systemic racism, not anything American children are exposed to after nap time in their schools.
The political answer? Broaden the definition, so that anything can be pointed to as a gateway to CRT.
The FHSD board majority slate elected last year with GOP backing has done so. A friend in a nearby community had warned me we had just elected a "QAnon board." I laughed then.
Not now.
For Anderson Township, a largely affluent, usually friendly, bedroom community suburb, and the bucolic village of Newtown, the top-rated schools have long been a source of pride besides a drawing card. Now they are a source of strife.
At the most recent board meeting, scores of parents and students picketed outside first.
"We want to learn about diversity," said Anna Elfers, age 16. "That’s what education is about, learning about other people’s experiences."
Jamie Schifrin, a web designer, said residents underestimated how quickly "the extreme right" could take control of their schools.
"We made a mistake," he said.
Inside the packed meeting room, some stood with signs such as "Protect Diversity in FHSD," "Let Teachers Teach" and "Pro Anti-Racism."
At the end of the Pledge of Allegiance, many shouted "for ALL!"
The board meeting was interrupted several times by shouts of "Repeal the Resolution!"
After warning the room could be cleared – two sheriff’s deputies were on hand – the board decided not to pursue passing a new school levy in the current community climate.
"We’ve got to turn the temperature down," said Leslie Rasmussen, a board member who predates the current majority.
It was the latest board-caused setback. Earlier in the day, parents and students filed a federal lawsuit, charging that the resolution violated the First and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and civil rights laws.
That will add to taxpayer-funded legal costs for a district already sued this year over Ohio’s Open Meetings Law.
Other fallout:
The day after the resolution passed, Russ Fussnecker, Edgewood City Schools superintendent, withdrew his name from consideration for the FHSD job. And some in the community are concerned about the impact on property values from all the negative attention.
Gathering material for this column, I was struck by how many people on both sides either didn’t want to be quoted or have their names used. That’s not a good sign.
Maybe the board majority needs to learn a new version of the three R’s: repeal, resign and repent.
Dan Sewell is a member of The Enquirer Board of Contributors who lives with his wife in the Forest Hills School District, as do four of their grandchildren.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Opinion: Forest Hills board managed to turn neighbor vs. neighbor
