In a 6-1 vote on June 7, the Mat-Su School Board approved a host of changes to its policies relating to parental rights, teacher activism, sex education and the use of LGBTQ pronouns in public schools.
The changes strengthen parental rights and restrict the ability of educators to push controversial social and sexual ideologies on impressionable students.
Union-backed Ted Swanson was the only school board member to vote against the changes.
One of the updated policies now restricts school employees from using school time or resources to promote “activist” causes. Another explicitly states that schools must get “written permission” from parents before referring to kids with alternative pronouns that conflict with a child’s biological sex.
Another update states that schools must give parents a two-week notification before any class, or program on gender identity, human reproduction, or sexual matter is provided to a child. Plus, schools must obtain written permission from parents before their children participate in such activities.
None of the librarians addressed the central concern, which parents have raised in recent weeks, after discovering that school libraries contained dozens of books pushing controversial sexual themes.
The board also clarified that school counselors are first and foremost “academic” advisors who must consult “primarily with the parents.” It also removed any suggestions that counselors have authority to offer advice to students about gender issues or personal problems without parental involvement.
At its next meeting the school board is set to amend its library policy by requiring parental consent before librarians provide material on human sexuality to children. That proposal removes wording that suggested school librarians had authority to purchase books without prior committee recommendations or school board approval.
In the lead up to the vote, a number of disgruntled teachers and librarians criticized the changes, claiming they disrespected teachers and librarians by limiting the personal advice and reading materials they could offer students.
Kim Evans, a librarian at Swanson Elementary said the changes were unnecessary, and even “dangerous.” She claimed that library books are already reviewed by professionals, and are therefore “safe.”
“Freedom and liberty seem to be eroding quickly in the Mat-Su,” Evans asserted. She added that children will “soon have less opportunity to talk with trusted adults, as counselors will be limited to academic and career counseling.”
“Respect is what we need,” she said of teachers and librarians. “We are getting instead, censorship.”
A defiant Barrie Blackman Green, who works as a librarian at Iditarod Elementary, echoed many of these sentiments, claiming that kids should have a wide diversity of books at their disposal.
With regard to limiting what teachers and educators can say when it comes to personal pronouns and LGBTQ-affirming counseling, a number of teachers were emphatically opposed to any restrictions.
“These kids have a choice. They read what they want to read,” she said. “It’s the library. It is their choice.”
None of the librarians addressed the central concern, which parents and community members have raised in recent weeks, after discovering that school libraries contained dozens of controversial titles that include fiction and nonfiction books containing detailed descriptions of masturbation, anal and oral sex, sex toys, pole dancing scenes, sex parties, dominatrix, foul language, descriptions of graphic and violent rape, gay teen sex encounters, gender transitioning characters and much more.
With regard to limiting what teachers and educators can say when it comes to personal pronouns and LGBTQ-affirming counseling, a number of teachers were emphatically opposed to any restrictions.
Dannielle Chyko, a counselor at Career Tech High School, said she discusses all kinds of things with kids, including their home life and relationships with parents. She claimed education is about giving children “access to the education they want, need and deserve, regardless of how we feel about certain issues.”
In some cases, teachers opposed to the changes cast conservative parents as problematic, especially when parental values conflict with those of gender-confused students.
“I don’t care what a small group says, the Mat-Su is basically conservative,” he added. “The eyes of the whole state of Alaska are on the Mat-Su. We are leading the way in education.”
Left-leaning Board Member Ted Swanson articulated this position in explaining why he voted against the changes.
“I believe students’ rights and parents’ rights end when they interfere with one another,” he said. “You as an American have a right – you have constitutional rights – and they end when they start to interfere with any other American. There is no age limit to that.”
In the weeks leading up to the vote, many hard-left and LGBTQ activist groups, such as the ACLU and others, helped train and mobilize people to speak out against the proposed changes. Alaska’s largest teachers’ union – NEA-Alaska – also issued a statement a few days before vote, urging teachers to sign a pledge demanding that schools make “no exceptions” when it comes to providing resources for LGBTQ students.
Ron Johnson, a longtime conservative political activist with grandchildren attending Mat-Su schools, praised board members for standing strong.
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“I believe that you do truly represent conservative values of the Mat-Su Valley,” he said. “Most of our cities are governed by conservative governance. Our borough is governed by conservative governance, and this school board certainly is. I think this fully reflects the sentiment of the Mat-Su Valley.”
Johnson urged the board to continue on the track they have taken.
“I don’t care what a small group says, the Mat-Su is basically conservative,” he added. “The eyes of the whole state of Alaska are on the Mat-Su. We are leading the way in education.”
On a somewhat related note, School Superintendent Randy Trani highlighted the fact that the district is seeing an enormous spike in families opting to homeschool their children through the district’s Mat-Su Central program. Trani said about 40 new homeschoolers had signed up by this time last year. As of two weeks ago, however, the district has added 170 new homeschool students – a four-fold increase over 2022. With more than 2,300 homeschool students, Mat-Su Central is now more than twice as large as the next biggest school in the Valley.
