Kimberly Meyer, School Board Member in SAU16 went on a rant at a recent school board meeting, the only problem was, she ranted against the wrong people. In this video Meyer went on a long rant about the parents in her district, including one who is serving on the school board with her, Melissa Litchfield. The people who put the district in this dire state of affairs, went unmentioned by her. Meyer is part of the problem, so she should show some semblance of humility. Instead she directed her anger at the people who were begging and pleading with the board and administrators to go back to focusing on academic excellence and parental rights.
(Rant starts about 3:20:30 to 3:52:30)
Meyer’s own actions have been called into question when she voted to keep schools closed last year which funneled money to the YMCA where she is serving as the CEO. She mentions in her rant that the YMCA suffered under COVID. But the YMCA also benefited from the school shut down when the district paid for students to gather at the YMCA. Everyone questioned why children could gather at the YMCA but couldn’t gather inside the classroom. She didn’t rant about the kids who suffered academically and socially during the school shut down. When SAU16 parents saw children in other neighborhoods going to school while their kids were having difficulty emotionally and academically at home, exactly what did she expect parents to do? Congratulate her on a job well done? Some of these parents posted pictures of their young children crouched in a corner in tears. Working off of a computer everyday was a challenge for many children. How can they go to the YMCA but cannot go into a classroom? Let’s face it, there is NO logical reason for that.
Meyer mentioned in her rant that there are emotions surrounding all of this and it’s tough stuff. She did admit that not everything they did was perfect and in hindsight they would have done things differently. She mentioned the amount of time they spent and gave praise to those who worked on remote learning that caused many children emotional and academic harm. Just think if that time was spent on opening the school and serving all of the students in the district. Other school administrators figured it out. It wasn’t an easy task for them, but they managed.
I heard from the parents in other schools that were open, why didn’t she talk to their administrators and figure out how they accomplished the task of reopening? Why couldn’t David Ryan get the job done?
One board chair of a district in New Hampshire told me he finally put his foot down and told the Superintendent to open their school. That school opened after the start of 2021. Meyer listened to complaints she received from parents but failed to fight for all the people she’s supposed to represent.
Then she had the nerve to criticize the one board member who responded to the parents, Melissa Litchfield. Litchfield also serves her community as a State Representative and has the duty and obligation to address their concerns — something all of the board members should be doing. There is no reason to stay quiet – you are an elected representative of the people, not a body that is there to protect an organization that is failing many families.
Her rant aimed at Litchfield, charged her with trying to secure votes or to run for higher office. We all watched Litchfield stand up for her constituents and ask questions about the prom incident. We watched State Rep. Patrick Abrami address the school board with his views on the quality of education that is being provided right now. That’s what elected officials are supposed to do. Why such harsh attacks on an elected official answering in the public square?
Meyer even claimed that this was some kind of political game and wanted it to stop. Where has she demanded David Ryan stop politicizing the district with the Critical Race Theory agenda? CRT has been all over the SAU16 website and they even spent money on books for middle school students that appear to violate the anti-discrimination law.
NO, Kim, you don’t get to tell their elected officials to shut up when they are working on behalf of the parents who elected them.
Meyer was bothered that USA Today covered the prom scandal. She seemed to be blaming a state representative for answering publicly about this mess instead of the one who created the mess, David Ryan and the staff at SAU16. Because of their ineptness, the branding of students at the prom and their medical information on display for all to see, made national news. How about some of that rant be directed at the people who actually created this mess?
If Meyer was doing her job on the school board, and holding the administration accountable instead of the nauseating praise and worship of Ryan, this all could have been avoided. Instead of ignoring the large number of hours and money spent on Critical Race Theory agendas, they wouldn’t be in this position. Maybe if you didn’t ignore the blatant disregard for federal laws when mental health assessments are given to the students without parental knowledge or consent, you could have stopped this train wreck a couple of years ago when I brought that to the attention of the board.
Meyer said she has no agenda, but she’s been complicit in the agenda that is being rejected by many parents now. Where did she question or challenge 2Revolutions in the school? Another vendor pushing more of the CRT agenda while masking poor academic performance. What about BrainPop used in the district? Another vendor pushing more CRT agenda on students. Not a word about that during her rant.
Meyer actually said she wants to go back to focusing on educating students. That’s what parents have been begging for! You took your eye off the most important factor in public education, academics. Your Superintendent led your board in a direction that is now having serious consequences on academic achievement, and parents know it. Many of the board members expressed praise and worship towards Ryan instead of any kind of critical thinking skills. That would have meant questioning and challenging these absurd decisions and agendas. You just hired a community organizer who is associated with BLM. If that’s not a political hiring, I don’t know what is.
These parents will not shut up. They will not feel bad for expressing their dissatisfaction with this kind of leadership, and they will let other taxpayers in the community know what is going on.
Instead of ranting against parents who are genuinely upset by the poor leadership and direction coming from David Ryan, you should be ranting against your colleagues on the board who’ve been complicit in this disaster. You should be ranting against the one person who has put you in this position, David Ryan.
If you land on Fox News don’t blame Litchfield- she didn’t create this mess. And stop blaming the critics for this mess you are in. It’s arrogant, condescending and lacks the humility that should be at the forefront right now by every person who was sitting on that stage.
Many of these parents don’t want $95,000.00 plus benefits spent on a DEIJ Coordinator after looking at what David Ryan had in store for their kids. They had to spend money on tutors for their kids last year just to keep their heads above water. What do you think this says to the good teachers in the district when David Ryan prioritizes a radical political agenda over teachers? We know Critical Race Theory when we see it, and SAU16 is immersed in it. CRT adherents believe America is systemically racist, that racial oppression exists in every institution, and an individual is either an oppressor or oppressed based on the color of their skin. That was the message that is included in the books purchased for the middle school students.. Stop treating these parents like they are idiots. If you want respect, you have to show them respect.
This is not the first time David Ryan tried to politicize the students in a district where he has worked. In 2013 he presented a video on how he was going to turn Manchester children into community organizers. I listened to this presentation and was shocked by the pride on his face when discussing how the focus in the classroom would be on turning young children into community organizers. This is action civics that directs focus away from learning the important parts of history and civics content. There is nothing good about illiteracy. With all of the criticisms aimed at public education showing graduates who are illiterate in civics and history, the new fad is to turn children into community organizers. Action Civics is a path to illiteracy. David Ryan left Manchester and then took his activism to SAU16. Where was your rant about that?
Where is the rant against a teacher denying a student their free speech rights in this district? Where is the rant against students who’ve been humiliated in class because of their religious beliefs? Why didn’t you rant against the hiring of Tonja Neve, the former principal who disparaged good parents in the district she just left? Why aren’t you ranting against the anti-racist book that was bought for middle schoolers that would teach the middle school students how to become prejudice in their thoughts, and to hate themselves? Why aren’t you ranting against that snake oil sales job that was presented to you by 2Revolutions? Why aren’t you bothered that researchers like me, and now parents in this district have to bring you information on 2Rev that should have been brought to you by David Ryan? Why is the bar so low for the Superintendent?
The parents have lost trust in you and several of the people up on that stage. Instead of doing what the school board members and Superintendent in Litchfield did, apologize, you doubled down against the people you were elected to serve. Any good parent tells their children that in order to defuse a situation, you don’t double down against people you’ve harmed, you apologize.
The only apology I’ve seen was a pathetic apology by David Ryan because parents sent out a flyer highlighting just some of the problems they’ve seen in this district. Instead of humbling himself, he doubled down and attacked them too.
These parents have high expectations for the people serving and working in this district. If that bar cannot be met, remove yourself and let’s look for people who are willing to put in the effort. That means having the courage to rant against the people who put you in this situation or better yet, holding David Ryan to a higher bar than he set for himself.
GRIEVANCES as expressed by parents in the district:
1) School Shut down (Rectified when the Governor ordered the district to reopen)
2) Critical Race Theory agenda
3) 2 Revolutions (not needed, masks poor academic performance, and also has a divisive agenda)
4) Ignored federal laws governing mental health assessments of students
5) Surveillance of students via Social Sentinel
6) Branding of students at the Prom
7) Denial of free speech to student who wore thin blue line flag
8) Mocking students religious views in class
9) $95,000.00 + benefits to a DEIJ Director BLM member and community organizer ( Political hire, not needed and not focused on academic excellence)
10) The hiring of Tonja Neve as Principal who has disparaged parents in her former school.
11) Possible conflict of interest by Board member Kimberly Meyer when she voted to shut down the school which funneled students and money to the YMCA where she serves as CEO.
12) Political bias in the classroom.
13) BrainPop (another vendor pushing CRT)
14) Lack of transparency
15) Lower rankings
