At the January 2024 meeting of the Forest Hills School District (FHSD) Board of Education, the FHSD community received an explanation behind Board Vice President Katie Stewart’s “NO” vote on that evening’s consent agenda ... screen time. On the agenda was a budget item including new Lenovo Chromebooks. Like most parents, she was worried about kids having too much screen time. But I think this vote points to a larger issue with Mrs. Stewart’s performance on the board of our public school district. Katie Stewart may not understand what a consent agenda is. Consent agendas consist of multiple procedural items, expected to garner unanimous approval. By voting “NO” on the January 2024 consent agenda, Mrs. Stewart voted “NO” on all items within the agenda.
Today, NPR reported that the Forest Hills School District offered to settle the lawsuit surrounding the Culture of Kindness Resolution, a written document created in part between Sara Jonas and several local residents and implemented in a flurry of chaos over a year ago.
In June of 2022, members of the Forest Hills School District Board of Education Linda Hausfeld, Bob Bibb and Sara Jonas voted in support of a resolution that banned assignments where students would have to consider their race, socioeconomic class, religion, gender identity and sexuality. Board members Leslie Rasmussen and Katie Stewart voted against the resolution. Soon after, a group of parents and teachers filed a federal lawsuit claiming the resolution violated their constitutional rights. In October the judge assigned to the case issued a ruling on a motion to dismiss by the district. At that time the district issued a statement stating they intended to continue the fight to enact the language of the resolution “vigorously”. The negative impact of external agenda-driven groups isn’t a risk here in Forest Hills, it’s already a reality. In a series of emails recovered through a Public Records Request (PRR) and social media content garnered from investigations into education-attacking political groups, we learned
that the “4 for Forest Hills” may have allowed the influence of potentially fringe political party members, dark-money group leaders and non-FHSD residents, to drive the agenda that they've attempted to implement — bringing expensive and embarrassing consequences to our district as shown in previous blog posts. Extremist board members can impact school CostsFor school districts, the intolerance of extremism can have a multitude of costs, we lay out a few significant and measurable costs of extremism in school boards here. Legal expenses: when controversial or illegal actions are taken by board members, the school incurs legal expenses to defend against the lawsuits and investigations. Court fees, insurance company’s higher premiums, settlements and the hours and hours of employee’s time spent in depositions and defense takes away from the true work of the district. In July 2023, the Cincinnati Enquirer estimated the district had spent around $500,000, nearly $75 per student, compared with CPS - a district with three times the number of students, spending $33 per student. Insurance covers most of this, but premiums will suffer - if the aggressive and exclusionary actions were never taken, we would not be dealing with lawsuits. Staff turnover: Extremist board members may create a hostile or divisive environment within the school, leading to increased staff turnover. This turnover can result in recruitment and training costs for new staff members as well as potential disruptions to the learning environment. We’ve seen first-hand how this has impacted Forest Hills; where the divisive environment has already seen an increased number of retirements and turnover. The resignation of Superintendent Scot Prebles led to a search, which required the board to offer the highest administrator salary Forest Hills has ever paid to onboard Larry Hook, despite community sentiment preferring a different candidate. Prebles earned just under $170,000 annually, Hook’s salary reportedly exceeds $180,000; only board member Leslie Rasmussen objected to the increased spending, see video here. Decreased funding opportunities: Extremist board members may hold extreme views that are not aligned with the values or priorities of potential donors or fundraising organizations. This can lead to a decrease in funding opportunities for the school, limiting resources for programs, infrastructure or student support services. In September, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported State Representative Rachel Baker was denied an opportunity to collaborate for funding for the district by board president Hausfeld, a member of Moms for Liberty, a group labeled extreme by the Southern Poverty Law Center. “I am shocked by the political games being played by this Board,” Baker said. “I want to bring resources to our teachers, staff and students, but I can’t do that without being allowed in the room.”During her closing remarks, Hausfeld called Baker’s comments “a lie.” Baker posted corroboration of her meeting requests on her Facebook page after the meeting. Negative public perception: Schools with extremist board members may face negative public perception, which can impact enrollment numbers, community support and new-buyer interest in the district homes. Loss of support for the district in turn can result in reduced district revenue, budget cuts that impact the financial stability of the school and value of the homes in the district. Thankfully, the parents and supporters of our township’s most valuable asset stepped up to support the 2023 levy, but frequent feedback from voters constantly reminded volunteers that the community had significant reluctance doing so under the current board. The negative perception however can be measured by the increased number of protests by parents and students since May 2022, making local news several more times since then, most recently in September 2023. In addition, Madeira parents are now using the experience at Forest Hills as a cautionary tale for their own voters to encourage turnout in their community. Increased security measures: If extremist board members pose a threat to the safety and well-being of students and families, additional security measures may be necessary. This can include hiring security personnel, implementing surveillance systems or conducting safety drills, all of which can incur additional costs. This year, Forest Hills hired an additional School Resource officer, and has been posting a number of police at board meetings, where incidents like the one noted in the Channel 9 video showing Vicky Misleh, occurred. Parent of board member Katie Stewart who was wearing a “Don’t Tread on Me” tee shirt. Stewart’s tee shirt is a Gadsden flag originally associated with freedom in the 18th century, now largely regarded to align to extremist and white supremacy groups such as the the organizers of the deadly Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally in 2017, and those engaging in the insurrection of January 6th, 2021 — both widely reported as extremist-led events. This election season, two seats are open for replacement as neither Hausfeld nor Rasmussen have chosen to run as an incumbent. The candidates each have a website, which readers and residents can access to find out where they fall along the spectrum of extremism, or reference the voter guide from a women-founded group focused on building awareness & engagement to fight anti-democratic issues in Ohio & in school districts and it’s impact on communities, Red, Wine and Blue.
Early voting has already begun, have your voice heard by or before November 7, 2023. Find out more about voting locations and eligibility at the Board of Elections website, here. The 2023 candidates for FHSD School Board discuss one thing that MUST be implemented going forward and one thing that MUST stop going forward.
The 2023 candidates for FHSD School Board answer the community group question: What is your TOP priority if you are elected to the school board?
2023 School Board candidates answer the question: How do you interpret the "Culture of Kindness" resolution and how would you address concerns that it is stifling free speech?
Jason Simmons and Wendy Strickler-Biederman answer our community group question: What 3 things should FHSD be doing to prepare students for the future?
The second video in our school board candidate series answers a question voted on by our community Facebook group. The question is "What is your experience or training related to educational standards for success, both academically and social/emotionally in regards to students?"
Here is the first video from our school board candidate video series. This is the intro video for the candidates PLUS a bonus question to get the ball rolling. Stay tuned for answers to six community group questions throughout the next weeks.
All candidates were contacted to participate in our video series. Appearance in this video does not imply an endorsement on the candidates. An Advocate FHSD co-chair caught up with Kevin Commerford at the 9/20/23 school board meeting to ask about his participation. His reply was "We have our own thing happening, thanks." Kris Wahlke expressed interest in submitting written answers and a photo so we could add a voice-over, but did not meet the Sunday, September 24 deadline for this video. His answers were submitted after the video was edited and posted on Monday, September 25. His answer to these questions are below: Q: Why are you running for FHSD School Board? A: To reclaim the Redskins name. Q: Why now? A: There is momentum for the Washington Redskins and our current board ran on an anti-CRT platform. The numbers should be there. Q: How does the Ohio school funding model impact FHSD? A: Seems our tax dollars are being used outside the district. A lot of the coolest things in the schools are parent funded after taxes. In the first few weeks of the 2023-2024 school year here in the Forest Hills School District, the Superintendent and Board have made several critical decisions on short timetables that have left parents wondering:
On August 29th, 2023, a soft-lockdown was enacted at 7 of the district's 9 schools. In the first email sent to communicate the lockdown (full email here), Superintendent Hook stated only that "we located an unauthorized individual walking around the Anderson High School campus a short while ago" followed by his second email (available here) which stated, "After a thorough search of the area, it has been determined that the unknown individual is no longer on district property" both quotes seem to imply the man was outside the school and then somehow disappeared.
Hook's email from today (shown above) explains a more serious breach. He provides details explaining that a staff member discovered an adult male had entered Anderson High school through a propped-open side-door and found his way into the hallways during school hours. Several sources advised us a week ago following the Forest Hills Council meeting (days before the district communicated to the public) that Superintendent Hook had shared the details now provided in an email. We at AdvocateFHSD.org have been gathering information about the incident, and before publishing anything, we reached out to the district yesterday asking for any statement on the situation and submitting a PRR for the surveillance video. Our full email is here. It's official ... we now have our list of 2023 school board candidates for the Forest Hills School District (FHSD). They've turned in their petitions and while one candidate is still waiting to have his signatures confirmed, it is likely district residents will see these names on the ballot for FHSD school board on November 7th, 2023. While Advocate FHSD does not endorse candidates, we are committed to presenting election information as quickly and as accurately as possible. Candidates for the board
Stay tuned for more updates as the campaign unfolds.
In this video, board members Leslie Rasmussen and Sara Jonas discuss the "Culture of Kindness" resolution. Jonas states she authored the resolution. Her deposition under oath states differently. Read below for additional details of this story. Jonas testifies she is not the author of the resolutionIn late 2022, a lawsuit against the Forest Hills School District suing to rescind the controversial and divisive 'Culture of Kindness' resolution was brought forth. Community members widely panned the document as harmful to staff & students, and risky to the district. Despite protests, emails asking for the resolution to be rescinded, national and international negative news coverage, damage to their personal reputations and expensive lawsuits as well as the predictable impact to voter turnout to the levy vote in May - Board members Hausfeld, Bibb, and Stewart seem inexplicably committed to this misguided Resolution. Recently, depositions were taken from Superintendent Larry Hook, Board Member Sara Jonas, and Board member Dr. Leslie Rasmussen. Depositions are available for the public to read here. Cincinnati Enquirer's Education reporter, Maddie Mitchell, published an article Wednesday, February 15 2023, following up with a summary of the depositions. The depositions are disheartening. The statements taken under oath expose conflicting claims of that the Resolution is "unenforceable", but per the depositions, incidents of enforcement and attempted enforcement have occurred against staff & students causing demonstrable harm - the depositions outline at least four instances of action taken against staff and students. The resolution has also brought negative press to the district locally, nationally and internationally.. In addition to our local press, national & international media went viral as a TikTok video of Sara Jonas defending "Anti-anti-racism" had over 5 million views and thousands of comments. Nationally, Newsweek covered the video, and an article in the Herald Sun, an Australian publication, ensured international scrutiny as well. Sara Jonas reportedly received emailed threats following the publications of her actions, which this group vehemently condemns. Knowing all of this, any reasonable person would question why the board insists on defending the document at all ... but there may be some insight in page 130 of Sara Jonas' deposition. When questioned about the origins of the document, Sara Jonas under oath stated she merely 'typed' the Resolution - a clear conflict with her public statement at a public board meeting, June 22, 2022 (audio available on YouTube, at 1:32:00) where she claimed, "I am the one who authored it." Jonas' states that Megan Fullen, a community member, 'helped draft' the Resolution of Kindness on page 130 of the deposition. Jonas explains Megan Fullen began helping with the drafting of the Resolution as early as November, 2021. Jonas also explains they often met at Fullen's home.
The current school board has stated on multiple occasions that financial problems have been inherited from the previous school board. Alana Cropper is the District Treasurer and has worked under many boards, including the present one. She has done a great job attempting to educate this school board about the district financials. Alana has even presented multiple options for an operating levy in either 2022 or 2023 to avoid large cuts and last resorts like consolidation. Her explanation can be found in a video from the April 6, 2022 Work Session. We would now like to present the 2021 Financial Report to you for your consideration:
Dear Superintendent Hook and Forest Hills Board Members,
Our community is one that deeply cares for district excellence. Two weeks ago, the community was made broadly aware of the intent of the board to re-shape the face of this beloved district and that conversations, both in person and virtual, have been happening between the board and Elevar representative Rich Neumann since March. Following the community feedback during and after the public board meeting September 21, Superintendent Larry Hook issued a letter with this commitment claiming “You can be sure that factual, reliable information on this topic will come from myself and the district. We will share more details as they become available.” To date, no new facts, details, or clarity to the decision-making process or proposal have been provided to the community, despite a plan being presented for 2 hours to the board members in executive session following the public meeting September 21. Communication from Elevar CEO also re-directs community inquiries to the district for the details of the plan. This community deserves more than an email asking us to trust them with such an important decision, when to date, all activity has been secretive, and requested records have not been shared. To prevent a further loss of trust in the district leadership at a time when the need for transparency is paramount, we respectfully request that the district issue a fact sheet or share the plan as it was outlined to them by Elevar in executive session. Thank you for advocating for district excellence with us, Advocate FHSD Board Chairs Kimberly Olthoff, Sara Sudkamp, Sean Martin, Kristen Kalonick, Katie Quehl |
OpinionsThe views and opinions expressed by individuals and entities on this blog are their own and do not reflect the views or positions of AdvocateFHSD.org. WelcomeWelcome to AdvocateFHSD! We’re so happy to have you here. Strong public schools = strong communities. Here, we strive to engage and inform the FHSD community, and empower residents to be the best advocates for our students, teachers, administrators, and district. Archives
February 2024
Categories
All
|