Ohio is among the states mentioned in a letter to President Biden from the National School Boards Association, asking for federal help in protecting board members, teachers and students against potential violence. Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler reports there are concerns being raised by schools and board members across the state about backlash from mask mandates and other issues.
The Nordonia School Board in northeast Ohio enacted a mask mandate in August – sheriff’s deputies were called over the tension when people refused to wear masks at another meeting two weeks later. Lynn May is the vice president of the Dublin City School Board and is running for her fifth four-year term.
“Hostility is what it is. No, it seems like we’ve lost our way as a country. Everyone thinks it’s ok to be nasty and mean and shout and rude and offensive. What happened to civility?”
She says she’s talked to members of school boards who’ve received threatening letters, but they’re so similar she thinks it could be an organized campaign by an individual or small group. A member of the Worthington school board says some attendees displayed Nazi symbolism at a recent meeting in that district.
