#school boards

There are over 17,000 school board seats up for election this November

Daniel Villarreal at LGBTQ Nation:

Democratic-backed candidates beat out Republican-backed ones in numerous school board elections nationwide during the recent Democratic Election Night elections, showing a successful repudiation of Republican messaging about banning books and restricting transgender restroom use. Democratic groups hope the recent wave of victories can be repeated in the new wave of school board elections next year. Republican takeover of school boards spiked after the COVID-19 shutdown, amid conservative upset over mask mandates, trans-inclusive policies, “pornographic” library books, and progressive curriculum (like so-called critical race theory). Anti-LGBTQ+ “parents’ rights” groups like Moms for Liberty and Leave Our Kids Alone arose and accused educators of “grooming,” indoctrinating, and “trans-ing” students with inclusive school messaging that violated parents’ wishes. These groups thrived with support from conservative funders and Republican politicians, like Govs. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), who repeated their rhetoric and platformed their leaders.

In Pennsylvania, Democrats flipped at least two dozen school board seats; in the Houston-area suburb of Cypress, Texas, Democrats picked up three seats on the school board, ending two years of Republican control; candidates in New Jersey’s Ocean City Board of Education (who were endorsed by Moms for Liberty and Turning Point USA) also lost; and Republicans lost school board seats in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, Politico reported. School board races are usually nonpartisan, but candidates receive endorsements and funding assistance from partisan groups, the publication explained. However, this election cycle, the economy and school safety ranked higher for school board voters than trans issues, according to an analysis from the Cato Institute. [...] The Pipeline Fund, a liberal group that recruited and trained school board candidates in 12 states, saw 43 of 49 of its candidates win in Pennsylvania and 18 of 22 in Ohio. Next year, the group is expanding its efforts to 21 additional states.

Since the Ontario government took over the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) two weeks ago, elected trustee Matias de Dovitiis says he's only received two emails with directions from his province-appointed supervisor. One of those directions was to refrain from communicating with the community members who elected him, de Dovitiis, who represents Humber River-Black Creek, said at a news conference Thursday. "To think that we can take away those 22 community voices … and just put out a 1-800 number and have people be able to navigate this massive institution is just not realistic," he said.

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A school-board official fled a meeting after being scrutinised over his anti-LGBTQ+ social media posts. Don Yarber left the meeting on Monday (24 March) after members of the local community confronted him over a post he made on Facebook in which he called LGBTQ+ people degenerates. In a post that has now been deleted, Yarber wrote: “Keep letting those queers influence the minds of your children. They won’t have any sickness except Aids, mental instability, suicidal thoughts…”