STANWOOD, Wash. — You don't normally find a packed house at a 1 p.m. school board meeting on a Tuesday in December, but that was the scene at the Stanwood-Camano School District.
One by one parents and concerned community members confronted three school board members who have been under fire this year..
"We expect better," said one parent.
"Thank you very much for taking us back to ... I don't know what era," added another.
The three board members they were speaking to are Steve King, Albert Schreiber and Betsy Foster.
Earlier this year, King and Foster were behind alleged efforts to remove certain diversity, equity and inclusion language in a policy proposal - implying children from difficult backgrounds should not get the same level of education as others. The allegedly made student representatives cry during meetings and created a hostile work environment that resulted in the superintendent stepping down. There was allegedly talk that children with special needs be put in separate classrooms.
"I'm calling on the three of them to resign," said Rick Flores, who has a daughter with autism. "Saying that kids like my daughter don't belong in a regular classroom with other students frustrates me. It angers me. It's discriminatory. It's wrong."
"These are some rogue board members who don't care about students or schools and are in it for politics. Project 2025. They're creating chaos," added Stanwood resident Megan Dascher-Watkins.
"We can vote them out but with some of them we have three more years of this," said parent Satin-Deseree Arnett. "I don't think our schools can take three more years of this."
Albert Schreiber was re-elected as school board president on Tuesday by a 3-2 vote.
In an email to KING 5 he said, "There is a very organized and loud, small group who last year put their candidate on the ballot for the at-large position. Their candidate trailed far behind the two leading candidates who were very close in total votes. Their candidate came in last place in the primary election receiving less than 1,000 votes in Snohomish County while our school director elections ran about 11,000 voters. What they cannot achieve at the ballot box they attempt to gain by harassment, intimidation, bullying and threats. This is not what we want our students to learn and follow. Harassment, intimidation, bullying and threats have no place in our school district. Our goal is to provide a safe learning environment for all our students."
In the end the three board members did not resign. In fact, their 3-2 majority got even stronger by electing each other to posts of president, vice-president and legislative representative.