School Boards

Following up with our endorsement of Cheryl Williams for Edmond School Board, Place 2, we are pleased to announce that we have formally endorsed Michael Grande for Edmond School Board, Place 5.

Michael has been at the forefront of the parent’s rights movement in Edmond from the first shutdown during Covid all the way to now. Following EPS shutdown after the 2020 Spring Break, the Grande’s formed protest groups to try to force the schools back open.

He has since become one of the fiercest advocates in the Parent’s Voice – Edmond group on Facebook, and helped steer the successful lawsuit against the EPS School Board’s unequal treatment of unvaccinated students following the beginning of the 2021-22 school year.

He and his wife have 5 kids: 1 in the district, 1 at private school, with the 3 youngest being homeschooled. It is that very diversity of educational experiences that uniquely equip Grande to solve the complex problems the district faces by drawing on the best experiences from all three educational worlds.

We sat down for a phone call with Michael last week to get his thoughts on some of the challenges facing the district. What follows is that conversation.

IL: What are the biggest things about the district that need to change:

MG: First, we need to take a very serious look at the curriculum, particularly the explicit and pornographic material that is available to the students through their classroom reading programs. We need to get back to mastering the basics of education: reading, writing, and math. But we need to do more than just master it in order to graduate. We need to strive for an unconscious competency from every single one of our students.

Second, we need to do a much better job in preparing our students for success right out of high school. High school has to be much more than just college prep. We need to prepare each of our students to succeed in whatever they’re passionate about right after graduation. We need to teach business management. We need to inspire them to embrace technological innovation like blockchain technology. We need to teach our kids how to build their own brand and monetize it, whether it be professional gaming, or preparing our student athletes to make the most of the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals available to them after the graduate. This can be an exciting, thrilling time for our students. If we help them be successful in what they’re passionate about it will help ignite their love of learning that will last a lifetime.

Last, but probably the most important is that we need to get the parents back involved with the district. It’s not that they don’t want to be involved. They do. In fact, they’re practically standing at the gates of the district demanding to be more involved. Our current school board, which has been in office for 25 years plus, has simply shut them out. We need parents involved in the classroom, in the lunchroom, on the playgrounds, and even walking the halls. No one cares more about the success of the students and the district than the parents. No one. We are shutting out one of our greatest assets as a district for no reason whatsoever.

If we want to attract and retain the best teachers in the state, we need to create an atmosphere that rewards their passions and efforts. Tackling these three main issues will accomplish just that. It’s truly a win-win-win.

IL: How should the district be handling Covid?

MG: We have way overstepped our bounds as a district. Every decision about a child’s health is the parent’s decision. Period. Schools have the responsibility to protect children from physical violence, but have absolutely no authority to make decisions about the children’s health care without first getting consent from the parents…whether it’s masks, vaccines, social distancing, or any other aspect of handling Covid.

We also should not be sending kids home to quarantine based on a positive from home testing or rapid testing. It should be from a physician-confirmed positive test, only. 

IL: In regards to CARES Act funding that the district has received, would you vote to accept any Federal funding that required employee, staff, or student vaccination as a requisite?

MG: Absolutely not! In fact, I would vote to send back any Federal funding if any such strings were attached. But more importantly, I would have been much more transparent with the parents about any stipulations tied to the funding and given them a voice as to whether we as a district accepted it.

IL: How would you improve school safety?

MG: I would first sit down and discuss our school safety protocols with the Edmond PD to see if there’s anything we can do better as a district. Then I would work with them to implement any such measures. We need to send a clear message to our students that personal responsibility is expected at Edmond Public Schools. If we create an environment that inspires our kids to be their best and pursue their passions while equipping them for success, it will be much easier to create an environment where personal responsibility is expected and rewarded.

Editor’s Note: Due to technical difficulties within the site, we were delayed in issuing this endorsement. Our endorsement for Edmond School Board – Place 5 will be tomorrow, and our endorsement for Norman Mayor will come Wednesday. 

As promised, we have been working hard behind the scenes interviewing candidates for the two Edmond School Board positions as well as Norman mayor. With early voting less than a week away, We will be revealing our endorsements for these positions in a series of articles over the next few days.

We could simply list the names of the candidates we’ve endorsed, but we feel it’s important for you to hear from the candidates in their own words. That way you can make the best choice possible, and understand fully why we chose to endorse.

We begin this week with the Edmond School Board, Seat 2 position.

Edmond School Board – Seat 2

Cheryl Williams (Endorsed)

Background: Ran for EPS school board 25 years ago and lost by only 80 votes. Never lost the passion to serve, and has continued to be a fierce advocate for sound educational principles. Has a background in business, and worked with one of the largest bond-writing companies in the state that underwrites the majority of school bonds. As such, she has a deep understanding of how bonds are written and how they can be used and/or misused. Has 3 grandchildren in the district. Is passionate about giving kids education that is not indoctrination, and wants to prepare the kids to success straight out of high school.

IL: What are the biggest things that need to change in Edmond Public Schools?

CW: First off, we need a thorough audit of the districts finances to make sure that our tax dollars are being spent wisely. There is a lot about the way our current school bonds are written that is incorrect. We need to fix that so the tax dollars aren’t being wasted.

Second, we need to remember that it is the School Board that has the statutory authority to set curriculum…and we need to act like it. Right now, the curriculum choices, many of the pornographic and highly inappropriate, are being made by a “select committee” that answers to no one. Only a very few English teachers were selected to be on this committee, so the vast majority of teachers have no input whatsoever. That must change, along with bringing in much greater involvement from the parents. Parents should be allowed the right to review and approve books BEFORE they are put in the curriculum or library.

Third, we need to teach State-approve curriculum that follow State law…period. The law is there for a reason, and no district should be finding ways of trying to get around those established standards in order to continue indoctrinating our children.

And last, but perhaps the most important, we need to be preparing students to succeed in life…not just graduate and get a diploma. We need to be teaching them how to write resumes. How to apply for jobs. How to start their own business. How to properly manage their finances. How to be on time, work hard, and be respectful of their bosses and co-workers. School should not just be college-prep. It needs to be life-prep. Students should graduate with the training and education to succeed in whatever they want to do in life, whether those goals include college or not.

IL: How would you handle COVID within the district

CW: The district needs to start following State law, period, and get out of the business of tracking and micro-managing healthcare decisions. There should be no mask mandates and no vaccine mandates for ANYONE.

Instead, we need to focus on mitigation measures that actually work. Get better air filtration for all of our schools. Have the children use Sani-wipes to clean their desks and chairs and QUIT FORCING MASKS. They don’t work…ever. In fact, they just get in the way of the kids receiving a quality education.   Facial movements, expression and the ability to see their teacher’s face is vital to their education.     We need to stop pushing fear and start educating our students.

IL: What would you do to improve school safety?

CW: Well, for one we need to work with the Edmond Police Department to help them purchase, if need be, the equipment that would allow our fantastic School Resource Officers (SROs) to file reports in the field instead of having to go back to the police station. For a city our size, this really is a must. The EPD is an outstanding department, and we need to do everything possible as a district to work with them to make sure are SROs are the best equipped and best trained in the country.

We need to reexamine the policies surrounding threats of school violence. There is much too much gray area in the way those threats are handled now. We need to examine those polices and make sure they are as streamlined and clear-cut as possible.

That goes into restoring law and order. we absolute MUST restore law and order to our school halls. We have girls that end up with infections because they are too scared to go to the bathroom for fear that a boy will be in there. That is absolute unacceptable! If we don’t have law and order in our schools, then we will not have law and order in our society. We are losing outstanding teachers because of the chaos in the school buildings. We need to return the power to the teachers to enforce discipline in their classrooms. This means no teacher should feel powerless to defend themselves against a violent student.

Part of making this happen is getting the parents back into the schools in every way possible. Get dads and granddads walking the halls. Get moms in the lunchroom. Get parents in the classroom. The teachers shouldn’t have to enforce discipline by themselves. The parents need to be involved. They are asking to be, demanding to be more involved, but right now the district is completely stonewalling them out. That MUST change…now.

EDMOND

On Tuesday, a group of Edmond Public School parents filed a lawsuit against the EPS School Board seeking a temporary and permanent injunction against certain aspects of the district’s revised Covid-19 policy.

This lawsuit was the result of a groundswell of opposition from EPS parents against the draconian segregation of unvaccinated students that has occurred throughout the district ever since the school board announced the changes to their “Return to Learning” policy just prior to the school year.

Prior to the suit being filed, numerous parents reached out to Ignite Liberty to voice their deep concerns, and downright anger, at how their children were being unfairly discriminated against due to a personal medical decision.

Their anger stemmed from a change in district policy at the beginning of the school year that only required healthy, unvaccinated students to quarantine after contact tracing indicated possible exposure. Meanwhile, their healthy, vaccinated counterparts could continue to attend school with the rest of the students. According to Stephanie Brady, a vocal member of the Edmond Chapter of the Parent’s Voice group, within 5 days of this policy going into effect over 2,500 healthy, unvaccinated children were forced to quarantine.

It is the Edmond Chapter of Parent’s Voice that has become the focal point of the resistance movement. Ignite Liberty spoke with Margaret Best, who was narrowly defeated in her run for EPS School Board last April, who serves as an administrator for the group about the growth and support they have experienced over recent weeks.

According to Best, the group started over a year ago in response to the 2020-2021 Covid restrictions put forth by the school district. At the time they only registered about 15-20 active parents showing up to meetings. However, in recent weeks the Facebook group alone has surged to well over 800 members with over 250 active parents. Their meetings now average about 100 parents in attendance. Their next meeting is tonight, September 16th, at 7:00pm at Johnnie’s Charcoal Broiler at 33 E 33rd St, Edmond, OK 73013.

It is that surge of support that gave the parents named in the suit the courage to fight the school district’s policies. Earlier this week, Ignite Liberty interviewed Michael Grande, a member of the group helping coordinate with their legal team, about the lawsuit against the district.

According to the lawsuit filed Tuesday, the parents allege as part of their grounds the data from Covid-19 studies that:

“suggest significant emotional and behavior changes during quarantine in children and adolescents. Common reactions of children and adolescents to disasters, including health-related disasters, depends on the child’s age and developmental levels. While younger children may regress in behaviors, older children may become more anxious, angry, restless, and withdrawn while in quarantine.”

Both Grande and Brady emphasized this point in their interviews, pointing out the huge increase in reported depression among children under age 18. Even KFOR reported in an article dated November 18th, 2020 that metro-area counselors are seeing a massive increase in mental health problems in children under 18 that are directly related to forced quarantines.

For the EPS parents, the district’s policy amounted to nothing less than medical segregation, which violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Equal Protection clause states, in summary, that all laws must apply to all citizens equally. A governing body cannot, then, pass laws or regulations that only affect one group of citizens…in this case, the healthy, unvaccinated students.

The suit also alleges that the district’s policy violates SB 658. While a portion of that law has a temporary injunction against it, the only part of the law restricted by that injunction is the part that specifically bans masks mandates issued by school districts (70 O.S. 1210.189(A)(3)). The judge in that case left the remainder of the law intact.

The alleged violation of SB 658 according to the parent’s suit against EPS specifically names a different part of the law not affected by the temporary order, namely 70 O.S. 1210.189(A)(1), which bans public schools from “requiring vaccination against Covid-19 as a condition of admittance or to attendance of the school or institution.”

The hearing on the Temporary Restraining Order is scheduled for this Friday before Judge Don Andrews at the Oklahoma County Courthouse. Ignite Liberty will follow this case and provide updates as they are available.

District Cracks Down on Teachers

In addition to the change in policy for students, a number of concerned EPS teachers contacted Ignite Liberty earlier this week to inform us that their exemption forms for the district’s mask policy were being ignored. When we asked about any deadline or timetable for completion of the exemptions, they told us the district had not given one.

The problem this raised was that the teachers were not being allowed to come back into the classroom until the exemptions were signed, unless they were willing to put on a mask in the interim (which, they believed, would have risked their exemption being approved).

Instead, they were forced to take a personal, unpaid holiday for every single day they were forced to remain at home. Meanwhile the district simply hired substitute teachers to take their place. Conveniently enough, according to our reports the substitute teachers were not eligible to submit an exemption to the mask policy.

When we asked some of the teachers if they considered resigning and moving to another school district, they informed us that because of the structuring of their contracts it was impossible. If they resigned over the district’s mask policy EPS would still hold their contract, making them ineligible for employment in any other school district in the state.

Upon receiving these reports, Ignite Liberty reached out to Randy Decker, the HR Director for Edmond Public Schools, to inquire as to the district’s policy regarding the handling of exemptions. While Mr. Decker did not take our call, in our message we left him we inquired as to why many of the teacher’s exemptions had still gone unsigned, forcing them to stay home without pay while the school district hired substitute teachers in their stead.

Though Mr. Decker never returned our calls, those same teachers reached out to us on Wednesday to tell us that their exemptions had finally been approved only after our call to Mr. Decker.

Ignite Liberty will continue to monitor the developing situation at Edmond Public Schools and report on any new developments in this matter.