Parents are organizing to recall six members of the Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) School Board who kept schools closed and reportedly allowed and encouraged Critical Race Theory curriculum. LCPS parent Ian Prior – one of the leaders behind Fight For Schools, the recall effort – informed The Virginia Star that they have secured more than the 10 percent of votes each member obtained during the last election – and they’ve been busy gathering more.
“At last count last Sunday, we were at 60 percent for Beth Barts, 54 percent for Ian Serotkin, 42 percent for Denise Corbo, 27 percent for Leslee King, 24 percent for Brenda Sheridan, and 20 percent for Atoosa Reaser. That was 10 days ago. People are out there collecting signatures: going door-to-door and attending events,” explained Prior. “We want to make sure that we have more signatures than required, which will obviously protect us from any challenges or whatnot. We’re still determining the best way forward.”
Sheridan is the board chair, and Reaser is the vice-chair. Prior said that Fight for Schools will publish an updated number of signatures early next week. He noted that they have multiple different strategies – none of which will occur next week or even next month. Prior clarified that this kind of effort will take months. The next biggest developments will likely occur around July or August.
The six members were part of a secret Facebook group, “Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County,” that advocated the doxxing and hacking of parents opposed to Critical Race Theory. None of the board members intervened at the time; since then, police have been investigating. That prompted Prior to found the nonpartisan group Loudoun Parents for Education (LPE) in March, he told The Star, with the goal of fighting against LCPS’s COVID-related school closures and Critical Race Theory curriculum. Prior and other parents have dubbed the Anti-Racist Parents members, “Chardonnay Antifa.” Soon after LPE formed, their group launched the campaign to recall the board members: Fight For Schools.
Prior began investigating LCPS curriculum early last fall, publishing opinion pieces in local papers concerning LCPS proposals such as punishing school employees for speech outside of school. His efforts followed closely behind those of another LCPS parent, Scott Mineo, who founded Parents Against Critical Race Theory (PACT) in September of last year: a grassroots effort investigating LCPS curriculum and practices. Mineo and PACT were also targeted in the Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County private Facebook page.
“I was just doing it as sort of a parent watchdog. I thought it was interesting. I was trying to get to the bottom of what was going on,” recalled Prior.
Prior explained to The Star that his investigative efforts ceased from November through March – until reports revealed that LCPS School Board members were part of a group calling for the doxxing and hacking of parents against Critical Race Theory. That recaptured his interest, and inspired him to incite change.
“I think it’s somewhat amusing to see that some in the media and those allied with the school board think this is some kind of massive Republican-powered organization, when in reality it’s parents, Democrats, independents, and Republicans that really just got together and said that this school board and school system have completely failed us and our children on multiple levels, and they are simply not qualified to serve any longer because they’ve lost our trust,” said Prior.
In the Fight for Schools campaign video, LPE explained that multiple incidents with these six board members prompted the recall effort.
For over a year, Loudoun County children and parents have struggled with school closures and distance learning. But the Loudoun County School Board put their focus elsewhere: infecting our schools with Critical Race Theory, training teachers that Christians are ‘oppressors,’ and teaching children about their white privilege and white fragility. Shockingly, law enforcement is investigating a secret online group that included six school board members. This group was soliciting money and volunteers to infiltrate, cancel, and even commit cyber crimes against parents who wanted to open schools or to stop their divisive agenda. One school board member even endorsed an official committee to ‘silence the opposition.’ That same committee suggested firing teachers that felt uncomfortable with Critical Race Theory training. Parents and teachers are fighting back. They’re recalling the six school board members who stood by and did nothing while parents were targeted, while neglecting their duty to reopen schools.
That secret Facebook group referenced in the video, “Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County,” has since been deleted.
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Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Loudon County School Board Members” by Loudon County Public Schools.
Good luck to them! Thank you all.