Students walk out, superintendents stress and parents rage: What's happening as some school boards become more political

Months after conservative groups successfully rallied parents in school board elections nationwide, a suburban Denver district is the latest example of the upheaval that can happen when once sleepy elections become politicized.

In the Douglas County School District, the school board's newly elected conservative majority terminated a popular superintendent earlier this month with little warning and no public debate. Staff protests, canceled classes, a student walkout, a lawsuit, a records request for teachers' personal information and a 6-hour public meeting where residents criticized the board's actions have unfolded dramatically over the past three weeks.

Developments there and elsewhere reflect the growing interest across the nation in school boards as a vessel for engaging in and mobilizing support for political causes, ranging from mask policies to stances on race, equity and sexuality issues.

Voters in liberal San Francisco, which hadn't hosted a local recall election in decades, ousted three school board members last week. The campaign, boosted by right-wing donors, gained steam from parent anger over the district's slow reopening and other unpopular board decisions, such as changing admissions policies at a top city high school. 

Amid the fierce debates, superintendents are struggling to balance the intentions of school boards that hire and fire them and the interests of divided communities they serve.

Nationwide, 8 in 10 superintendents say handling political divisions is now the hardest part of their jobs, according to a national survey released this week by EAB, an educational research firm. More than 140 district leaders in 32 states weighed in.

Half the leaders said they're considering or planning to leave in the next few years. Eight in 10 said they'd be more effective if they could spend more time with students — the very task often jettisoned to manage adult conflicts.

“Superintendents are tired of mediating disputes fueled in large part by America’s deepening political divide,” said Ben Court, director of K-12 research for EAB. 

Managing fights around previously uncontroversial efforts such as equity initiatives has been particularly frustrating, Court said. 

Education experts for years have urged districts to identify and address barriers that make it harder for certain students to succeed, particularly those of racial minorities and from low-income or under-represented backgrounds. Many of those efforts were underway before the pandemic, with little to no controversy. 

"The term, 'equity' has been hijacked," Court said. "These fights are stalling (superintendents') ability to plan and build out programs that were already in the works."

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'Politics in its purest, ugliest and most destructive form'

Douglas County is Colorado's third-largest school system, with around 64,000 students. The seven-member school board in this affluent community swung right after the November elections, when four new conservative members were elected.

The new majority quickly eliminated the district's mask mandate and moved to re-work its equity policy, which called for creating a system to identify any racist or discriminatory practices, according to Colorado Public Radio.

On Feb. 4, the four new members voted to terminate the contract of superintendent Corey Wise, a veteran educator. No public comment was allowed. Elizabeth Hanson, elected in 2019, questioned new Board President Mike Peterson about that during the meeting.

"I think we heard the voters loud and clear in November, and the district moves in a different direction," Peterson responded that night.

Several people in the crowd cheered in response to Peterson.

In an email to Paste BN Friday, Hanson said no board members ever talked to her about any performance concerns they had with Wise. 

"The decision to terminate Mr. Wise was not related to performance in any way," she wrote. "This was politics in its purest, ugliest and most destructive form."

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The new members in the majority either declined or did not respond to Paste BN's requests for comment.

Community reaction was swift. About 1,500 teachers called in absent the day before the vote, forcing schools to close. Days later, hundreds of students walked out of classrooms in protest.

A local attorney sued the board members who fired Wise, on grounds they broke the state's open meetings law in their pursuit to terminate the administrator. Another parent started a change.org petition calling for the majority to resign, or potentially face a recall. It had more than 25,000 signatures Friday.

One individual publicly requested the names of all teachers absent on Feb. 3, which educators feared could lead to retaliation or harassment. The district will not release those names, the Denver Post reported Wednesday.

A special board meeting held Feb. 16 to discuss hiring a new superintendent lasted for more than six hours, as residents finally weighed in during public comment.

"Your actions have proven to be politically motivated at heart and you have continually failed to put the needs of students and staff before your own," Josh Lederman, senior co-president of the Student Advisory Group, told the board.

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Conservative board members walk back inclusion efforts

Conservative groups nationwide gained traction with parents this fall, and many ran for school board seats in large, wealthy suburban districts. They championed fewer COVID-19 restrictions, ending mask mandates and a harsh critique of critical race theory, which posits racism is built into U.S. structures and institutions, not driven only by individuals' beliefs.

Districts say the specific theory is not part of their curriculum. But many conservatives believe any teaching of the lasting legacy of slavery, or the adoption of equity initiatives, is essentially CRT in disguise. 

That's why new conservative members are often challenging or eliminating such initiatives — even if they were previously not controversial and often praised as best practice.

New conservative board members outside of Milwaukee and Portland have halted equity initiatives and banned Pride flags and safe space signage in classrooms. Such displays help LGBTQ students and other minority groups feel accepted, psychologists say. 

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Newly elected conservatives say they're representing the views of the voters. Residents who disagree are fighting back.

In a Colorado Springs district, a new group called Neighbors for Education is encouraging diversity and equity programming and calling for reinstating the school mask requirement. They're also gearing up to defend the current superintendent.

In recent months, Republicans across the US have pushed for measures that would make school board races partisan. Lawmakers in Tennessee, for example, last October passed a bill that allows school board candidates to list their party. Similar GOP-led legislation has been introduced in states including Florida and Indiana.