Parents in Hudson, NH, were surprised to learn that a political activist from Black Lives Matter would be speaking to students next week. Like many parents, they are reluctant to challenge school administrators for fear that their children would become a target for retaliation.
After receiving numerous messages from parents, I decided to contact the Principal of Alvirne High School to question this decision, and request that parents and members of the public also be able to attend. Here is the email I sent to the Principal:
Dear Principal Beals;
My name is Ann Marie Banfield, and I am a parental rights advocate in New Hampshire. Today several parents contacted me about an upcoming presentation for the students who attend Alvirne High School.
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Good Afternoon,
Alvirne HS will be having our first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) presenter on Wednesday, March 27th from 8:45-9:45am and 9:50-10:50am . There will be no Flex that day.
As done in the past, students will be attending by the hallway locations of their 2nd period class allowing for mixed grade levels to attend. Here is the schedule:
Assembly 1: 8:45 – -9:45 (Alvirne 1st and 3rd floor classrooms) Class Time: 9:50-10:50
Assembly 2: 9:50 – -10:50 (Alvirne 2nd floor and all CTE classrooms). Class Time: 8:50-9:45
Samrawit Silva will be presenting on Advocacy/Inclusion/Microaggressions/Privilege (from the lens that we all have it).
Kimberly
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Since Ms. Silva is part of the leadership team at Black Lives Matter NH, parents would like to attend this meeting. I want to also request that any member of the public be admitted to this meeting with students. Since this is a public school where public funds are involved, we’d like to monitor the message students will be receiving during this presentation.
If you cannot accommodate additional members of the public please explain why. A recording or livestream might be acceptable.
The reason for this request is, Ms. Silva acts as a political community organizer. And while I respect her role, we all know that her message will revolve around a biased political message. Parents and residents should be able to access what information will be shared with their children, and students in their public school.
Now that the district is inviting individuals who represent political organizations, how can others schedule different political organizations so they can present their viewpoint to the students? For instance, I already had one parent ask how they can set up an event with a pro-2nd Amendment political organization.
Please also be advised that I am attaching a 91-a/Right to Know Request below.
Since this is a Diversity Equity and Inclusion speaker, I am going to assume you will be inviting speakers from pro-life organizations, Americans for Prosperity, the Catholic Church, Protestant Church, Jewish religion, and from the Muslim faith. If the goal is “diversity,” I expect that means these organizations will be contacted by a member of your staff to also present their viewpoint to the students too.
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Pursuant to the Right to Know Law (RSA, 91-1), I am requesting public access, within 5 business days, to the governmental records:
1) All materials, videos, documents, books, hand-outs, power-points, etc. that students will access during this presentation
2) All correspondence, text messages, emails, notes, etc. between SAU81 staff and anyone presenting during this presentation
3) All correspondence, notes, emails from meetings where school board members and staff communicated about this presentation
4) What, if any, academic content will be covered during this presentation?
Per RSA 91-A:4IV(C) If you deny any portion of this request, please cite the specific exemption used to justify the denial to make each record, or part thereof, available for inspection along with a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the information withheld
Ann Marie Banfield
TRUST REQUIRES TRANSPARENCY
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After this became public, parents and residents began sending emails to request that they attend this presentation. Some parents requested that they cancel the presentation, due to the political bias they believed would be presented. Parents could see that there was no alternative viewpoint that would accompany this message.
I received an email back that indicated no one else would be allowed in to watch the presentation:
I have to admit, I wondered, what do they have to hide? I even suggested that the presentation be live-streamed or video taped if they could not accommodate the large crowd that was now planning to attend.
It wasn’t long after that email that Mr. Beals sent another email notifying that the presentation had been postponed:
The presentation was postponed, to which I replied:
Mr. Beals,
Thank you for the update. I expect that any political organization invited to speak to students will include an invitation to the parents, and be open to the public to attend. I would expect the same for any political organization no matter what message they bring to the students. By refusing this request, it gives the impression that there is something to hide.
All of the materials I requested should be readily available right now. All of the materials should have been requested and reviewed by your prior to scheduling any political speaker. This should have also been presented to the school board, and put up for a vote.
Enrollment is dropping in public schools across this state. Parents are pleading for a return to a focus on academic excellence in the classroom. It looks like there is plenty to focus on here:
The best thing you can provide your students is a quality public education, especially for your minority students. There is a constant struggle between those who want school choice for families, and those who do not. This example that you are setting feeds into the argument that families need an alternative education option through the scholarship program and EFAs.
With all of the learning loss during COVID, I’m embarrassed to see our public schools shift their focus to pushing a political narrative on someone else’s children. If parents are interested in this political narrative for their children, they can certainly seek that out on their own.
Parents are not always comfortable expressing their views to you because their children attend this school. I was shocked by how many families in your district reached out to me in ONE night.
Sincerely,
Ann Marie Banfield
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Whether you are a democrat or republican, we need to demand better from our schools. Go back to focusing on the core academic subjects. Stop pushing a political narrative on our kids. That’s how you support public education, and that’s how you support LITERACY.