It's not a good time to be a Northern Virginia Democrat, particularly when it comes to schools. For a while, it was a great time. Officials in counties like Loudoun and Fairfax could do whatever they wanted, no matter how unethical or illegal, with zero repercussions.
But elections have consequences. In just the past few weeks, Loudoun County Superintendant Scott Zeigler was found guilty of retaliating against a teacher who exposed sexual assaults in Loudoun schools, courts unsealed records showing how Loudoun County officials covered up those assaults, Governor Glenn Younkin pardoned the father who was being railroaded for standing up for his daughter who was a victim of those assaults, and Attorney General Jason Miyares is investigating Fairfax officials for corruption and election interference. (And this isn't even getting into the Susanna Gibson x-rated saga.)
Now comes even more bad news out of Fairfax County. On Monday, The Washington Examiner published an op-ed from Fairfax parent and Independent Women's Network (IWN) member Stephanie Lundquist-Arora with damning accusations against Fairfax County schools and its Chief Equity Officer
Is Fairfax County Public Schools’s chief equity officer hiding its student reeducation training from parents? https://t.co/ISv4L3jQGs
— Harry Jackson (@HarryJ4Justice) October 2, 2023
First of all, why does a school district need a 'Chief Equity Officer'?
But setting that aside for the moment, the allegations made by Lundquist-Arora are damning.
Fairfax County’s school district updated its code of conduct this year to include a 'required culturally responsive, learning intervention' for students with first-time 'hate speech' infractions. In Fairfax County, hate speech is defined in the broadest sense possible to include 'misgendering.'
The Fairfax 'Code of Conduct' alone is horrific. It includes the right of students 'to a school and classroom environment that affirms the identity of all students' and 'the right to access restroom and locker room facilities and other non-stigmatizing accommodations that are consistent with the student’s gender identity.'
Here is the same school district's definition of 'hate speech':
Any form of expression intended to humiliate or incite hatred against a group or class of persons based upon their actual or perceived race, ethnicity, color, national origin, citizenship/immigration status, weight, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, or disability.
'Actual or perceived.' Read that again. Identify as a non-binary, person of color from Botswana? Everyone must affirm that. Identify as disabled? Affirm that too. Identify as weighing 100 pounds when you weigh 180? Yep, you're in.
But it gets so much worse. As a concerned parent, Lundquist-Arora tried to contact the school district to get clarification on the vague rules and what is involved with 're-education.'
I emailed the district’s superintendent, Michelle Reid, to inquire who is responsible for leading this 'learning intervention' and what it entails. Reid forwarded my request to her team, including the district’s chief equity officer, Nardos King.
Several days later, I emailed Reid and King for a status update on the training. There was no response.
The following week, I emailed them again, this time with the PPRA office’s email address copied. That day, Reid responded, “After checking in with the team, these are still under development and will be shared as soon as they are completed.”
Beg your pardon? You are implementing re-education for students for the current school year and you haven't even completed the guidelines? But that didn't stop you from forcing students to take a quiz on the code of conduct, did it?
Regarding the reeducation training, parents are left wondering: Are Fairfax administrators incompetent, or are they trying to hide something?
In fairness, either of these two explanations is possible. The district’s superintendent and school board members are in favor of hiding children’s gender identities from their parents, so it would not be surprising if they are hiding the training materials as well. And about Fairfax’s competence, I am less than confident in the district’s administrators.
As for Chief Equity Officer King herself, her current salary is over $230,000 per year (and we still can't figure out the work she does to justify a quarter million), even though the district's salary guidelines for teachers max out at $130,000. Administrators in Fairfax County are doing quite well for themselves:
Lundquist-Arora also questions why King was promoted to this position when, as a school principal in Alexandria, Virginia, she advertised a weight loss and sex enhancement product called 'Body Magic' in the school yearbook. A product that she sold.
@FCPSSupt - as a reminder your so-called equal outcomes expert "Dr." Nardos King, after she slinked away for putting an ad an @fcpsnews school yearbook selling her snake oil, went to @BaltCitySchools. You might have promoted a 🍋. https://t.co/mq1gqjoCOc
— Jo-Anne Sears (@JoAnnePSears) September 22, 2023
A final question from Lundquist-Arora:
Is her unresponsiveness and failure to produce training materials born out of incompetence or something more nefarious? The answer is likely both.
Yes. Embrace the power of 'AND.'
She's both incompetent and hiding information from the community. This is a #mustread for voters in Fairfax County.
— AnneB (@AnneB5191536) October 2, 2023
It's also interesting that King deactivated her Twitter account. She hardly seems interested in responding to the questions and serving the needs of parents in her school district.
Care to comment @FCPSSupt ? BTW - we note that Dr. Nardos King LEFT this platform. Please convey to her our kind request for comments.
— Norma Margulies (@MarguliesNorma) October 2, 2023
Given the runaround that Superintendent Reid gave to Lundquist-Arora, don't expect a response anytime soon.
For the moment, the concerns made public by Lundquist-Arora are only allegations leveled by a concerned parent. However, given the history of Northern Virginia school districts and their now-proven coverups and illicit behavior, you will forgive us for thinking that there is probably some fire related to the smoke we see here too.
* * *
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy Twitchy's conservative reporting taking on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth. Join Twitchy VIP and use the promo code SAVEAMERICA to get 40% off your VIP membership!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member