Upheaval continues in the wake of bizarre behavior exhibited by Litchfield Elementary School District board member Kimberly Moran and the secrecy involving the District’s “Equity Statement.” Moran and fellow board member Melissa Zuidema are now the subjects of a recall effort.
Moran first raised concerns about her fitness for office among parents when she flashed a handmade sign that read “not true” during a Board meeting in April while parents were addressing the board.
Parents had come before the board to address their concerns with the District’s “Equity Statement,” which is based on the work of Ibram X. Kendi, the controversial Director of the “Antiracist Research & Policy Center” at American University.
Latina mother, Renee Card, who has been an outspoken opponent of the Critical Race Theory-based “Equity Statement, and Ryan Owens, a father of two, announced their intention to run to replace Moran and Zuidema.
Card, Owens and their supporters say they are taking action in order “to protect the educational opportunities of the children.”
They believe Moran must go due to her “failure to uphold the oath of her position as a governing board member.”
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“Service as a governing board member in public education requires adherence to the laws of our state, yet Ms. Moran has demonstrated a complete lack of respect for and competency,” says the group.
They accuse Moran of having “willingly violated the Arizona Open Meeting Law, repeatedly displayed behavior that is unbecoming of an elected official, and has sought to intimidate and silence parents with complete disregard for the position of trust to which she was elected.”
Zuidema is accused of placing her “personal agenda regarding “Equity” work being done in the district above” her responsibility as a board member.
Zuidema’s “active support and attention to advancing a highly partisan and divisive curriculum into our schools, while test scores decline and enrollment numbers drop, signal a need for accountability and demonstrate the need for her removal,” says he group.