Idaho’s school board races will hinge on some familiar, hot-button issues
.jpg "Two West Ada school board seats are up for election on Tuesday. Candidates, from left, include Brent Hart running for Zone 1 and Anita Beckman running for Zone 3.")
Candidates are facing off in school board races Tuesday across the Treasure Valley as districts deal with a wide range of issues from mask mandates to communication with parents to claims of critical race theory instruction.
Many candidates are positioning themselves strongly around these issues, and parents and parent groups say these topics are playing a big part in their decisions for who they want to elect.
In West Ada, where the issue of school mask mandates has been particularly tense over the past several months, the only two seats that are up for election — those in Zones 1 and 3 — include candidates who are in support of “parental choice” on masks and vaccines, and those who have said they support mask mandates or other steps to keep kids safe in the classroom.
Lori Frasure, running in Zone 1, on her website said clearly she wants “parental choice for masks and vaccines.” Angie Redford, who is running for Zone 3, similarly said she believes parents should get to make their own decisions regarding masks and vaccines for their kids.
Frasure’s opponent, Brent Hart, said in an Idaho Statesman questionnaire he supports “measures that keep our kids in the classroom” and that it would be “irresponsible for West Ada schools to forgo COVID-19 measures.” Redford’s opponent, Anita Beckman, said in the same questionnaire she supports mask mandates and other COVID-19 mitigation protocols.
Frasure and Redford did not respond to the Statesman’s survey.
West Ada is currently requiring masks in the classroom.
Dave Binetti — who started the West Ada Parents Association, which supports a mask-optional policy — said the two fundamental issues in this election are parental choice and restoring trust in the district.
“Restoring the public trust has got to be the top priority,” he said. “We need to have better communication, we need to have better transparency, we need to have better accountability.”
In a voter guide, he recommended to the group Frasure in Zone 1 and Redford in Zone 3 — both candidates that support the mask-optional policy. Binetti said it was a “pretty clear choice.”
In Nampa, a similar fight is underway.
Three seats are up for election on the district’s school board this year.
Chandra Reyna, running for Zone 3, and Sarah Riley, running for Zone 4, both told the Statesman they support mask mandates. Patrick Tanner, running for Zone 5, said he would listen to advice from the medical community and would be in support of mitigation protocols if they were necessary to “preserve and maximize attendance and learning.”
On critical race theory, Riley and Tanner both said the theory is not something being taught in K-12 schools. Riley said talk of the theory is more of a “fear tactic.” Reyna said the theory has been “grossly misinterpreted” and described it as a tool to “better understand our society, correct past wrongs and avoid reproducing them in the future.”
On the other side, Reyna’s opponent, Tracey Pearson, said on her website she supports “parent choice, not mandates.” Brook Taylor, running in Zone 4, and Jeff Kirkman, running in Zone 5, both told the Statesman they do not support mask mandates. All three candidates have also said they oppose critical race theory.
The Nampa School District currently has a mask-optional policy.
A group called Nampa Parents 4 Truth was formed last month to provide “accurate, transparent and relevant information for those seeking to learn more about issues impacting children and families” in the district ahead of the November election.
Representatives from the group said one of the key issues in the race is whether candidates support mask and vaccine mandates. Other issues include whether candidates have indicated they will work with the administration, along with curriculum issues such as social-emotional learning and “the false claim that CRT is being taught,” they said. They also want trustees who will listen to and represent all of the voices in the community.
The group’s representatives said they support candidates who will listen to health care professionals and follow the science when it comes to masks and vaccines. Public health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the past several months have recommended that schools require masks in the classroom. The group also said on its Facebook page the claim that critical race theory is being taught in Nampa schools is “ridiculous” and that they support social-emotional learning.
The group has recommended Reyna from Zone 3, Riley from Zone 4 and Tanner from Zone 5. The group said those are moderate voices not “dispelling extremist thoughts.”
Representatives from the group also said they hope voters will look at more than just the handling of COVID-19 in casting their votes. There’s so much more to school than the virus, they said.
Stephanie Edwards, one of the admins for the Facebook group Nampa Parents & Teachers for Fully Opened NSD Schools, said the coronavirus is on everyone’s priority list right now. That group supports “obstacle-free learning environments.”
“Obstacles are, but not limited to, inaccessibility to teachers due to physical distancing, facial coverings of any kind, and remote access only,” the group said on its Facebook page.
Edwards said the way candidates have said they would handle COVID-19 protocols — and whether they support mandates or parental choice in schools — is “a reflection of how they feel about other things.”
But it’s more than just the issue of COVID-19, she said. She said she wanted to make sure the board had a diversity of viewpoints.
“I’m interested in candidates who are willing to listen to community members and communicate and interact with community members and parents,” she said.
Edwards, who lives in Zone 5, is planning to support Kirkman.
Samantha Kallas, a teacher at an elementary school in Nampa, emphasized that voters need to know trustees will remain on the board when COVID-19 becomes less of an emergency.
She said it feels like some candidates are getting “blinded” by COVID-19 and aren’t necessarily thinking in the long term.
The job of school board officials is vast, she said, and includes maintaining a budget, dealing with district staffing issues and making a variety of other decisions, including on curriculum.
Kallas said she hopes parents know and understand the position of candidates on everything from critical race theory and social-emotional learning to math and science.
High engagement, concerns over politicization
Parents said the engagement they have seen in this election cycle has been off the charts compared to past races.
Up until about a year and a half ago, Edwards said few people paid much attention to the school board.
“I sure didn’t,” she said.
Some parents predicted turnout for the school board elections could be higher than usual.
But some voters and candidates have also expressed concerns over what they say is the politicization of the school board races.
“This year some are trying to politicize our local government races, to turn non-partisan races into partisan ones where ideology counts more than competency and common sense,” reads an open letter from Idaho Business for Education, signed by many of its members.
“This partisanship will bring the same dysfunction to the routine task of running our schools, fire departments and parks that we see in Washington, D.C.”
The letter warned the futures of schools and cities depend on voters getting informed and turning out for the elections.
Some school board candidates, including Hart, have expressed concern over outside money being raised in the races. He said on Facebook he believes in local control and “keeping our school board elections about the issues rather than who can raise and spend the most money.”
On the Facebook page for the West Ada Education Association, the teachers union warned the district needs to be run by “pro-public education, pro-educator trustees.”
“In the toxic political climate we are in today, dozens of individuals across Idaho are looking to initiate a hostile takeover of our school boards and the Idaho School Boards Association,” the group wrote. “This is not hyperbole, and I am not trying to scare you into taking action; this is simply a matter of fact.”
