Hundreds of concerned Fairbanks parents and community members have signed a newly launched online petition asking Superintendent Luke Meinert to pause all classroom and school-level implementation of a controversial resolution by the school board, which recognizes October 2026 as LGBTQ History Month.
Launched on Sept. 17, the petition has already drawn nearly 800 supporters. Started by Jaq Conklin, the petition is addressed to Superintendent Meinert with a copy to the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District Board of Education. It does not ask the superintendent to outright ignore the board’s vote, but requests that he pause any LGBTQ History Month instructional materials, lessons, activities, guest speakers, displays, or programming tied to the resolution until the district clarifies what the school board vote actually authorizes and whether Alaska parental-notification and materials-approval laws apply.
Resolution 2027-08 was approved Sept. 15 as part of the school board’s consent agenda – bundled together with many other items at the start of the meeting, and before any public testimony on the matter could be heard.
Placing the controversial and contested recognition on the consent agenda effectively undermined a large group of attendees who came to testify on the resolution.
The resolution, introduced by Board President Bobby Burgess, aims to harness the public school system to highlight and celebrate contributions made by people who identify as LGBTQ.
The petition, however, raises concerns that the resolution may violate Alaska Statute, which requires advance parental notice before children are exposed to programs involving human reproduction or sexual matters. This includes sex-education, human-reproduction, or human-sexuality materials.
The petition states that board resolution should not independently add instructional content outside the legal process, and it asks Meinert to identify any planned October lessons, books, videos, speakers, or displays and to determine whether those trigger state laws regarding parental rights. If the resolution is merely ceremonial, the petitioners are asking the superintendent to say so in writing.
“Every student deserves to attend school without bullying or discrimination,” the petition states. “Parents also deserve transparency regarding what their children are taught and assurance that established laws, policies, and curriculum procedures will be followed.”
TAKING ACTION
— Click here to read the online petition.
12 Comments
Parents, fight for your rights for your children to not be indoctrinated into alternative lifestyles (LGBTQ) since the Fairbanks School Board does not have your best interests in mind. If no adequate response received, then I guess your best alternatives are removing your children from the system then: home schooling, sending them to a private school that hold your values you want taught to your children or just roll over and accept that they will be indoctrinated into the LGBTQ world without your say so. You decide what’s best for your children, not the School Board.
Amen
Hundreds of parents? If those hundreds of parents disenrolled their elementary and Jr high and high schoolers for Homeschooling. That decision will send the Northstar into a tailspin downward spiral into a Crisis.
AK Parents YOU DO HAVE THE UPPERHAND into determining curriculum. Somebody should had circulated that message while so many parents were listening into the school board.
There is a time when we Stand our ground and fight. This is not the time while childhood is do short and standing and fighting means losing one more year to Re educate your child. Parents can fight the school boards better by disenrollment.
Yes. When school districts are determined to go down that road (and it seems that many are), and they make parents who want a traditional education for their children have to fight for it, it is time to pull your kids out and let the public schools die on the vine. Districts have shown us time and time again that they will push DEI and LGBTQ+ regardless of parental input and at the expense of actual curriculum.
Don’t give up when it comes to our kids. It is a war not a battle!
We have grandchildren in the school system in North Pole. I will fight to keep this out of our schools. Its up to parents to teach the children about this if they choose. Keep our schools safe for the kids !
Thank you for covering this petition and helping bring attention to parents’ concerns. The more parents speak up, the harder our questions become to ignore.
The answer should not be for parents to feel that their only option is pulling their children from public schools and homeschooling. Our School Board is meant to represent the entire community and listen to families with different beliefs and perspectives.
Parents can be this district’s biggest supporters or its strongest critics. That relationship depends on how the Board chooses to partner with us. We are asking for transparency, teamwork and collaboration—not secrecy. Parents deserve a meaningful voice in decisions affecting our children’s education.
I agree to stop this resolution. I have many things to say but for now,I just want to support to stop this.This is not good for our children and this is twisting what is written in the bible. Yes we accept everybody we are all human,but it does not mean to support the actions that are againts the word of Jesus.
It’s striking how quickly parents organized once the resolution was passed. The petition is really about pausing implementation now, not reversing the board’s vote.
The Board is not listening. Of course in their opinion the general public is not bright enough to understand such complicated issues. There is where their own arrogance fails them. The public / parents know right from wrong, and this subject matter in our schools is wrong. Our children will make up their own minds about matters when they have reached the age of majority. We don’t need to trouble young people with such matters, they are there to learn the basics, and enjoy being a student and enjoying their school years, and all the special things that happen those years.
If the Board won’t listen, then it will require their removal.
I have a grandson in public school but because charter schools are so booked up and his mother HAS TO WORK. I very much disagree with what they are doing to our kids. This is absolutely unacceptable!!!! THIS IS NOT WHAT OUR TAX $$ SHOULD BE GOING TOWARDS!!!
This is the best thing that has happened in years. This has been being done in our schools with tge Schoool Board’s approval and promotion for at a minimum of five years that I know of. A few of us have testified against it, but to no avail. Thank you, Joq for bringing this forward.