Parents Demand Officials at Tennessee All-Girls School Resign Over Now ‘Paused’ Decision to Admit Males Who Identify As Girls
“We will withhold all financial contributions to the school until this action takes place.”
Last week, the Harpeth Hall School of Nashville, TN, an all-girls school, shot to the front page when officials said they would accept biological males who identify as females.
School officials admitted they have been working on a “Transgender Task Force” for the past six years.
The school “paused” the decision this past week:
“Based on the response from our school community, the Harpeth Hall Board of Trustees is choosing to pause the adoption of the philosophy in order to engage a wider audience in continued discussion,” the email said.
The email also repeated the school’s commitment to educating girls, and said school leadership does not want to alter existing admissions practices.
But Fox News Digital received a letter from parents, alumnae, and donors to Harpeth Hall calling for the resignation of officials involved in the policy:
“We are writing to you today as an expression of a belief that the Harpeth Hall Board of Trust and the school administration has been more focused on political activism than on educating our girls,” the letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, said. “Current events are simply a symptom of that activism.”
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The letter from parents, donors and alumnae went on to criticize the way the school handled communication of the updated policy, saying it “repeatedly seek[s] to divide us and fragment us with one-way, filtered zoom calls in which you push only your message – failing to answer many important questions of your stakeholders.”
The authors of the letter also said the school did not provide a town hall forum, which was “requested by more than 1,000 members of the Harpeth Hall community.”
“We call today for the resignation of members of the administration board who have been proponents or enablers of political activism and division,” the letter continued, calling specifically for the departure of the board chair and executive committee, among others. “We will withhold all financial contributions to the school until this action takes place.”
The letter also stated that the authors will submit to the board “the name of a female leader to be named the Chair of the Board, effective immediately, so that she can begin the process of reconstructing the school as a place of excellence.”
The Harpeth Hall parents aren’t accepting the school’s statement “pausing” the policy, however. They are demanding all responsible for the new policy be removed from their positions and are withholding all donations until it happens. Read this letter. Boom. pic.twitter.com/1EcLd00ikM
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) August 18, 2022
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Comments
The advantage of sending to children to private school: if enough parents object to a specific policy the administration implements, they can bankrupt the school. Try doing that to a public school.
Public school? Take them out. Homeschool or private school.
Not interested in “can’t afford it.” Homeschooling has tremendous support networks and the cost is negligible. And your kids will be, far and away, better educated than their public school counterparts.
Don’t disagree, but many parents are not qualified to home school their children. My parents certainly weren’t. There is also the issue of both parents having to work. Where the parents can do it by being qualified to do it, and one parent can stay home, then certainly that would be a good alternative.
My wife and I have been supporting homeschoolers for >20 years, in the US and other countries.
Hybrid schools (2 days in-school, 3 days home-school) are a less expensive solution, and also address the so-called “not qualified” argument.
“but many parents are not qualified”
No one is more qualified than a parent that loves their children. They can and will find a way. There are networks that make up for individual shortcomings. It is vastly different now, for the better, than say 20 years ago.
By the time I got to pre-algebra, I was way past my parents’ qualifications; same for grammar, Hebrew, history of any sort, etc. If my parents ever wanted to homeschool me (unheard of in the 50’s) they would have had to hire tutors. That’s what I mean by unqualified. It is probably true that today’s parents are more qualified than my parents were, but I could understand that for some groups that simply may not be the case.
I think you missed this – “There are networks that make up for individual shortcomings.”
To Jackinsilverspring,
Do not let educators’ propaganda stop anyone from home schooling.
If you graduated from high school, you are qualified.
You can review multiplying fractions, geometry, civics, or whatever in the teaching guide.
It’s very simple.
There is no magic or specialized knowledge needed.
To Jackinsilverspring,
Homeschooling communities you can link into can fill in gaps you do not personally have in knowledge. There are also online tutors for subjects you might not know that fulfill teaching gaps.
My cousin’s homeschooling community participates in a children’s community theater to fulfill some of their theater arts requirements. They participate in several open sports leagues for organized football, baseball, softball and soccer.
I agree in principle but most working parents can’t afford private schooling or the personal time required to home school. That’s why public schools were invented – people were putting serious hours trying to put food on the table and a roof.
The point where action can win is in elections where the voters actually bother to check out the school board candidates. These total freaks we are reading about got voted in by people not paying attention.
Private school is variable in cost. Most of them offer scholarships based on income and scholarship. Many, like the one my son went to also offer help on uniforms (5.00 used uniform pieces (in good shape)). Yes, we gave up a lot of ‘extras’ to pay for that school even with the scholarship but it was worth it.
“That’s why public schools were invented – people were putting serious hours trying to put food on the table and a roof.”
No, actually public schools were invented to indoctrinate impoverished Irish Catholic immigrants in to Protestantism. This is why the Catholics developed their own schools.
https://madisoncatholicherald.org/michael-lancaster-catholic-schools/
Another thing with home-schooled kids: watch a home-schooled 12 year old around adults, compared to the government-schooled kid. The home-schooled kid is able to carry on an intelligent conversation, isn’t using the latest buzz-words, and isn’t “like…” ing, or “yah-know…” ing everything.
I find that to a bit more random than you think. I have come across many kids who were well spoken public school grads – and some homeschooling grads who couldn’t carry a conversation to save their lives. Public school education has the same inconsistencies as any other organization. A good school is a good school.
Agree, Grizz. The Bride’s great nephew and three great nieces were/are homeschooled and have always been able to communicate on an adult level from middle school ages. Their parents teamed up with other parents and professional educators in their church to ensure the kids got a good quality education. Yes, it can be done. In this case, successfully.
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The school board controls the curriculum … and if it’s woke … sooner or later it will filter down to the home schooling level.
In most states, you don’t have to follow an ‘approved’ local curriculum when homeschooling your child. You certainly don’t have to parrot the public school woke indoctrination with them. That way you will have more time for scholarly pursuits like reading, writing, un-polluted history, etc..
Trans people meet the definition of mentally ill. They refuse to accept the reality that their gender is determined by genetics ie reality. Embracing Trans peoples mental illness so you can feel superior to others is mental illness.”
+100
The fact that the parents were both surprised and quite vocal about this indicates that the school
““Based on the response from our school community, the Harpeth Hall Board of Trustees is choosing to pause the adoption of the philosophy in order to engage a wider audience in continued discussion,” the email said.”
Engage a wider audience?? They engaged no audience at all and unilaterally made this heinous decision.
The parents are right: fire the admins responsible for this, or they will weasel this in along with CRT and cancelling.
The school was quite surprised that the parents put their money where their mouths are and decided to withhold money. Amazing leverage. If only we could have that kind of leverage in the public school system.
It only helps a bit, but, voting down school bond issues, and refusal to participate in fund-raisers done with candy bars and other such things can put at least a small crimp in things.
In a government school district, taxpayers do not get to vote on the part of the budget which funds teacher salaries. The only thing they can do is vote down funding for sports, music, and other extracurricular activities.
Can’t they vote out the school board?
School board voting. WE need to pay much more attention than we have in the past.
Agreed. We have to critically look at candidates.
“Engage a wider audience?? They engaged no audience at all and unilaterally made this heinous decision.”
Remands me of how the NRA Training Department unilaterally lost almost all its (volunteer) instructors and never recovered from it. HQ decided, on the basis of ZERO input, to change all the course formats and requirements, didn’t ask a single instructor in the field, stole the money upfront, and created an untenable training situation. They killed the student market… exactly as all the instructors who complained about the new rollout told them would happen.
Two years later, when the NRA finally noticed that those instructors had been right, they reversed all their changes and went back to the tried and true courses. Only problem was that the field instructors had all moved on. They needed a course they could teach instead of the NRA’s to stay in business, and had already either found one elsewhere or made up their own. And the NRA gutted its founding raison d’etre and never recovered.
By any chance, might these same parents be available to help an 80 year old lady who just wants to swim?
They “paused”…meaning the red liberal bastards got caught. Show the administrators the sound of check books slamming shut. Fire the entire admin staff and start over. And from here on, never take your eyes off the school, never trust it, always trust no one and verify everything for the foreseeable future.
Harfly liberal. The better label is “Leftist.”
Progressive fascist is the best term for these evil people.
Way to go parents and alumni.
As an alumna of a women’s college, I was dismayed at the original news and am thrilled by the response to the “activism.”
Research and personal experience show that boys and girls learn differently. Removing the distraction of the opposite sex can eliminate some behavioral issues as well.
When I am promoted to Goddess of All Education, math, English, and PE will be single-sex and all “activism” in the classroom grounds for termination of employment.
I to am an alumna of a women’s college. I had no idea how MUCH better I could learn in a single sex classroom, having come from a public school with a graduating class of 600.
I will take your math, English, and PE and raise you to all single-sex from grades 6-8 (minus, say band and the like).
I too.
my kingdom for an edit button.
That’s good, too!
Political congruence (“=”) at schools, scouts, churches, work, etc. progressed under the Pro-Choice ethical religion and with parades less the lions, lionesses, and their unPlanned cubs.
Here’s my shocked face! 😯
For years, males have been harped on about not letting women into locker rooms, Boy Scouts, Men’s Clubs, co-ed dorms, Military Schools (Citadel) and any where that was once a place only for males.
And men lost – BIG TIME! There are few places that males can call their own.
But women can certainly have their places. No men in women’s locker rooms. No private military schools, etc.
Women. Having their cake and eating it to.
“And men lost”
No, our nation lost strength, to make a social engineering point.
That as well, but Sarge’s point is highly valid.
You are so correct. The social engineering was to have men more effeminate.
A nation of boys raised by women with the intent of emasculating them.
No fathers, because women don’t need them. Toxic masculinity!
I see by the down vote that we have a misandrist in the house. C’mon. Be a man! Or a woman, or a HeShe. Make your comment. Prove me wrong. Just don’t downvote.
We need a feature where the screen names of the upvoters and downvoters will display when the cursor is hovered over the little hands. The mystery will solve itself.
That and an edit button. PLEASE!!
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yea, I do like the feature that shows who votes up/down.
Then I’ll know who else to call out 🙂
Probably unknown to you, since you seem to be intent upon turning all women into a symbol representing things you hate, Girl Scouts lost their ‘all girl’ status long before the boy scouts. Look it up.
No place is safe for women only or men
It’s insane
Imagine that–people are objecting to having policies imposed on them without any input
The parents and donors need to stick with their demand for resignations, keeping their checkbooks firmly closed until this happens. Leftists rarely suffer any personal consequences when they take these extreme positions. At worst they tweet out a non-apology apology, lay low for a bit and then proceed with their crazy ideas anyway.
“We will withhold all financial contributions to the school until this action takes place.”
Extremely powerful message – especially since the parents can implement it immediately.
Unlike a public school where you cant withhold tax money
Might I offer an alternative to regular public schools that are in some districts? Educator and author E.D. Hirsch wrote a book called Cultural Literacy and founded the Core Knowledge Foundation. Which foundation sets the standards at Core Knowledge schools. Short form, they teach what used to be taught in our schools. The kids ALL come out literate and numerate, and knowing how to think logically. Here in Colorado, they are funded by the school districts; albeit not always happily because of the better results they achieve.
The funding level is about 2/3 of what the same sized regular school gets. The teachers are paid less, and other than a principal, nurse, and secretary there are no Admin types. But the curriculum and teaching methods let teachers teach.
When they opened it they put out a call for teachers, noting the lower pay scale. And the very best teachers in the District signed up regardless of the pay cut. Their methodology is different. For instance, as unfashionable as it is, no computers till 4th grade. K-3 they are taught to read and use encyclopedias [I have been involved in fundraisers to get those encyclopedias, even though my kids did not go there.]. They learn to present things in front of the classes. And they learn how to research and learn.
We have had over a couple of decades of being able to compare the results. The kids beat out the public school students at all points. The school is K-8 and then the kids transfer to the regular high school. About ten years ago, the high school abolished the Valedictorian and Salutorian positions for the graduating classes. Because every Valedictorian and Salutorian was a Core Knowledge School graduate, which makes the rest of the district look bad. People should see if there is a Core Knowledge School in their district.
Subotai Bahadur
Excellent.
When I was in elementary school, the administration consisted of the principal and his assistant. That was it. The teachers and principal worked together to run the school. Small school in North Carolina and a core tenet back then was to have small local schools. My elementary school had only 180-200 students. My first grade year was 1959, and the school is still open today, built in 1955 or so.