At the meeting, Finch noted that despite dozens of critical comments posted on social media, only one parent directly contacted his office with concerns.
“I pride myself on being available… to parents that have concerns, ” Finch said. “For all the cyberspace chatter, I received one phone call and no one came in to see me. I’m not suggesting that parents aren’t interested in this, but my door is open and I want everyone in the audience to realize that.”
Mosher also was concerned that some parents made their arguments to the local and national media instead of to school officials.
“I have to tell you it has been very disturbing to me personally that, before ever reaching out and following what I would consider the normal channels to try to resolve concerns, that this was brought straight to the social and national media,” Mosher said. “And I have to tell you that some of our administrators and myself have been receiving some angry and borderline-threatening emails from people all over the country who have read a FOX News article that made absurd allegations… I think there needs to be an appreciation that this kind of thing can create security concerns.”
Once public comment began, only six people spoke, and all supported the workshops and the district’s planned changes in response to the controversy.
Becky Wood, a teacher at LAMS and parent of two district students, said, “I’m asking you, the community, to come together and put a stop to the hurtful words that are having a negative impact on the place I consider and always will consider my home.”
“The program in question… aimed to promote safety and character development and to expand the vocabularies with which our children can talk about the complex world in which they are growing up,” said another parent, David Stein. “Some of us wish their world weren’t so complex. We yearn for what we remember as simpler times. But the fact is that this is their world and we have an obligation to prepare them to be responsible and productive members of it.”
After the meeting, a couple of parents posted comments in a Facebook group that they felt intimidated at the board meeting despite an explicit statement by Mosher that any critical voices would be heard with respect. Others said they feared retribution for their kids from the district if they continued to speak out.
“I acknowledge that there are things that every one of us would agree should have been done differently,” Mosher told the parents at the meeting. “But I hope that you can all agree and believe… we were looking to do good things for all our students, and to the extent where the execution is not where it should be, we apologize for that.”
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