On Thursday, parents in the Peoria Unified School District addressed the Governing Board with concerns they have with various issues including controversial school board training, Black Lives Matter messages in a high school yearbook, vaccine passports, and bounties on children.
The Board kept parents and members of the public waiting while they were behind closed doors in Executive Session. As the board members entered the boardroom, Board President David Sandoval made the announcement that the agenda had changed, and public comments would only be allowed to be made virtually.
Board member and State Representative Beverly Pingerelli quietly objected to the change of plans and Sandoval allowed public comment to occur in person.
At the same time Pingerelli was advocating for parents, a police officer, who was one of three called out to keep the peace, was on his knees praying the Board would allow parents to be heard.
The vast majority of comments were made in opposition to Critical Race Theory-based curriculum.
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Prior to the beginning of the meeting, parents greeted popular radio talk show host and former teacher, James T. Harris, of KFYI News Talk 550 AM, who had earlier in the week invited the public to come out and speak their minds. Harris had exposed the radical training Peoria Unified School District Board President David Sandoval had attended with other school board members from across the state in April.
The board took no action on curriculum matters on Thursday, but parents hope the message they sent will force the board to address the issue soon.