School Boards Contact Federal Government About Harassments

By: Sid Spahn

Since the start of the school year for districts across the country, there have been many incidents of violence and harassment regarding COVID-19 restrictions. In response, the National School Boards Association has contacted Joe Biden, specifically asking for “Federal Assistance to Stop Threats and Acts of Violence Against Public School children, Public School

Board Members, and Other Public School District Officials and Educators”. 

As board members approve mask mandates for their “coronavirus recovery operations”, they face threats to their districts, families, and personal safety. Not only this, many public school officials face threats because of the false narrative of critical race theory within curriculums due to false propaganda. They explain in their letter that “critical race theory is not taught in public schools and remains a complex law school and graduate school subject well beyond the scope of a K-12 class.” 

They explicitly ask for “a joint collaboration among… law enforcement agencies… and with public school officials” to help with the increase in acts of malice, violence, and threats against public officials. Claiming that these acts are on par with domestic terrorism, they implore the federal government to take appropriate action for the crimes under the Gun-Free School Zones Act, the PATRIOT Act, and use an Executive order to enforce laws to protect students.

To support their claims, the NSBA by showing multiple examples of angry mobs, assault against people attending board meetings, and anti-mask protestors inciting chaos at board meetings in multiple states. 

The most shocking piece of evidence being an individual school board member form Ohio receiving a written threat. In this letter, they say that the board members will “pay dearly” along with calling the receiving board member a “filthy traitor”.

After this letter, there was backlash, especially from the GOP, saying that school boards were trying to get the government to censor parents. Many were also upset with the claim that the illegal acts were equivalent to terrorism. 

The NSBA did apologize but did not ask for a halt in investigations which, for now, are ongoing.