Anoka-Hennepin students to march in defense of diversity programs
The Sandburg Education Center, where the Anoka-Hennepin school board meets, in Anoka on April 17.
Aaron Nesheim | Sahan Journal
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Students from the largest school district in the state are standing up to their school board. A march and rally are planned ahead of the Anoka-Hennepin school board meeting on Monday night.
This comes after a school board member backed by a conservative parents rights group said he plans to force a budget showdown if the district does not scrap all programs aimed at racial and gender equity.
Education reporter Becky Dernbach has been covering the controversy for Sahan Journal and joined MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about it.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: Students from the largest school district in the state are standing up to their school board. A march and rally are planned ahead of the Anoka-Hennepin School Board meeting tonight. That's after a school board member backed by a conservative parents rights group said he plans to force a budget showdown if the district doesn't scrap all programs aimed at racial and gender equity. Education reporter Becky Dernbach from the Sahan Journal has been covering the controversy closely, and she's here to talk about it. Welcome, Becky.
BECKY DERNBACH: Hi, NINA MOINI.
NINA MOINI: Great to talk to you. Tell me more about this specific school board member at the center of your reporting here and what's he saying.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah, so his name is Matt Audette, and he won election in 2021, backed by a group called the 1776 Project PAC, sort of aiming from the get-go to undermine racial equity programs. And so he won that election in 2021.
Then, last fall, there were more elections. Two other school board members won election that year, and they hold similar views. They were backed by a different group of Minnesota Parents Alliance. So one plus two makes three, and the Anoka-Hennepin school board has six members. So that's half the school board.
And so Matt Audette is saying that the three of them together plan to not vote for any budget that continues funding these things that the district has been-- has been moving forward. And-- oh, go ahead.
NINA MOINI: Oh, no, I'm sorry. Go ahead.
BECKY DERNBACH: No, I was just going to say-- yeah, so they say they're not going to vote for any budget that does that. And you need a majority to pass a budget. And if you don't pass a budget, you can't spend any money as a school district. And the deadline for that is July 1.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, I was just going to say tell us more about what exactly are some of the items in that budget that he's opposed to.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah, so some of them are-- there are some social-emotional learning programs that he's opposed to. There are some staff positions focused on diversity equity, and inclusion.
There are also things that he objects to, such as requiring or asking students to share their gender and pronouns, restorative justice practices, any display of a flag other than the American flag, and Minnesota's new social studies standards, which a judge approved in January and which are required by law. The school district is saying a lot of these programs are actually required by law, and they can't just scrap them.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, and what would happen if the school board did refuse to, say, comply with some of those state standards?
BECKY DERNBACH: Well, it's not entirely clear. But what the district is saying-- so the social studies standards, for example, the laws they cited for the social studies standards-- I mean, for a student, you have to meet state standards in order to graduate. So if you're not adopting the state standards, that could imperil all the students' ability to graduate.
And if they were to refuse an order from-- a rule from the Minnesota Department of Education, the department could reduce funding to the school district. So the possible consequences here are pretty-- are pretty severe.
NINA MOINI: What are you hearing from maybe other officials at the school district and from other families? What are they saying,?
BECKY DERNBACH: Well, from the school district, the two co-chairs of the school board, which is one of the conservatives and another person who's not affiliated with these groups, released a statement saying, it's important for all of the school board members' voices to be heard and that's how they plan to develop the budget.
The school district officials are concerned about running afoul of state law. And from students, I'm hearing a lot of concern, particularly from students in affinity groups, like the Black Student Union at the high schools. And one of the items that Matt Audette objected to was the affinity groups. And the students are worried they're not going to be able to have a Black Student Union if these changes go through. And so those are the groups that are leading the effort for the march and rally this afternoon.
NINA MOINI: So the meeting tonight, and then the district has to get this budget approved by July 1. So what's next?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. So tonight, there will be the march and rally, like I said, and a school board meeting where I think a lot of people are planning to offer public comment. And then, tomorrow, there is a school board work session, where they will actually be discussing the budget. And so they are going to have to continue to try to hash it out until they figure out what to do.
NINA MOINI: All right, but by July 1.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yes.
NINA MOINI: That's Becky Dernbach. Thank you so much for spending some time with us this afternoon and for sharing your reporting with us.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah, thanks for having me, NINA MOINI.
NINA MOINI: That was Becky Dernbach from the Sahan Journal. You can see her reporting on sahan-- that's S-A-H-A-N-- journal.com.
BECKY DERNBACH: Hi, NINA MOINI.
NINA MOINI: Great to talk to you. Tell me more about this specific school board member at the center of your reporting here and what's he saying.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah, so his name is Matt Audette, and he won election in 2021, backed by a group called the 1776 Project PAC, sort of aiming from the get-go to undermine racial equity programs. And so he won that election in 2021.
Then, last fall, there were more elections. Two other school board members won election that year, and they hold similar views. They were backed by a different group of Minnesota Parents Alliance. So one plus two makes three, and the Anoka-Hennepin school board has six members. So that's half the school board.
And so Matt Audette is saying that the three of them together plan to not vote for any budget that continues funding these things that the district has been-- has been moving forward. And-- oh, go ahead.
NINA MOINI: Oh, no, I'm sorry. Go ahead.
BECKY DERNBACH: No, I was just going to say-- yeah, so they say they're not going to vote for any budget that does that. And you need a majority to pass a budget. And if you don't pass a budget, you can't spend any money as a school district. And the deadline for that is July 1.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, I was just going to say tell us more about what exactly are some of the items in that budget that he's opposed to.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah, so some of them are-- there are some social-emotional learning programs that he's opposed to. There are some staff positions focused on diversity equity, and inclusion.
There are also things that he objects to, such as requiring or asking students to share their gender and pronouns, restorative justice practices, any display of a flag other than the American flag, and Minnesota's new social studies standards, which a judge approved in January and which are required by law. The school district is saying a lot of these programs are actually required by law, and they can't just scrap them.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, and what would happen if the school board did refuse to, say, comply with some of those state standards?
BECKY DERNBACH: Well, it's not entirely clear. But what the district is saying-- so the social studies standards, for example, the laws they cited for the social studies standards-- I mean, for a student, you have to meet state standards in order to graduate. So if you're not adopting the state standards, that could imperil all the students' ability to graduate.
And if they were to refuse an order from-- a rule from the Minnesota Department of Education, the department could reduce funding to the school district. So the possible consequences here are pretty-- are pretty severe.
NINA MOINI: What are you hearing from maybe other officials at the school district and from other families? What are they saying,?
BECKY DERNBACH: Well, from the school district, the two co-chairs of the school board, which is one of the conservatives and another person who's not affiliated with these groups, released a statement saying, it's important for all of the school board members' voices to be heard and that's how they plan to develop the budget.
The school district officials are concerned about running afoul of state law. And from students, I'm hearing a lot of concern, particularly from students in affinity groups, like the Black Student Union at the high schools. And one of the items that Matt Audette objected to was the affinity groups. And the students are worried they're not going to be able to have a Black Student Union if these changes go through. And so those are the groups that are leading the effort for the march and rally this afternoon.
NINA MOINI: So the meeting tonight, and then the district has to get this budget approved by July 1. So what's next?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. So tonight, there will be the march and rally, like I said, and a school board meeting where I think a lot of people are planning to offer public comment. And then, tomorrow, there is a school board work session, where they will actually be discussing the budget. And so they are going to have to continue to try to hash it out until they figure out what to do.
NINA MOINI: All right, but by July 1.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yes.
NINA MOINI: That's Becky Dernbach. Thank you so much for spending some time with us this afternoon and for sharing your reporting with us.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah, thanks for having me, NINA MOINI.
NINA MOINI: That was Becky Dernbach from the Sahan Journal. You can see her reporting on sahan-- that's S-A-H-A-N-- journal.com.
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