Mother
of 9th grader Janet Deidrick reacts to Rockwood County school district
in Missouri hiding critical race theory content after complaints from
parents.
The mother of a Missouri ninth-grader said Friday she was "upset" to learn that Rockwood County school district was accused of hiding certain race-based curriculum from parents.
"We were very surprised at this," Deidrick told "Fox & Friends."
PARENT OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT SAYS STUDENTS ARE BEING TURNED INTO 'ACTIVIST' INSTEAD OF BEING TAUGHT TO THINK'
According to a memo
obtained by The Daily Wire, the Rockwood County school district hid
race-based content from their curriculum after backlash from parents who
were concerned.
A 6-12 Literacy Speech Coordinator Natalie
Fallert wrote to all middle and high school principals that
parents complained that the school was "pushing an agenda," suggesting
that certain materials only be visible to students and not to parents on
the Canvas remote learning platform.
The Daily Signal posted
the contents of the memo: "This doesn’t mean throw out the lesson and
find a new one. Just pull the resource off Canvas so parents cannot see
it … Keep teaching! Just don’t make everything visible on Canvas. This
is not being deceitful. This is just doing what you have done for years.
Prior to the pandemic you didn’t send everything home or have it
available. You taught in your classroom and things were peachy keen. We
are going old-school," the memo stated.
Deidrick
said she was "upset" and surprised to see the memo. She said her son
switched to public high school from private school, where administrators
had a "tremendous amount of accountability."
Deidrick said parents were initally concerned about the book "Dear Martin," and others being included in students' curriculum.
Deidrick said that she was "shocked by what she saw in the book," including foul language, racial stereotypes and "cop hate."
"Apparently,
it was approved by the district as a young adult, 13-plus book. No one
has a right to read stuff like that to anyone's child, a minor child
without their parent's permission. ... There are several students in my
son's class that are from a law enforcement family and we are a law
enforcement family," Deidrick said, praising the overall work of her
son's teachers.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Rockwood
School District sent Fox News a statement responding to the allegations
that they were trying to hide race-based content from parents.
"The
email that was sent to teachers encouraging them to hide or alter
content visible to parents was not reviewed or approved by anyone before
it was disseminated by an individual staff member.
"It does not
reflect the mission, vision, and values, of the district and is counter
to the goals set forth in our strategic plan. The Rockwood School
district encourages transparency and recognizes open communication is
vital between parents and our staff."