For the Francis Howell School District, Jan. 18, 2024 had a schedule unlike other days. Students arrived on time, classes and lunches proceeded as scheduled, more than 300 students from all three high schools chose to protest in a walkout during their fifth hour, and went about their day normally upon returning to their sixth class. At FHC, nearly 100 students made their way out to the student parking lot and spoke to their fellow demonstrators about their frustrations with their school board, and the injustices carried out upon them when their words were brushed aside.
The FHSD school board has recently taken a turn in its decisions on policies – particularly in ones on politically charged topics. On July 20, 2023, the board chose that racism was no longer a problem by rescinding the Anti-Discrimination Resolution: the agreement approved three years prior in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. Six months later, on Dec. 21, 2023, the same board members then voted to strip away protections and equity again: this time, they set the Black Literature and Black History courses on a path of removal, debate, and amendments. As of now, a “revised” version of the classes will be reviewed and submitted as the new curriculum for the 24-25 school year on March 21.
The politicking among the district’s community has only served to be destructive to the people. The expansion of power this school board is taking is uncalled for, discomforting, and a revelation of their opinion towards their student body. The back-and-forth tensions between sections of the public and the Board push neighbors, classmates, and loved ones apart. Some may claim that the only ones affected by the Board’s choices have been a couple of students, but that is contrary to the truth. As these local officials cut students from the conversation, they loosen the bonds that keep this well-knit district together.
Beyond bringing politics into public schools’ atmospheres, they have established a precedent of disrespect. Their “process” of reaching a resolution regarding Black Literature and Black History was a disheartening display of Band-Aids and public relations, frankly. They hadn’t set in place a means of supporting the classes further until the community protested. Afterward, they rushed to clarify their intentions. Suddenly, the Board’s angle was a revision instead of a removal. Following the scrambling, there have been little efforts by the Board to quell the fires set within their community’s minds.
As divisions among parents, students, and board members grow, so does the possibility for change in the district administration. Four candidates for the board were vying for votes from their FHSD constituencies, hoping to be elected as a new member of the district’s school board. As is expected with the slew of political mess facing the district, this race was politicized as well.
None of the four candidates take up the exact same arguments; however, it is evident that they have been divided by the district’s current board. In support of the board stand Adriana Kuhn and Sam Young, both who took stances on fiscal policy, student safety, and, more noticeably, social justice. The respective websites for each give some specifics on their beliefs.
“We need to take back our classroom time for educational learning and remove sexual indoctrination from our schools,” according to https://voteadrianakuhn.com/issues.
Young’s website similarly goes on to vaguely reference the “newest ideas of society” by declaring one of his issues to be a goal to “remove radical activism,” (https://votesamyoung.com).
Upon looking further into these candidates, the PAC (Political Action Committee) Francis Howell Families is shown to have been a prevalent group in supporting not only Kuhn and Young, but also the prevailing majority of the 23-24 school board, who made the aforementioned politically controversial decisions.
Francis Howell Families is a group that typically holds hard-stuck traditional values regarding education, often using their platform to speak against things such as Critical Race Theory, gender identity, and equity. These claims were pulled specifically from a news module posted on their website on Feb. 14, 2024, which was criticizing the NEA (National Education Association) for their “leftist ideology” and “extremism.” The politicization of this election was blatant.
Politics aside, Francis Howell Families goes further: not only admonishing the students expressing their 1st Amendment rights, but praising and applauding the decision by the district to determine those students’ missed class periods as absences.
On the Francis Howell Families Facebook page, the location where this PAC is able to connect with supporters the easiest, this post details their cheery outlook on punishing students who chose to participate in peaceful, organized protests.
A post by Francis Howell Families writes on Jan. 17, 2024…“Great News! FHSD clarifies that ‘Walk outs’ are treated as absences… This should be good news for everyone.”
In their comment section, they continue to argue that class time should not be disrupted for protests on “whatever cause they can imagine.”
It is apparent that there is consistently a group of people, limited or not to Francis Howell Families, which would rather focus on keeping students and their powerful voices in check rather than seek out refined solutions to the problems that they’ve observed in FHSD. On Jan. 18, the students of Francis Howell utilized their rights as American citizens. The tone-deafness expressed by Francis Howell Families and certain Board representatives is indicative of an obvious detachment from students – the people they are representing – which only grows each day. As the turmoils of this polarized School Board continue, students are left feeling unheard and ignored.
While some fight to uplift the voices of others and to uphold the democratic ideals of the consent of the governed, others enjoy belittling the opinions of their students. When put into perspective, who is the school board serving more? The students seeking a quality education, or the benefactors of a political group? As the results confirm that Kuhn’s and Young’s opponents Steven Blair and Carolie Owens won the election, there is less worry to be had about the true representation of the students and teachers. However, there has not been time to see how well these two candidates are able to keep up their promises. The board members backed by Francis Howell Families still remain. In the coming times, hopefully, these two will be able to make teachers’ and students’ voices heard before more action is taken to hush them.
