Are School Board Members Trying to Silence Parents in Maine?

By: Ronda Snyder – This article contains commentary which reflects the author’s opinions

When one thinks of Maine, California or New York doesn’t typically come to mind. However, given some of the draconian measures by local school boards in Maine that align with various measures implemented in California and New York, one has to wonder if we should start referring to Maine as “Mecany” (the abbreviations for ME-CA-NY).

Parents standing up for their children are being labeled “extremists” for questioning school boards and school administrators at public meetings about their edicts for masks, quarantine rules (that make no sense to anyone who can think logically) and for asking questions about CRT (Critical Race Theory). The attempts to silence voices of parents is disheartening and wrong.

One such school board member is Jennie Moroney Butler from RSU 14 which serves the Windham Raymond School District.

In a since deleted post in the Windham & Raymond Parenting Community group on Facebook, Butler shared a post on how to silence the “extremist parents” who had concerns about CRT being taught in schools. The post described how some parents documented public comments for 3 months so they were “more than prepared when anti-CRT rhetoric” from “right wing extremists” came to school board meetings. The post goes on to say “This greatly angered the CRT crowd and they soon stopped speaking. Eventually they stopped showing up at all.” The post concludes “Fighting back against extremism can be scary but the results are more than worth it.”

Later, after apparently realizing it was very bad judgment on her part to post what she was really thinking about “right wing extremist parents,” Butler deleted the post.

Parents in RSU 14 are unhappy that their voices are being stifled and silenced.

Here’s a tip for school boards and school administrators, don’t make rules that make no sense and are based on fear rather than reason. Here’s an example, while this is not a photo of an RSU 14 student, it does show the type of mask that is used for RSU 14 band members according to a parent with whom we spoke.

As always, thank you for reading Maine Journal News. You can follow or LIKE us on Facebook (should Facebook decide to allow a LIKE button to appear…tis a fickle thing that is): www.facebook.com/mainejournalnews. Please continue to email us story ideas, tips and screenshots at mainejournalnews@gmail.com or rsnyder@mainejournalnews.com.

As a final note: We are a completely self-funded independent organization. As MJN grows, we have more and more expenses, for websites, equipment (we just got some new mics so our live videos are easier to hear, for example), software, travel expenses, etc. so please consider donating to keep us doing what we’ve been doing here at MJN. Please note: MJN is not 501(c)(3) organization. As such, your donations are not tax deductible. No services or products will be rendered to you in exchange for your donation. We have two ways for you to donate so that we can bring you more content like the story above:

By Venmo: @MJN207

By PayPal: Donate (paypal.com)

Thank you for your continued support of independent journalism. Unlike local media, we consider all of you part of MJN and value your comments, emails and messages. We couldn’t do what we do without you.

3 thoughts on “Are School Board Members Trying to Silence Parents in Maine?”

  1. The Karens are out in force and organized to stifle any/all dissent. Thank you Windham voters for empowering all Karens. NOT!

  2. When are parents going to stand up for the abuse by these administrators? Our kids should not be forced to cover their faces to protect the feelings of the sheep. If they want to keep their kid masked up and keep jabbing them with an experiment then have at it. Leave the rest of us alone!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *