Threatening behavior takes over school board meetings
Hostility surrounding subjects in public education has been a problem for CVUSD for years, but in recent months, the aggression shown towards both CVUSD schools, teachers and administration has been particularly high. The turning point for this aggression was at the end of the 2021-2022 school year, when a student at Maple Elementary School came out as transgender to their third grade class. In response, the teacher played a video to educate the class on the topic of transgender people called, “Call Me Max.” As a result, some reacted by graffiting “Pervs wk here” on the side of the elementary school.
Events like this show that community members have only gotten more bold in their behavior regarding hot-button topics and a spotlight is being shown on the disrespect that these instigators have for public education. The Maple Elementary incident is not the only example of this. Many people have demonstrated acts of malice that have caused fear in the school board. Members need to be escorted to their cars at the end of the night because of fear for their safety. During a meeting in June, one of the most tone-deaf and unempathetic displays shown was when a person was in clear view of the camera wearing a pro-gun t-shirt just days after the Ulvade School Shooting.
Recently, district leadership and specifically, superintendent Mark McLaughlin, received a death threat. The person who threatened Mark Mclaughlin was a man from Goleta which is over an hour away. This man claimed that he wanted to “protect the children,” but his threats directly contradict his so-called intent. Behavior like this blatantly disrespects the purpose of CVUSD as a safe space for children to be educated. Additionally, a person who does not live in the district should in no way feel this involved in the comings and goings of our meetings. To feel the need to respond in that manner should be extremely disconcerting. There have been too many people to count at the board meetings who do not live here or do not have students currently in our school system. These people then leave after a minute of talking, showing how they don’t care about the students, which is not what they attempt to display.
The lack of respect at school board meetings is proven especially true when a number of commentators make baseless, aggressive claims with the intention of pushing political agendas. The board meetings which were meant to benefit students and schools have quickly been manipulated into a platform to distribute aggression and malice. Everyone has the right to voice their own opinion, and the intention of board meetings is to do just that. But there is an important distinction between voicing your opinion in a respectful manner and immature political games that community members are trying to play.
Events like the graffiti at Maple Elementary can and should be prevented and that must start with respect. People must have more respect for the public education system not even for the sake of staff and administration, but for the sake of the children they are so adamant about trying to protect. To have a place where children are supposed to feel safe and comfortable, be defaced by their own community calling staff “pervs” creates a hostile and unsafe environment for these kids.
The past few years, community members have been abusing their rights of free speech, and their public comments have become more aggressive and are leading to acts of violence within our community. The increasing levels of contempt within the board meetings has gotten out of hand; people who bash the school board must figure out a way to work with the school board, rather than against them.
