Although they weren’t permitted to directly address the firing of a Cobb County School District teacher over Georgia’s “divisive concepts” in education law, parents, teachers and other citizens found a creative way to get their point across on Thursday.
During a public comment session at a Cobb Board of Education meeting, a speaker read from the book that got fifth-grade teacher Katie Rinderle fired from her position at Due West Elementary School.
The book in question, “My Shadow is Purple,” by Australian author Scott Stuart, is a picture book about a child of elementary school age who doesn’t identify as a boy or a girl, but falls into what has been called by some as “non-binary.”
Among the charges against Rinderle is that she told students to use “they/them” pronouns to refer to the main character of the book instead of a gender-specific identifier.
Speakers at the school board meetings were told by Suzann Wilcox, the school board attorney, they couldn’t comment about a pending personnel matter. Rinderle is appealing her termination and a hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 10.
The Cobb school district concluded the subject matter taught by Rinderle violates the 2022 divisive concepts law, which bars educators from teaching that racism is “systematically” racist, that a group of people is inherently “oppressive” and covers some issues about sex and gender identity.
The law that prompted an outcry from teachers and education organizations across the state as being draconian and lawsuits have been filed.
Rinderle’s termination, which came after the school district investigated complaints by Due West parents, is the first in Georgia since the law was passed.
For some parents, who came to the school board meeting wearing purple shirts saying “Ban Bias Not Books,” the action smacks of what they claim is the district’s lack of an embrace of a diversity and inclusion agenda.
Jeff Hubbard, president of the Cobb County Association of Educators, asked that the district reinstitute “No Place for Hate,” a curriculum program developed by the Anti-Defamation League.
That was removed shortly before the Cobb school board voted in 2021 to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory.
Anna Clay, who said she is a Cobb teacher, was wearing a purple shirt.
She said the schools “should be welcoming of all students. Some are boys. Some are girls. Some are neither. Some are trans. Some are still figuring it out. They all deserve to be treated with respect. They all deserve to be represented in classroom literature.
“Our students are human beings, not divisive concepts.”
Michael Garza of East Cobb adapted a portion of the book’s text to explain his some of his educational experiences, and to comment on the Cobb school district’s actions.
“What I am left wondering is why is hate speech always free, yet your administration is quick to dismiss speech that validates me,” he said. “Being gay, being brown, being Jewish, being different is not a sin. When we all band together, your bigoted policies will not win.”
At a Thursday afternoon work session, Caryn Sonderman of East Cobb thanked the district for not allowing the teaching of those issues.
She said that the “truth is found in only one source God’s word. . . Are you building the kingdom of Satan or are you building the kingdom of God?”
“Children are being confused and deceived when God clearly made a man and a woman, a boy and girl, and you influence children to get them to think they can be other than what God made them to be.”
Board members did not comment, but later in the meeting approved a request by Superintendent Chris Ragsdale to give him authority to establish procedures and create a list of qualified candidates to serve on tribunals that conduct personnel hearings that are submitted to the school board.
“Tribunal members must possess academic expertise and must be impartial,” according to the agenda item, which was passed on the consent agenda.
During a brief discussion at the work session, the matter involving Rinderle was not mentioned.
Related:
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- Federal judge sides with Cobb schools in redistricting suit
- Cobb school board member fined for campaign finance violations
- New principal profiles at East Cobb schools for 2023-24
- Convicted ex-Kell HS teacher subject of true-crime series
- Cobb school board Post 5 candidates file financial disclosure reports
- Dodgen MS assistant principal named Dickerson MS principal
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