A group representing school board members around the country asked President Joe Biden on Thursday for federal assistance to investigate and stop threats made over policies including mask mandates, likening the vitriol to a form of domestic terrorism.
Parents and community members have been disrupting meetings and threatening board members in person, online and through the mail in a trend that merits attention from federal law enforcement agencies, the National School Boards Association said in a letter to Biden.
"Local school board members want to hear from their communities on important issues and that must be at the forefront of good school board governance and promotion of free speech," the letter reads. "However, there also must be safeguards in place to protect public schools and dedicated education leaders as they do their jobs."
“Whatever you feel about masks, it should not reach this level of rhetoric,” NSBA Interim Executive Director Chip Slaven told The Associated Press.
School board meetings around the country have been disrupted by unruly attendees out to interfere with business and silence other viewpoints.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a press briefing Thursday that the Biden administration takes the safety and security of school officials "very seriously," and encouraged them to refer any threats to state and local law enforcement agencies.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said as he left a U.S. Senate hearing earlier Thursday that he wants to hear more about the request for federal investigators to handle threats, noting that his department works with the school boards group and needs to “listen closely” to its concerns.
In the meantime, “at the local level, any threats should be investigated thoroughly,” Cardona added.
Threats toward school board members typically are handled by local law enforcement. But the association asked for the federal government to get involved to investigate cases where threats or violence could be handled as violations of federal laws protecting civil rights. It also asked for the Justice Department, FBI, Homeland Security and Secret Service to help monitor threat levels and assess risks to students, educators, board members and school buildings.
“As these acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes,” the association wrote.
The association represents more than 90,000 school board members in 14,000 public school districts.
The letter documents more than 20 instances of threats, harassment, disruption, and acts of intimidation in California, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Ohio and other states. It cites the September arrest of an Illinois man for aggravated battery and disorderly conduct for allegedly striking a school official at a meeting. In Michigan, a meeting was disrupted when a man performed a Nazi salute to protest masking.
“We are coming after you,” a letter mailed to an Ohio school board member said, according to the group. “You are forcing them to wear mask — for no reason in this world other than control. And for that you will pay dearly.”
It called the member “a filthy traitor.”
Last week, a crowd of up to 200 protesters who banged on doors and shouted at police shut down a school board meeting in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where members planned to consider a temporary COVID-19 mask mandate.
At the Senate committee hearing on Thursday, Cardona decried the hostility against school board members and praised their “unwavering support” to reopen schools safely. He said the lack of civility in some meetings is disappointing and, in some places, it has been “very dangerous.”
He made the comments in response to questions from Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., a former school board member who said contentious meetings are a part of civic engagement.
The threats have gone beyond board meetings.
The father of an Arizona elementary school student was arrested after he and two other men brought zip ties to the campus, threatening to make a “citizen’s arrest” on the school principal over a COVID-19 quarantine.
School board members are largely unpaid volunteers, traditionally former educators and parents who step forward to shape school policy, choose a superintendent and review the budget. The current climate has led a growing number to resign or decide against seeking reelection.
"These threats and acts of violence are affecting our nation’s democracy at the very foundational levels, causing school board members – many who are not paid – to resign immediately and/or discontinue their service after their respective terms," the letter reads. "Further, this increasing violence is a clear and present danger to civic participation, in which other citizens who have been contemplating service as either an elected or appointed school board member have reconsidered their decision."
"It is vital that public discourses be encouraged in a safe and open environment, in which varying viewpoints can be offered in a peaceful manner," the letter continues. "Our children are watching the examples of the current debates and we must encourage a positive dialogue even with different opinions."
However, with such acute threats and actions that are disruptive to our students’ well-being, to the safety of public school officials and personnel, and to interstate commerce, we urge the federal government’s intervention against individuals or hate groups who are targeting our schools and educators," the group added.