Mason, Ohio residents are speaking out and demanding the dismissal of Mason City Schools Assistant Principal Vivian Alvarez following Accuracy in Media‘s undercover investigation that revealed school administrators in Cincinnati, Ohio have admitted to covertly indoctrinating students with Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the classrooms.
According to Alvarez, she wouldn’t be concerned if the legislation prohibiting CRT in schools were to pass as the local government allegedly supports CRT indoctrination.
“It’s a local decision so he (Governor DeWine) can pass it just like anything else that he passes. But it’s up to the local government which is our governing board to decide. So even if they did that Critical Race Theory ban locally they (the board) would be like eh not for us,” Alvarez said.
She continued by saying that her district uses diversion tactics to keep parents in the dark.
“We’ll call it something else. We’re still going to do the same work. There’s enough of us here to not call it that (Critical Race Theory),” Alvarez said.
According to parent and resident David Meyer, Alvarez spoke out of turn and deserves dismissal from her position. Meyer states that several other parents have reached out to him to voice similar concerns.
“I want her fired. There is no room for this not in a leadership position. For those comments and in her statement she is speaking for the board. An assistant principal does not speak for the board of education and if they are backing her statements then we have other issues,” Meyer told The Ohio Star.
Meyer said that he e-mailed both the superintendent and the school board demanding answers specifically if the school board is backing CRT indoctrination in the classroom and if the board authorized Alverez to speak on behalf of them.
Meyer claims that Superintendent Jonathan Cooper replied to his e-mail saying that they are looking further into this investigation and asked him to provide any evidence he had pertaining to it.
“She publicly said this and it’s recorded. That’s your evidence,” Meyer told The Star.
Meyers sent Accuracy in Media’s investigation for Cooper’s review and received a response stating that “the board does not support the teaching of CRT in our classrooms or under any other names” and that “a manufactured secret sting video is not the kind of evidence I would consider valid for passing judgement.”
Cooper reportedly went on to defend Alverez saying she has been serving the district faithfully for 20 years and “I have full confidence in her.”
According to Meyer, Mason City Schools had posted that they would be holding a public meeting where he intended to demand his answers point blank to the school board. The school allegedly had two dates posted for the meeting one on Tuesday, which was the correct meeting date, and one on Wednesday, which Meyer’s said, “I’m sure they will say it was an error.”
“This needs to get answered not swept under the carpet which Mason has a tendency to do. Just because it’s not part of the curriculum doesn’t mean it’s not being taught. This is leadership. This is an assistant principal. What she says trickles down to the staff,” Meyer told The Star.
A Mason City Schools teacher informed Meyer that prior to the public meeting Tuesday evening, the school held a private meeting earlier in the day with all of the staff present with the purpose of denying that they teach CRT in the classroom.
“From what I understand, they are trying to explain their definition of CRT trying to get their story straight, that it’s a college philosophy. They are trying to get ahead of it and cover it up,” Meyers told The Star.
According to Meyers, he will pull out all stops until school administrators resolve this issue.
“I will be a thorn in their side at the board meetings. I will reach out to our state representative. They are trying to ban teaching CRT in schools now. Legislatively there is no way to police unless you are sitting in the classroom what’s being taught and that’s the sad and scary part. Let’s go back to the basics for 4th through 7th grades and not worry about white privilege or racism. I will continue chasing this. They need to know that these are the concerns,” Meyers told The Star.
Meyers said he filed an Ohio records request with the school on Wednesday to view the materials being used in the classrooms, and he plans to scour them for signs of CRT.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Vivian Alvarez” by Mason Early Childhood Center.
