Package 1: Political Beat

Widespread Voter Suppression — Virginian democrats combat voter suppression through legislative initiatives.

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Package 2: Solution Story

Disability in Hollywood — Authentic portrayal of disability in Hollywood is lacking, the nonprofit organization, RespectAbility, is seeking more representation.

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Package 3: International Story

Italy’s Green Pass Policy — Italy’s Green Pass requirement recently expanded to the workforce.

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Package 4: Community Issue

Loudoun County School Board — Loudoun parents’ comments about the school board disheartens teachers.

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December 14, 2021 — Loudoun County, a primarily blue area, has gained national attention due to an ongoing democrat versus republican cultural battle at the school board level.

For the past several months, parents have been attending board meetings to discuss issues ranging from LGBTQA+ rights to racial sensitivity training policies. Many parents have expressed that the policies go against their political beliefs.

“These parents want to be heard, no matter what group they represent,” said Broad Run High School Assistant Principal Chad Runfola. 

One of the main issues that parents have taken up is the debate about critical race theory, which has to do with how policies systematically disadvantage people of color. According to the school board, Loudoun County schools are not teaching critical race theory, but they have implemented racial sensitivity training policies.

While the issue of critical race theory frequently comes up during board meetings, the conflict has not impacted students and their education.

“I’ve actually not had one conversation about critical race theory with any of the students here, it’s not really been brought to me as a student concern if you will, something that is been bothering them or something they wanted to know more about,” said Runfola.

Riverside teachers Cheryl Daley and Kimberly Leidinger also found that students seem unaware of the issue. Daley said that the conflict is relatively contained and “doesn’t necessarily really affect the actual classroom.”

Daley who teaches marketing did note that even though there does not appear to be a student impact, teachers are becoming disheartened by the constant criticism.

“I think the hardest thing of all of this is somewhere in it, people have gotten really mean to teachers,” she said.

Leidinger also feels like a lot of the anger has been directed at teachers. She said after the pandemic emerged, teachers were treated like heroes, only for parents to backtrack because of the ongoing school board issue.

“I think teachers take the criticism to heart,” said Leidinger. “As a teacher, [it] is very difficult to see, or hear the rancor and the anger and the upset. And that may not be directed to something that I, for example, am teaching.”

Several school board members are facing petitions for removal. Leesburg’s representative, Beth Barts, has already resigned after a petition to remove her reached 1,860 signatures. The board recently held special hearings to fill the vacant seat. It is unclear how much longer the conflict between parents and the school board will continue.

“It’s been some tough times when you see the pain or the suffering or the challenges that happen.” said Runfola. “We need to show a level of care and concern and respect for one another. That is [what] allows for people to share their differences, share backgrounds and to be as open as we can if we’re going to create meaningful change.”