Protest planned for ‘school board boot camp’ that opposes LGBTQ, diversity and CRT

Centre County school board candidates are divided on a local “school board boot camp” that was planned to instruct candidates and school board members how to oppose DEI, critical race theory and LGBTQ policies.

The event hosted by author Chuck Mason was scheduled for Sunday at the Boalsburg Fire Hall but has been postponed after local activism groups planned to protest outside the event. Mason’s event was marketed as a way for current and future school board members to implement policies and strategies to “deal with CRT, LGBTQ theory, and DEI in an intelligent and informed manner.”

Critical race theory, or CRT, is an academic concept that teaches that racism is a systemic part of American society and embedded in legal systems and policies, according to Education Week. In recent years, conservatives have used the the term broadly and school districts around the country have cited it while passing policies about what teachers can and cannot teach about U.S. history.

DEI refers to diversity, equity and inclusion policies that aim to combat any type of inequality students may face, from racial, sexual, gender to class. Several Centre County districts have some sort of DEI policy stating all students should be treated equally and that the district will intervene to address inequalities.

The 3/20 Coalition, with support from the Centre LGBTQ Support Network, planned a protest outside of Sunday’s event, calling for people to come and show support for students who could be harmed by the policies.

“Ultimately, what it becomes is finding ways to violate public school policy and discriminate against children who are already marginalized and harmed on a regular basis,” Melanie Morrison, co-founder of the 3/20 Coalition, said.

Morrison said Centre County schools and students have worked to hard to address these issues and that rolling back DEI policies will harm students.

Mason, a State High graduate, said the idea for the event came after conversations with local school board candidates and community members, but declined to name them. The cost to attend the event is $25 and Mason said the goal is to help bring diverse academic thought and balance to candidates and the districts they serve.

“My effort really was to help the school board candidates that are running,” Mason said. “They want to bring balance to schools into curriculums to help them formulate intelligent policy positions that help to address their concerns to place boundaries and to bring balance to the district policies into curriculums.”

The event will be held on another date that will not be made public, Mason said, out of concern for attendees’ safety. In a Facebook post announcing the postponement, he took aim at the 3/20 Coalition’s planned protest.

“They are labeling Centre County residents who care about the future of children as hateful extremists,” Mason wrote. “Such language is a call to violence and aggression.”

The Centre Daily Times recently sent out a survey to all Centre County school board candidates, which included a question about if they planned on attending Mason’s event. Eighteen candidates did not respond to the survey.

Of the 24 that responded, most said they opposed the event or could not attend.

SCASD candidates Anne Demo, Laurel Zydney, Amy Bader, Gretchen Brandt, Aaron Miller and Dan Kolbe opposed the event while Nathan Bish and Michelle Young said the question was “not applicable.”

For Bald Eagle Area candidates, Gary Heverly Jr., Jason Pendland and Erika Danneker said they would not attend.

Bellefonte Area candidates Julie Fitzgerald and Donna Smith opposed the event. Nate Campbell, Jennifer Barnhart, Kim Weaver said they were busy on the day of the event. Candidate Joe Yech said he was not planning on attending.

Penns Valley candidate Micheal Pase and Philipsburg Osceola candidate Tiffany Warlow also said they were busy on the day of the event.

Bellefonte Area school board candidates Darrell Sharp and Patrick Buck said they planned to attend. Penns Valley Area candidate Kim Kellerman-Domin and SCASD candidate John Krajcovic said they would be unable to attend but were interested in the event.

“I would have liked to have taken advantage of this opportunity since it is truly a unique educational offering,” Kellerman-Domin said. “An opportunity such as this would have been a great addition to my personal skill set as I seek to further understand the responsibilities and the qualifications that are needed to be an effective member of a local school board.”

Other candidates questioned Mason’s experience in education and the topics of the event. Mason does not have a background in education but said his background in philosophy while at seminary school gives him an understanding of the issues.

“I think any training or professional development for a school director should be conducted by experienced individuals or organizations with concrete expertise,” Bader said. “Mr. Mason has not demonstrated he can offer that expertise in my opinion.”

Others said the community did not need an event that intended to divide people and would rather focus on issues like student success and safety.

“We need to focus on unity and working together to ensure academic success for all,” Kolbe said.

The protest by the 3/20 Coalition and supporters will continue as planned at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, as Morrison said she is not convinced Mason has truly postponed the event.

“If they don’t hold it, it’s not a loss that we’re there,” Morrison said. “If they do hold it, it’s certainly not a loss that we’re there because I do think that it is very important to see who will attend these meetings, who really wants to learn what this man is teaching for the sake of utilizing it.”