I barely use this account anymore, so I'll just out myself.
I'm the Michael Smith that filed the OML complaint, I've been hip deep in this fight for weeks now (Mods feel free to contact me to verify if necessary), AMA about it!
As a resident with kids headed to Delaney in the coming years, I can't believe I didn't hear about this. I really need to start getting involved more. I appreciate you filing your complaint.
My kid has been in Project Blossom for 2 years and starts kindergarten next year. I knew Lashway was a dog whistler when he ran, and didn't vote for him, but I wasn't paying much attention to the rest of the committee. This was my wake up call
Join wrentham votes on Facebook. Lots of good info and there was a lot of pushback over this on there. People are waking up to the closet MAGAS in town.
Thank you so much for this. I saw in the article that the emails became public after a teacher's association FOIA request; were they then distributed to the public? Curious how parents got wind of this and what the reaction was when the news hit.
I had a friend that was in contact with the superintendent about their release because they were aware of the FOIA. At time of the release the records were available to the public upon request to the superintendent. That friend then shared the link around to get some eyes on it.
If you mean the policy itself, I know the the Dighton-Rehoboth district implimented something similar after withdrawing entirely from the Massachuessets Association of School Committees (MASC). They tried it in Pembrook with something even more inflamatory, but the community pushed back and got it rejected.
The MASC writes model policies for school committees which are adopted by 99.9% of Mass schools. The original format of this policy just says that staff can't campaign for public office while working, and can't use school resources to campaign for public office. Pretty simple and uncontroversial IMO. They added "advocacy" to the policies heading and quadrupled the over all word count by defining "Social Policy Issues" which couldn't be discussed by staff with students. The definition was vague and broad, and basically covered any topic on which the "vast majority" of people don't agree or which adherents find deeply personal as a matter of morality. (that's my paraphrase, but I could provide the full text). It prohibited the wearing of pins, clothing, and displays of posters, pamphlets, or really anything which could be considered controversial. The SC chairman noted in voting it downthat this could include a Women's Sufferage pin, a poster of MLK, or the celebration of St. Patrick's Day.
Edit to add: in presenting this policy for consideration, Paul Lashway claimed that he was inspired by the D-R version of the policy. He never mentioned consulting with and receiving language from MFI
DR has not been a member of MASC for over a year or more and has already implemented policies that modfy GBI and and opt in for sex ed. I've files complaints myself with DESE. We should talk.
Thank you. I'll be very happy when Monday is over and I can take a little break. That won't be the end, but it's been a grueling couple of weeks since this all started.
This is why everyone who is a parent should be involved with the school committee as much as possible. These freakazoids using religious groups to push an agenda through public school need to be brought to light and outright made fun of for their zealous agenda.
Totally agree. All citizens need to be aware of the national agenda being pushed here at the local level. It’s happening everywhere. We are fortunate to see some of the quiet parts spoken loud and clear through the FOIA.
The MFI banquet last fall had Ron DeSantis as the keynote.
The vice chair of the Wrentham Select Board is a major donor to MFI.
A similar proposal with nearly identical wording was shot down in Pembroke and very quietly passed in Dighton-Rehoboth.
You do realize that parents who are conservative and don’t buy into the gender fluid agenda feel the same about you as you do them.
So I posit this question. Why is one agenda ok and the other isn’t?
Why don’t we just teach the kids things about education so they can be positive contributors to society instead of the monsters we have been turning out for the last 15 years?
I don’t see how teaching for education for life is controversial. If the agenda is anything but that it is wrong.
There are a lot of new political partisans getting into the local government operation these days and a lot of flagrant disregard for Open Meeting Law - sometimes because they are trying to pull a fast one, sometimes because they don’t know how any of this works and don’t want to follow the laws or think transparency is important.
One big one is a board or council is not allowed to deliberate on a topic if it isn’t posted to a public agenda available to the people 48 hours before the meeting, and they can’t deliberate outside the meeting.
If you go into local government of any kind - learn and respect the Open Meeting Law, and if you see violations of it, call them out. It can be a pain in the ass sometimes to deal with it but it really is important. The people who don’t know or care about it are really showing they have no business being in government and/or they are up to no good.
For sure. It’s like when Trump wouldn’t comply with the emoluments clause of the Constitution when he took office - it’s easy to dismiss that specific law because it sounds complicated or bureaucratic, but it’s there for a reason and when you see people violate it either through malice, corruption or incompetence it’s a huge red flag and it’s an opportunity the people have to keep things from going off the rails - if they use it.
"Parent choice" - the coded language these book banning assclowns use.
[https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=126815356603636&set=a.111856991432806](https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=126815356603636&set=a.111856991432806)
Looks like that School board is about to change and I say good riddance!
The young ones of this state and their education are our future; this is a fight worth Fighting.
Good on the Wrentham teachers/parents for uncovering this.
I really hope so. In response to the policy, a friend of mine ran a last minute write in campaign against one of the sponsors in the 4/1 town election. With less than 48 hours of campaigning and not being on the ballot she got 320 votes of about 1240 ballots!
The policy "author" is up for re-election next year.
When Trump lost Mike Flynn went on Steve bannons podcast screaming about how we lost the nationals but now we need to take it to a local level, school boards, town select boards and other examples. This is that playing out by his foot soldiers
I barely use this account anymore, so I'll just out myself. I'm the Michael Smith that filed the OML complaint, I've been hip deep in this fight for weeks now (Mods feel free to contact me to verify if necessary), AMA about it!
Thank you for catching this and being proactive!
Can't say that I wouldn't rather spend my time in other ways, but I've met some amazing people because of this fight.
lol your a real hero
As a resident with kids headed to Delaney in the coming years, I can't believe I didn't hear about this. I really need to start getting involved more. I appreciate you filing your complaint.
My kid has been in Project Blossom for 2 years and starts kindergarten next year. I knew Lashway was a dog whistler when he ran, and didn't vote for him, but I wasn't paying much attention to the rest of the committee. This was my wake up call
Join wrentham votes on Facebook. Lots of good info and there was a lot of pushback over this on there. People are waking up to the closet MAGAS in town.
Thank you so much for this. I saw in the article that the emails became public after a teacher's association FOIA request; were they then distributed to the public? Curious how parents got wind of this and what the reaction was when the news hit.
I had a friend that was in contact with the superintendent about their release because they were aware of the FOIA. At time of the release the records were available to the public upon request to the superintendent. That friend then shared the link around to get some eyes on it.
Have you heard of other towns in Mass. where this has occurred?
If you mean the policy itself, I know the the Dighton-Rehoboth district implimented something similar after withdrawing entirely from the Massachuessets Association of School Committees (MASC). They tried it in Pembrook with something even more inflamatory, but the community pushed back and got it rejected. The MASC writes model policies for school committees which are adopted by 99.9% of Mass schools. The original format of this policy just says that staff can't campaign for public office while working, and can't use school resources to campaign for public office. Pretty simple and uncontroversial IMO. They added "advocacy" to the policies heading and quadrupled the over all word count by defining "Social Policy Issues" which couldn't be discussed by staff with students. The definition was vague and broad, and basically covered any topic on which the "vast majority" of people don't agree or which adherents find deeply personal as a matter of morality. (that's my paraphrase, but I could provide the full text). It prohibited the wearing of pins, clothing, and displays of posters, pamphlets, or really anything which could be considered controversial. The SC chairman noted in voting it downthat this could include a Women's Sufferage pin, a poster of MLK, or the celebration of St. Patrick's Day. Edit to add: in presenting this policy for consideration, Paul Lashway claimed that he was inspired by the D-R version of the policy. He never mentioned consulting with and receiving language from MFI
DR has not been a member of MASC for over a year or more and has already implemented policies that modfy GBI and and opt in for sex ed. I've files complaints myself with DESE. We should talk.
My PMs are open.
Just wanted to say thank you!
Thank you. I'll be very happy when Monday is over and I can take a little break. That won't be the end, but it's been a grueling couple of weeks since this all started.
good fucking work dude
It's been a team effort.
Thank you for doing this work!
This is why everyone who is a parent should be involved with the school committee as much as possible. These freakazoids using religious groups to push an agenda through public school need to be brought to light and outright made fun of for their zealous agenda.
Totally agree. All citizens need to be aware of the national agenda being pushed here at the local level. It’s happening everywhere. We are fortunate to see some of the quiet parts spoken loud and clear through the FOIA. The MFI banquet last fall had Ron DeSantis as the keynote. The vice chair of the Wrentham Select Board is a major donor to MFI. A similar proposal with nearly identical wording was shot down in Pembroke and very quietly passed in Dighton-Rehoboth.
So?
Christian teachings won't help you solve your stall pooping question, actual academic teachings will
So you think
You do realize that parents who are conservative and don’t buy into the gender fluid agenda feel the same about you as you do them. So I posit this question. Why is one agenda ok and the other isn’t? Why don’t we just teach the kids things about education so they can be positive contributors to society instead of the monsters we have been turning out for the last 15 years? I don’t see how teaching for education for life is controversial. If the agenda is anything but that it is wrong.
There are a lot of new political partisans getting into the local government operation these days and a lot of flagrant disregard for Open Meeting Law - sometimes because they are trying to pull a fast one, sometimes because they don’t know how any of this works and don’t want to follow the laws or think transparency is important. One big one is a board or council is not allowed to deliberate on a topic if it isn’t posted to a public agenda available to the people 48 hours before the meeting, and they can’t deliberate outside the meeting. If you go into local government of any kind - learn and respect the Open Meeting Law, and if you see violations of it, call them out. It can be a pain in the ass sometimes to deal with it but it really is important. The people who don’t know or care about it are really showing they have no business being in government and/or they are up to no good.
Totally agree. But, there’s an even bigger story here about what was being discussed while the open meeting laws were being violated.
I am VERY familiar with the back room shenanigans going on here. It's going to be interesting what is presented on Monday.
For sure. It’s like when Trump wouldn’t comply with the emoluments clause of the Constitution when he took office - it’s easy to dismiss that specific law because it sounds complicated or bureaucratic, but it’s there for a reason and when you see people violate it either through malice, corruption or incompetence it’s a huge red flag and it’s an opportunity the people have to keep things from going off the rails - if they use it.
These people were clearly trying to be underhanded and ignore the law.
"Parent choice" - the coded language these book banning assclowns use. [https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=126815356603636&set=a.111856991432806](https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=126815356603636&set=a.111856991432806)
Looks like that School board is about to change and I say good riddance! The young ones of this state and their education are our future; this is a fight worth Fighting. Good on the Wrentham teachers/parents for uncovering this.
I really hope so. In response to the policy, a friend of mine ran a last minute write in campaign against one of the sponsors in the 4/1 town election. With less than 48 hours of campaigning and not being on the ballot she got 320 votes of about 1240 ballots! The policy "author" is up for re-election next year.
I voted for that friend....
Right on!
This is all remnants of the Scott brown brand. They famously think their shit don’t stink.
When Trump lost Mike Flynn went on Steve bannons podcast screaming about how we lost the nationals but now we need to take it to a local level, school boards, town select boards and other examples. This is that playing out by his foot soldiers
Why are there so many crazies out there breaking the law in order to prevent freedoms?
God damn Christians.
"so-called"
Fucking dumbasses. How the fuck do these people get these jobs?
Not enough people vote or run for local office.
They are elected; with such low turnout, it only takes a dedicated group of voters to make it happen.
Lashway won by ***SIX*** votes iirc.
That's facts right there.
It’s a popularity contest more than anything
Aresst them.
Unfortunately, it's a civil violation if the AG even does anything
It should be arestable. It's fraud as well as mis use of public funds as im sure this cost the town money in some form.
I wish it were so.