Who Made the Call to Paint Over the Nagel Mural?
New information from community members indicates that Superintendent Larry Hook likely erased the mural at the direction of board members. Sources suggest Hook may have taken ownership of the decision to misdirect community frustration and to avoid influencing the November election. The Superintendent role is not an elected position, and thus not held accountable with an election cycle.
AdvocateFHSD gathering evidence
AdvocateFHSD.org submitted a public records request on August 15, and as of the publishing of this blog entry, the district has not yet responded. We are concerned that the delay could buy time for board members to conceal communications, as there is potential evidence that at least one board member has done so already.
In September of 2022, Township Trustee public records requests by AdvocateFHSD.org related to the high school consolidation efforts produced text messages between Board Member Sara Jonas and Trustee Lexi Lausten as well as between Jonas and Dee Stone. Jonas stated in an email obtained through PRR that she had no “record to share”. If Jonas or any member of the board acted to conceal or obfuscate the text records would demonstrate yet another example where board behavior contradicts their stated goal around transparency. It is possibly a violation of the Records Retention Act, ORC 149.351 putting the district at risk of yet another lawsuit, and reason for the community to express concern for adherence to the laws on record retention.
If one board member was potentially willing to shield public information about basic communications, is there a risk they’d take more aggressive action to circumvent communications subject to FOIA, or hide the evidence of more controversial decisions?
What is the Motivation?
Mr. Hook is shielded by a multi-year contract, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports was approved by 4 of 5 board members in 2022. Might one of the board members prefer for him to take responsibility for painting over the mural? If so, who?
- Members Bibb, Hausfeld, Jonas, and Stewart have been clear on their positions since the 2021 campaign as reported by local news and at the 2021 Republican only meet the candidates night at American Legion Anderson Post 318 (video below).
- “Culture of Kindness” Resolution introduced by Sara Jonas seeks to ban assignments that require students to consider race, class, religion, and sexual identity.
- Members Bibb, Hausfeld, and Jonas have demonstrated antagonism towards other diversity representation, such as when they cancelled “Diversity Day” (Jonas Deposition, page 74)
Community members have pointed to the relationships some board members have with anti-inclusion groups such as the local chapter of Moms for Liberty – chaired by Board President Hausfeld’s sister, Kimberly Georgeton, a recent candidate for Ohio State Rep – as a possible connection. The Moms for Liberty group is well known nationally for it’s efforts to support the “don’t say gay” legislation in Florida and scale it across the United States.
Moms for Liberty is a conservative non-profit group known for anti-LGBTQ+ attacks and efforts to ban books, remove comprehensive sexual education from curriculum and gain control of school boards. Recently categorized as an anti-government extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, its members have publicly suggested students identifying as LGBTQ should be segregated and separated from mainstream classrooms, among many other wild claims and actions. Nationwide, Moms for Liberty has grown to 285 chapters in 44 states.
Board President Linda Hausfeld recently attended the Hamilton County Moms for Liberty event, where she was billed as the key speaker, and candidate Kevin Comerford was billed as a supported candidate (Mom’s for Liberty does not officially endorse candidates as that may jeopardize their 501(c)(3) status).
With so much evidence that the board fully supports anti-inclusion practices, Hook likely did not need to appease the board, as he claimed – he knew he had their full support whether or not it was expressly provided.
Could this action influence the November 2023 School Board election?
With only weeks to go until the November 7, 2023 election day, one certainly questions the impact of some decisions within the district may have on the upcoming election, which could motivate need for deflection of responsibility from the board to Hook . Voters will choose two candidates to serve on the school board this November.
Where then, do the candidates stand on this issue and how could that influence the election? Democratic endorsed candidates released statements via their websites. No statements have been released by the Republican Endorsed candidates, or unendorsed candidate Kris Wahlke, who has positioned himself as focused on the single issue of reinstating the Anderson mascot, referring to the changeover that occurred several years ago, as covered by local news WCPO in 2018, although the decision to change the mascot did not occur until 2020.
AdvocateFHSD.org researched public material to discern candidate positions. Through a public records request, we obtained an email from Mr. Ken Kuhn from April 2021 supporting the passage of the ‘Culture of Kindness’ resolution, saying passage would “Prevent any discussion of diversity day going forward in its present form next school year’ and “Make it clear the curriculum for next school year will not contain the divisive tools you ran against, CRT, SEL etc.”
More recently, Kevin Comerford signed the Moms for Liberty Pledge, aligning himself to the same organization as Linda Hausfeld, potentially carrying that ideology beyond November, when her tenure ends.
The Republican platform does not appear to have changed since the 2021 election. Published and distributed material from Republican Ward Chairs highlights that the current board has “Stopped the advancement of DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging).” Evidence also shows that candidate positions align with actions guided by the current board.
No public records were found related to Kris Wahlke’s position, and to date, no website for his candidacy has been observed.
Democrat-endorsed candidates Wendy Strickler-Biederman and Jason Simmons have both provided recent statements on their public social media that starkly contrast the district’s actions. Wendy stated “Jason and I are running for school board on values, not politics. We value our community. We value and trust our teachers. We value belonging. And we stand with our district’s students this evening, especially those who feel silenced and marginalized.”
In addition, Strickler-Biederman had emailed the district in 2022 to support expanding Diversity day to both Turpin and Anderson High Schools.
We will update the blog once a response to our PRR is received.
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