{"id":6323,"date":"2021-06-16T13:50:58","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T20:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=6323"},"modified":"2021-06-16T13:52:43","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T20:52:43","slug":"you-are-racist-for-reopening-schools-and-other-lockdown-lies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=6323","title":{"rendered":"You Are Racist For Reopening Schools \u2026 and Other Lockdown Lies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally posted to SDRostra<\/a><\/p>\n

By Amy Reichert
\nwww.ReOpenSD.org<\/a><\/p>\n

It was just another California Lockdown Tuesday on the 344th day of the\u00a0\u201cCoronaverse\u201d<\/a>\u00a0when I was scrolling through Facebook and I saw\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cYou won\u2019t believe what the Vice President of the La Mesa-Spring Valley School Board is saying right now at the board meeting!!\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

You see, that night was the LMSV Board meeting, and the main topic was when to reopen the school district after being shut down for almost a year.<\/p>\n

I typed as fast as I could to my friend\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201dGet your cell phone out and start filming!\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

My friend commented again about the ramblings of the board member, and I typed again as fast as I could\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201dGet out your cell phone and start filming NOW!!\u201d<\/i>
\n<\/i>
\n<\/i>Over the next few days, my friend\u2019s cell phone video went viral, and La Mesa was in the national news cycle again.<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why:<\/b><\/p>\n

On February 23, 2021, Chard\u00e1 Bell-Fontenot, the Vice President of the School Board, said reopening schools was\u00a0\u201cwhite supremacy ideology\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and compared reopening schools to \u201cslavery.\u201d Ms. Bell-Fontenot also REFUSED to give a date to reopen schools for broken-hearted and defeated parents and students who had been trapped on screens for almost a full year.<\/p>\n

The outrage from LMSV parents was instantaneous. La Mesa-Spring Valley is not a \u201cWhite school district.\u201d La Mesa-Spring Valley is actually very\u00a0diverse<\/a>\u00a0with a vibrant student population of English learners and healthy ethnic diversity. The outcry from parents about Bell-Fontenot\u2019s hurtful statements was from parents of every race and walk of life. We felt unjustly accused. She said horrible things without evidence about her fellow parents in the district.<\/p>\n

At the very next Board meeting on March 4, I stood shoulder to shoulder outside of the District offices during a press conference with many\u00a0parents who were deeply hurt by Bell-Fontenot\u2019s accusations.<\/p>\n

The TV news cameras were rolling when a woman walking her German Shepherd started shouting at us.\u00a0We were all shocked and every\u00a0camera turned around to capture<\/a>\u00a0her words\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s NOT racist to want kids in school! Black people want their kids in school too, it\u2019s not just a white thing!! Education is the way out of poverty!\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Every bone in my body told me to RUN after her and HUG her.<\/p>\n

As I ran to her I said,\u00a0\u201cCan I hug you??\u201d\u00a0<\/i>She smiled and said,\u00a0\u201cYes!!\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

I think what I find particularly healing is this hug happened where the heart of the\u00a0La Mesa riots<\/a>\u00a0took place. This woman has a courageous heart. I will always be grateful for her voice, speaking out for our kids and speaking out against the LIE that reopening schools is racist.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Other people also tried to call moms and dads in La Mesa racist. One failed candidate for San Diego City Council named Wendy Wheatcroft, later investigated by the\u00a0City of San Diego Ethics Commission<\/a>\u00a0for campaign violations, posted this word salad about us being Q supporters, \u201cboogaloo,\u201d and \u201cthreepers.\u201d First of all, I have no idea what any of that is, and second of all, I am not going to Google it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The truth is not important to people like Wheatcroft. She even went so far as to claim the moms who spoke out for our children to reopen schools were just puppets of a group of men who were directing us.<\/p>\n

I did reach out to Wendy as a woman, as a mom, but of course, I never heard back. Instead, she turned around and\u00a0doubled down and even she admits how crazy her made up story is in her post.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Oh Wendy, Wendy, Wendy.\u00a0\"\ud83d\ude02\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

A lot of people asked me why I was even involved in reopening schools. After all, my fourth grader had been safely back in school, full-time and in-person since September 8 \u2014 at a private school.<\/p>\n

You see, after my son finished first grade, my husband and I made the painful decision to withdraw from La Mesa-Spring Valley schools. We didn\u2019t want to leave, but we had no choice. The reason? Actually, there were many. My son was almost a year behind. The school he attended, Murray Manor Elementary, was the largest in the school district with over 900 students.
\n
\n<\/b>There were other reasons too\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n

I had a sit-down meeting with one of the Assistant Superintendents and I asked her,\u00a0\u201cIs it true that the school curriculum will include books targeted to students as young as Kindergarten that will make them question their sexual identity at age 5, when the vast majority 99.9% of 5-year-olds never even have a thought of whether they are a boy or a girl?\u201d<\/i>
\n<\/i>
\nShe answered in the affirmative. She confirmed that the curriculum I was concerned about was indeed coming and coming soon to a school near us.<\/p>\n

There were other issues as well and we had to make the best decision we could for our son.<\/p>\n

We decided to leave public schools even though we were not rich. One of our cars had 200,000 miles and still kicking, and the other had 150,000 miles but no air conditioning. I drove that car in summer 100 degree plus heat so my son could afford to go to the least expensive humble (not fancy) private Christian school in San Diego County. During the hottest summer days, I mumbled things I would rather not repeat in writing about the LMSV District, LOL.<\/p>\n

Leaving a school that was failing my child was the best thing we ever did. My son is now ahead of grade level and thriving!<\/p>\n

However, I could not turn my back on my community. So, I decided to join with local parents to reopen schools even though my son didn\u2019t attend there any longer.
\n<\/b>
\nWhat happened next on Tuesday, March 16 in front of the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District was pretty shocking\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Parents got together\u00a0to address the board<\/a>\u00a0about reopening schools. We had to do so outside of the District offices because we were not allowed inside.<\/p>\n

The teacher\u2019s union was there too. The leader of the union handed out signs and red ribbons.<\/p>\n

All was peaceful until I started\u00a0sharing the grim statistics from Rady\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital<\/a>\u00a0about the horror stories they were seeing due to children not being in school\u2026<\/p>\n