School administrators make plea for civility amid hostility, threats over mandates

It’s been going on for months now, according to Joel Aune, executive director of the Washington Association of School Administrators.

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“Beginning last spring, we started to see an uptick in the disruption and really lack of civility occurring in board meetings directed at superintendents and school board members, and also an uptick in the lack of stability in our communities,” Aune said. “And as we worked our way through the summer, that really had kind of continue to escalate and we really were hopeful that once school started in the fall and students were back in school that things would begin to level off and dissipate a little bit.”

Unfortunately, that has not happened, he said.

In fact, the first six weeks of school in the last part of August and through September, Aune says that behavior has continued and there’s possibly been an increase of aggressive bullying, behavior, and threats of violence. This is happening in person and at board meetings, online, or in the grocery store, and at football games. Aune says school board members and school district administrators have been getting the brunt of it.

“COVID-19 has presented enormous challenges to our schools, districts, and communities, but one of the most concerning trends is the erosion of civility in many communities where interactions with school district leaders and school board members have turned ugly,” Aune explained.

“School superintendents and board members are doing their best to safely operate schools for in-person learning, and serve students based on the guidance of health policy experts and requirements set forth by the state. Unfortunately, many individuals in the community are politicizing the state requirements — which fall outside of local control — to the point where the act of simply holding a public meeting to conduct district business draws threats of violence, verbal abuse, aggression, and intimidation,” he said.

He says some meetings have had to be adjourned early because of disruptions from people, often parents, outraged over the rules. Others have resorted, once again, to only holding remote meetings out of safety concerns – something Aune warns could became the norm anyway, given how extreme some have already gotten, including some board members receiving death threats, while others have had water bottles hurled at them.

“We’re not in any way saying that community should not be engaging with school board members and superintendents, but there’s an appropriate way to engage and express opinions and concerns and questions,” he said. “And candidly, … many, many people have really crossed the line. And we just felt like we needed to message this and try to get the attention of people out there and get this to settle down a little bit.”

Aune says the adults should also consider the example they’re setting because the kids are watching.

The anger school boards and others are receiving is over multiple issues, with a common theme.

“The most predominant one is probably the masking requirement, and there’s a lot of different opinions about masking out there,” Aune said. “What we’re hearing from superintendents and principals is that the students are fine with the masks and wearing the masks, and we saw indications of that last year, the last half of the year, we started to bring a few students back into our schools.”

“It is imperative that the adults in our communities model the kind of behavior we ask of our students. Right now, this is not happening in a consistent fashion across our state. The students are watching, and what they see impacts them,” he added.

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The Washington State School Directors’ Association joined in the call for better behavior.

“Decisions being made right now undoubtedly have a big impact on students, staff, and families. Some of those decisions can be made locally by school boards, but many of them are made at the state level and beyond the authority of individual districts. It is important for families and community members to share their concerns with their school district. It is important for families to have their voices heard. However, it is equally important to do so in a way that sets an example for students of how to advocate in a civil and respectful manner. Aggressive, abusive, or hostile language and behavior do not demonstrate a desire to do what is best for children, “said Tim Garhow, executive director for WSSDA.

“School directors and superintendents are working incredibly hard to fulfill the demands of their local community, state regulations, and in some cases also federal obligations. Our school leaders are doing everything they can to maintain the safe operation of schools in the face of a constantly changing virus,” Garchow continued. “The fact that children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible for a vaccine makes dialog between schools, districts, families and the communities that much more important. The process of conducting the business of a school district has never been more vital. When it comes down to it, we all want many of the same things. We want to be able to keep our schools open, our children safe, our staff employed, and a return to normalcy as soon as possible. However, when we let our passions degrade one another, it prevents us from achieving our common goal of doing what is best for children.”

“We must put an end to ineffective and inappropriate forms of communication.” he said. “We will not tolerate threats of violence, whether in person or online. This behavior has no place in our schools, where educators are working tirelessly to keep children safe and focused on learning. We owe it to our students to model the kind of leadership and civil engagement that is expected of adults in trying situations,” Garchow said. “It is time to restore civility to our schools and our communities and find a way to move forward, together.”

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