Ohio School Boards Association quits national group as passions rise over critical race theory, masks and vaccines at local meetings

COLUMBUS — The Ohio School Boards Association voted Monday night to cut ties with the National School Boards Association, becoming the latest organization to break away after the group sent a letter to President Joe Biden seeking federal law enforcement and assistance over increased threats and intimidation at local meetings. By ending its relationship with the national organization, the Ohio School Boards Association joins associations in Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Missouri that took offense to the National School Board Association's Sept. 29 letter, which said the acts "could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes." This lead to an uproar across the country by people who interpreted the letter to mean that protesters were domestic terrorists. The national organization last week apologized for the letter and said it regretted it. But Rick Lewis, Ohio School Boards Association CEO, said it was "too little, too late." "OSBA believes strongly in the value of parental and community discussion at school board meetings, and we reject the labeling of parents as domestic terrorists," said the Ohio letter to the national organization that announced it was leaving. In Ohio and across the country, parents and community members have increasingly spoken at school board meetings with outrage, harassment and threats against masks and quarantining policies for students who are not vaccinated in schools, as well as critical race theory, which isn't studied in K-12 schools but is a university-level research approach of looking at racism across society. "I'm not aware of any district in Ohio that is teaching critical race theory," Lewis said. "Some would argue that teaching diversity and inclusion is synonymous. But that's not my understanding of it." When discussion becomes uncivil at local board meetings or toward school board members, the Ohio School Boards Association advises boards to work with their local law enforcement. "Our platform, our beliefs are predicated on local control," Lewis said. "While there are outliers in the state, the membership believes in local control, rather than federal involvement." The Ohio School Boards Association had no idea that the national organization was sending the letter to Biden, Lewis said. It's belonged to the organization for decades. The vote was unanimous, except for some members who were not present and a couple of members abstaining from voting, including one who serves on a committee of the national organization, Lewis said. Schools have become a battleground in conservative political circles, starting with the pandemic. Critical race theory also has become a flashpoint in school board meetings and elections, despite it not being taught at schools. The conservative Heritage Foundation think tank has published an e-book warning about the theory, tracks state legislation about the theory and offers "model legislation," or a sample bill that state lawmakers can use when drafting an anti-critical race theory measure for their state. After the national group's Sept. 29 letter, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would spend the following 30 days talking with state and local law enforcement about strategies for addressing threats to school board members. On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a Champaign County Republican, criticized U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland at the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, saying his response was politically motivated. Garland argued that he wasn't trying to stop free speech but threats against elected officials. ©2021 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit cleveland.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.