Parent Group at Meridian writes open letter to School administrators
Here is the Full Letter released to the Meridian School Administration and the Board on Wednesday signed by over 100 parents of the Meridian Parent Coalition:
June 22, 2021
Meridian Public School District Board of Directors, Dr. Everett and Mr. Harvill,
Thank you for the time and effort you have put into the Meridian School District. All of you play a huge role in the community, and we appreciate that what you do is challenging. With this in mind, we, the Meridian Parent Coalition, a group of concerned community members, parents, Meridian School District staff and Alumni, have concerns that need to be addressed.
We understand that decisions have not been reached on the sex education curriculum or the teaching of Critical Race Theory in the classroom. We are asking for the Board of Directors to work with us to find curriculum that is deemed age appropriate and in alignment with our values. We, the Meridian Parent Coalition, believe ALL children should be treated with dignity and respect. We also believe that families have the primary responsibility and ability to teach and influence our children the core values we hold true. We are requesting Transparency, Communication and Accountability. We acknowledge that we have placed our children in your care for an education that aims to enhance a learner’s basic age-appropriate skills and prepare graduates for lifelong learning and employment. We are committed to a district that is free of divisive teaching and ideology influence.
TRANSPARENCY:
Based on current conditions in the district regarding perceived lack of transparency, communication and accountability, the Meridian Parent Coalition was created. Potential curriculum regarding subject matter of perceived explicit Sexual Education and teachings of Critical Race Theory (CRT) is not in alignment with age-appropriate skills or our values. This curriculum crosses social, political, and emotional boundaries.
Will our district focus on history or race, an indoctrination of ideology and philosophy created for added hate and oppression by introducing CRT? If our desired outcome is equality and equity then we would like input into how that desired outcome is achieved rather than teaching that every action a student does is based on their race. The idea that their victories, defeats, opportunities, and roadblocks are all based on the color of their skin and perceived race fall under the ideology and indoctrination of CRT. CRT curriculum that displays law enforcement negatively and displays Black Americans as angry does nothing to promote unity.
COMMUNICATION: We respectfully ask for open communication with our Meridian Parent
Liv Finne Washington Policy Center Education Head
Coalition regarding curriculum review, input on improvement tools for clear and consistent communication regarding sensitive matters such as curriculum, facility changes with impact pertaining to gender identity. When public committees are created, members of our coalition should be invited to attend. We also ask to be notified when classic reading materials are removed from our library or potentially controversial materials are added.
ACCOUNTABILITY:
Standardizing our classroom practices including remaining within curriculum syllabus and accountability for teachers who go “off syllabus” and interject their own values in sensitive areas of patriotism – Pledge of Allegiance, vaccination, abortion, faith, law enforcement and gender identity.
We have a breakdown in parent concerns and administration responsiveness in areas of teacher performance in the classroom with focuses on their own values and ideologies and perceived hostile environments for the children who may think in opposing ways. These opinions being brought into the classroom without a position of neutrality do not make these classrooms safe for ALL children, a mission the district has pushed for. Students should be able to share their beliefs, whatever they may be without fear of public humiliation in front of their peers from their teachers.
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We understand that decisions have not been reached on the sex education curriculum or the teaching of Critical Race Theory in the classroom. We are asking for the Board of Directors to work with us to find curriculum that is deemed age appropriate and in alignment with our values.
In conclusion: As you can see, there are many issues that must be addressed. We are requesting the following:
- A committee be formed that includes board members, parents, teachers and administrators for curriculum.
- Inclusion in curriculum reviews, decision making and adoption.
- Accountability for teachers who are not creating a safe environment for all students to be able to critically think and express their opinions in accordance with Teacher Evaluation Criteria and Descriptors, Criterion 5: Fostering and Managing a Safe, Positive Learning Environment.
Meridian School District is an important part of our community and it is valued for its community feel and strong community support. Please listen to your community and work with us to accomplish what is best for our children.
Thank you for your time. We look forward to your timely response.
Respectfully,
Meridian Parent Coalition
I like how you mentioned the importance of knowing how accountability, transparency, and communication work in a society.
My partner and I are looking are trying to learn what Metro District is and how this works.
I am glad I came across this article and read tips when knowing one.
Thank you for talking about this topic; I’ll be sure to show this to my partner and see how this can help us with the task.
[…] Here is the link to the Meridian Parent Group Letter […]
As a citizen Riley has a right to say whatever he wants. As an at will employee of the Mayor of Ferndale what he says as a private citizen is associated with the mayor. Either the mayor agrees with these views and feels that having his public outreach coordinator express these views is something the mayor agrees with or this employee should be let go.
Secrecy is one of the hallmarks of Leftist or totalitarian indoctrination.
Having to write this letter to folks who supposedly have the best interest of our children in mind shows how important it is to carefully monitor school board elections and how to have parents run for those positions…not bored radicals who want to stamp their ideological mark on our kids.
Thanks Fourth Corner for taking the time to bring the CRT issue to our attention. MLK said to judge by content of character not color-Amen to that, CRT pushes the opposite. CRT is over the top those who who would promote it are either ignorant of basic history or have an agenda unsuitable for a free society..
To consider CRT valid for consideration can be seen in the same light as if someone pushed for the return of slavery.
Listen closely if you hear someone singing the praises of CRT.
Had I been aware of this corespondence to the Meridian School Board, I would have signed it. The United States of America, with all of its faults, is the greatest society to ever exist. In the past century, it has freed billions from tyrrany, reformed, and even enriched our former enemies, attempted to free women and children in primitive cultures, all at the cost of OUR blood and treasure. The only territory claimed by us, in that time period, holds the resting souls of Americans who died for people unknown to them. Name another country whose citizens have contributed the same?
Has there been a history of racism and slavery in the USA? Jim Crow, Tulsa, separate restrooms and drinking fountains? Yes! We have been innudated with this history for the past 60 years. However, the media, and now the schools, have discounted the deaths of over 350,000 dead, and millions of wounded, white males who made Juneteenth possible. And now one must examine the marxist left’s demands to have separate living spaces and graduation ceremonies on college campuses. They are promoting resegregation and this is one of the goals of Critical Race Theory. They also ignore the fact of modern day slavery in the Muslim world, China, and elsewhere in 3rd world.
Critical Race Theory is a marxist contrivance to destroy the freedoms we have developed over the past 245 years. It is evil. I find it very interesting that they denounce the USA, as one of the worst countries to have ever existed, while millions of black, brown, asian, Arab, and others subject themselves to injury, rape, and even death to cross our borders illegally. Add these to the millions more, most of them non white, who are waiting years to immigrate here legally. What do the proponents of CRT know that these mindlees, foreign, fools don’t? The wise have become fools, and the fools have become wise, even truly “woke.”
I’m so pleased to see the push back on the ideas the Biden administration and our Democratic State Legislature is trying to force on our children. My kids are grown so I’m not directly involved but I am very concerned of all this nonsense.
Thank you for the reminder! Sent in a letter to the Meridian School Board last night.
Riley, I would love to see the
Letter you wrote. Please post it here
Here you go:
Hello Meridian School Board Members,
My name is Riley Sweeney and next year, my son will be attending Irene Reither Elementary. My family is excited to join the Meridian School District community and get engaged.
That said, I see that there is a petition to the Meridian School Board circulating trying to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory in our schools. I am writing to urge you to chuck that letter in the recycling bin.
I mean, obviously, give them a polite response but make no change to curriculum or policy.
This tempest in a teapot is just the latest in a series of freak outs by local conservatives at the prospect that our children might learn some history and be a little kinder and more understanding towards the people around them. We cannot let this censorship effort go unanswered. Our kids have to learn about history – especially here in Washington State.
If you drive out to Yakima, you can see the concentration camps where our country imprisoned Americans with Japanese ancestry, a generation or two after we did the same thing to local tribes.
A hundred years ago, armed mobs chased every Sikh resident from Whatcom County. Twenty years later, the largest KKK rally ever recorded in the Pacific Northwest was held at the Lynden fairgrounds. The KKK had a regular float in the Ski-to-Sea parade until the mid-30s.
In Fairhaven, there were laws on the books that you couldn’t own a house in south Bellingham unless you were white – until 1957!
The racist actions of Ferndale Schools employees against Lummi children are actually part of the public record of the landmark Boldt decision in the 70s which secured fishing rights for our local tribes.
All of these things are documented history and by learning about them, how they came to be and why, our children can prevent them from happening in the future.
I don’t think that’s scary – I think that’s reassuring. The better we understand the path that leads us to today, the brighter course we can chart for all of us. Learning our local history shouldn’t be a terrifying experience but rather a noble cause of uncovering the truth.
Again, I urge the Meridian School Board to ignore the panicked voices of today and continue to support teaching our kids about the world around them, no matter how it makes some people uncomfortable.
Thank you for listening, I appreciate it.
-Riley and Bryna Sweeney
As you stated in your propaganda letter, the events of the past are no longer in play here. Your propaganda letter and reference to conservatives is both demeaning and oppressively. Your desire to teach our children how keep past hate alive is quite shocking actually. You speak as if these things are still happening when in fact we as a community have changed all of these events for the greater good of humanity. You even sound like you are a victim of such acts when in fact you experienced none of this. You are disgrace to our community and you represent the very hatred you speak against.
Here’s Mister Sweeney’s response about the Pandemic and Conservatives in a facebook post in May of 2020. As then and now he still serves Mayor Hansen as the communications director of Ferndale:https://thefourthcorner.com/communications-director-of-ferndale-spouts-off-rep-vanwerven-connected-to-pro-plague-rally-in-lynden/