School board meetings turn tense with debates over critical race theory and masking – By Maddie Hanna (The Philadelphia Inquirer) / July 23 2021
The discord is raising the stakes for school boards already facing pressure over decisions on pandemic schooling. And some predict it may only get worse.
First, the residents accused the Great Valley school board of endorsing a communist agenda and allowing racist ideology to be taught in schools. Then, someone urged the board to continue diversity and inclusion initiatives, to applause.
Board president David Barratt had warned against clapping, and banged his gavel to silence the crowd at the meeting Monday night. “You want me to end this now?” he asked.
A man near the front of the room rose from his chair and moved to leave. “I’m not going to listen to any of this s—,” he told the board angrily. “They can clap and we can’t?”
Tensions have been running high at school board meetings around the Philadelphia region this summer. Parents are challenging officials over critical race theory and demanding an end to COVID-19 restrictions, raising the stakes for school boards already facing pressure over decisions on pandemic schooling.
