by Corinne Murdock | Aug 26, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Brophy College Preparatory (Brophy), a private all-boys Catholic school in Arizona, admitted in an email to segregating students based on race. In lieu of attending a class period, students of color were given the exclusive opportunity to gather together for a “healing” discussion on race. The email cited a previous email from a “Mr. Fisko” that discussed this race-based segregation.
“[S]tudents who identify as persons of color may choose to attend an affinity space – with other students of color – for their workshop day reflection instead of joining their regular 5th period class,” read the email. “What is an affinity space? Affinity spaces offer a useful, practical space for communities of color to lead their own conversations on race in their own terms. Doing so allows for healing and understanding to take place in a contextual and relevant way. Conversations in affinity spaces can help students of color develop the consciousness and tools to have more meaningful and constructive conversations on race in non-affinity spaces in the future.”
The “Mr. Fisko” cited in the email may refer to the religious studies faculty member, Paul Fisko. He once served as the assistant principal for ministry.
Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters revealed this information after it was shared with him by concerned parents. Masters also reported receiving pictures of controversial political posters inside one civics classroom. Several of the posters read “Protect Trans Youth,” “Stay Woke,” and “Sanctuary Cities Now.”
Brophy is one of the more expensive private schools in the nation. The national average for private school tuition hovers around $11,600; Arizona’s average cost for private high schools sits at just over $15,500. Brophy’s tuition reached nearly $17,000 this year.
While segregation is optional for Brophy students, certain COVID-19 measures aren’t. On top of requiring masks, the private school recently issued a version of a vaccine mandate that mirrored President Joe Biden’s – if students and faculty don’t get the vaccine, then they are required to undergo frequent testing and are limited from participating in certain school functions.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Aug 26, 2021 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Litchfield Elementary School District (LESD) Governing Board member Dr. Tara Armstead announced her resignation during Tuesday’s special meeting. Armstead’s total time at LESD lasted five months. The only Black board member alluded to her frustrations with resistance to the district’s equity work.
Armstead’s resignation wasn’t originally a part of the meeting agenda. The ex-board member noted that she’d submitted her resignation on Monday, officially. She said it was her intention when she became a board member this spring to take her advocacy to another level on behalf of students and their families. Instead, Armstead said she’d faced many hurdles: slander against her character and intentions, court battles, and a general lack of support from the very community that purportedly requested her help.
However, Armstead insisted she wasn’t leaving due to these outside pressures. Rather, Armstead said the district was a “sinking ship” she could no longer help.
“I am not leaving because people are running me away, because of people scaring me, because of people pushing me in a position of fear where I feel like I can’t go on any longer, or because I’ve been asked. I am leaving because, even when I’m trying to fight for what is righteous and what is uncomfortably true, I am being treated as though I’m trying to destroy the entity with the intention of serving students,” said Armstead. “I was never here to be served, and I wasn’t here to serve adults. I was here to serve children. So after five months of constant, continuous situations letting me know exactly what they really want to have happen here in this district and in this community, I can no longer be a part of this sinking ship.”
Armstead emphasized that she wouldn’t show any thanks, gratitude, or appreciation for the opportunity to serve on the board. She expressed hope that the district would hire more people of color; she clarified that these hires shouldn’t be for the color of their skin, but for their ability.
“[I] will not say thank you for the time that I’ve served here, or express any gratitude or appreciation, because for the five months that I have been here, I have been treated as though I am not an expert in the field, like I have no idea what I’m talking about, and it’s sad that even a person who is invested in the field of education cannot come and help to improve education,” said Armstead.
Board President Danielle Clymer thanked Armstead for her service as a member, and for getting LESD where they are today.
No other members issued responses to Armstead’s resignation during the meeting.
On Wednesday, Armstead appeared on a “Wednesday Chat” episode with Jeanne Casteen, a failed candidate for Maricopa County Superintendent. Armstead clarified that the final straw had to do with reception to her stance on COVID restrictions. She said she took issue with people challenging her as a professional.
Armstead added that she was tired of her attempts to help falling on deaf ears.
Tuesday’s meeting, starting from Armstrong’s resignation, can be viewed here.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com
by Corinne Murdock | Aug 25, 2021 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
The Arizona attorney general’s office found that Litchfield Elementary School District (LESD) violated open meeting law through its Diversity Empowerment Team (DET). In some reporting, social media posts, and even LESD communications and internal documents, the DET was referred to as the “Diversity Empowerment Committee,” or “DEC.”
Deputy Solicitor General Michael Catlett wrote the letter notifying LESD of their violations. For violating open meeting law with the DET, Catlett determined that there wouldn’t be any repercussions, but it would serve to inform the attorney general’s response to any further open meetings violations. LESD was also found in violation of open meeting law for allowing and defending the behavior of one board member, Kimberly Moran, when she interrupted public commentary critical of LESD’s equity statement with a sign that read, “Not True.” Catlett informed LESD that Moran would be required to undergo further training for this violation.
Catlett said that the DET qualifies as a public body, despite insistence from LESD that it didn’t. Information about the DET wasn’t made publicly available through LESD.
“Few government responsibilities are more important than the education of children and the issue of how to education children about discrimination and race is important and complex,” wrote Catlett. “Parents and other community members should be given significant opportunity for input on school curriculum or policies that have any possibility of being viewed as ‘characteriz[ing] the United States as irredeemably racist or founded on principles of racism (as opposed to principles of equality) or that purport to ascribe character traits, values, privileges, status, or beliefs, or that assign fault, blame, or bias, to a particular race or to an individual because of his or her race.’”
LESD’s equity statement was also a product of the DET. In addition to a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, the equity statement announced that LESD pledged to antiracism.
Parents and community members also weren’t privy to DET members’ identities. In fact, the team wasn’t mentioned on LESD’s website at all. However, some parents did manage to learn the identities of DET members.
AZ Free News learned that DET members were parents Latrice Gettings, Tamillia Valuenzela, Kamaria McDonald; Palm Valley Elementary School special education teacher Brittany Austin; curriculum administrative assistant Eva Aguila; Verrado Heritage Elementary School behavior coach Grizellie Hedges; Litchfield Elementary School behavior coach Heather Maxwell; Mabel Padgett teacher Anthony Munoz; student transporter Jocelyn Zvosechz; Palm Valley Elementary School principal Jen Benjamin; Wigwam Creek Middle School assistant principal Kacie McQuarrie; Verrado Heritage Elementary School principal Meredith Noce; and LESD Title One director John Scudder.
Only one LESD governing board member was on the DET: Moran.
The parents chosen for DET have publicly shown their support for nearly all social justice beliefs, including: critical race theory, Black Lives Matter (BLM), anti-racism, transgenderism, LGBTQ+ lifestyles, ICE abolishment, and DACA continuance.
It also appears through a public post by McDonald that DET has a private Facebook page.
In addition to the DET issue, the attorney general’s office addressed the behavior of Moran at length. During LESD’s April 13 board meeting, Moran disrupted public comments criticizing the board’s equity statement by holding up a sign that read, “Not True[.]”
LESD defended Moran’s behavior, arguing that open meeting law allows board members to respond to public commentary. The attorney general’s office disagreed. They stated that the full text of the law allows board members to respond at the end of public commentary, not during. Catlett wrote that Moran’s behavior was “extremely concerning,” considering she’d just undergone open meeting law training.
“Ms. Moran’s actions violating the Open Meeting Law immediately following Open Meeting Law training are extremely concerning,” wrote Catlett. “Thus, the Office will require that Ms. Moran re-take the training received by the board during the April 13 meeting.”
The DET also had an Outside Facilitator named Amber Checky, the CEO and Founder of Inclusion Counts – a diversity training and consultation business.
Checky and the other DET members earned the ire of parents over the summer for their involvement in DET’s plans for increasing equity at LESD. These plans were published by Young America’s Foundation (YAF). The “Litchfield Elementary School District Transformational Equity Work” explained that the DEC (DET) created the following equity goals:
· Reduce disproportionality in discipline for Black students;
· Reduce disproportionality in achievement for Black and Hispanic students;
· Increase professional development for LESD staff on diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism;
· Develop a diverse and inclusive curriculum by:
· Auditing existing curriculum materials for bias to ensure multicultural perspectives;
· Acquiring multicultural inclusive curriculum materials;
· Ensuring teachers have cultural competence: clarity, knowledge, and agency to adapt, modify, or enhance curriculum to bring cultural awareness and diverse voices and perspectives into curriculum;
· Recruit and retain culturally competent and diverse administrators, faculty, and staff (diversity refers to race, ethnicity, gender identity, faith, ability, sexual orientation, appearance, socioeconomic class, age, and life experience).
According to the internal document, these DEC (DET) goals were the primary focus of the 2021-22 school year.
Parents objected to Checky as an outside consultant – partly because of her beliefs, and partly because they didn’t get a say in the makeup of DET. Checky and her wife, Inclusion Counts CFO and Co-Founder Heather Checky, raise their daughter as a son. This is public knowledge: Checky’s foster daughter is widely publicized. The Checkys interviewed with several news outlets in 2019 about their daughter, claiming a summer camp refused her entry because of her transgenderism.
LESD Superintendent Jodi Gunning rebuked parents for taking issue with Checky and the DET. Gunning offered a veiled threat that law enforcement would intervene if parents continued to identify and criticize members of the DET.
“It has come to my attention that the names of our staff members and volunteers who served on the Diversity Empowerment Committee (DET), as well as screen shots from their personal Facebook pages, have been posted to social media as individuals to ‘get to know.’ This even included personal information about someone’s partner and child,” wrote Gunning. “Litchfield Elementary School District denounces any attempts to intimidate or threaten. We strongly oppose personal attacks and fear tactics by anyone attempting to persuade the professional business of our public institution. We are working closely with law enforcement partners to ensure the safety of all of our stakeholders.”
The family that Gunning referenced was the Checkys.
As of press time, LESD hasn’t updated its website with public information about the DET.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Aug 24, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The FDA approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, now marketed as COMIRNATY, doesn’t mean it’s safe or effective, according to Dr. Jane Orient, Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). Orient made these statements on the radio show, The Conservative Circus.
Orient asserted that this FDA approval was rushed. Due to the hastened timeline of the COVID-19 vaccine’s approval, Orient speculated that the FDA may be corrupt.
“What the FDA did was to rush this through without public hearings, without an investigation of the more than 12,000 deaths that have occurred within a couple of weeks of getting the vaccine, or the many thousands of cases of permanent disability,” said Orient. “That doesn’t mean the vaccine is safe – it may just mean the FDA is corrupt.”
In her interview with Conservative Circus, Orient also asserted that the Department of Justice (DOJ) opinion that emergency-use authorization treatments could be mandated wasn’t consistent with law.
Orient warned that the FDA itself admits that they can’t confirm the long-term effects of the vaccine.
“There are many authorities that say they would not give this vaccine to young people period because they have no way of knowing what the long-term effects are,” said Orient. “If you read the package insert that the FDA just released, it says that they are not able to say that the vaccine has been tested for effects on fertility, cancer, autoimmune diseases, or other things. These things take time to manifest, and there has not been time and the surveillance system is very, very poor.”
Included in the package insert is another warning for cases of myocarditis and pericarditis – heart inflammation that can be fatal – particularly within 7 days of the second dose. The clinical studies note that many recipients aged 16 to 55 reported adverse reactions mirroring flu-like symptoms: fatigue (70 percent), headache (65 percent), muscle pain (45 percent), chills (41 percent), joint pain (27 percent), and fever (18 percent). Recipients aged 56 and older reported less adverse reactions.
Orient pointed out that the government pulled the swine flu vaccine after a number of Guillain-Barre cases were reported (estimated at one in 100,000) which were linked to 53 deaths. She said that she doesn’t believe the COVID-19 vaccine is absolutely necessary for anyone.
The FDA and CDC have warned against the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19. Orient said that this was “terrible advice,” along with their insistence that hydroxychloroquine shouldn’t be used to treat COVID. She said that hundreds of doctors and thousands of patients have used these drugs effectively to treat COVID.
“The safety is known for hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. The safety is known for those two drugs,” insisted Orient.
Orient has testified before the Senate on the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine.
Pfizer’s brand name for their vaccine, COMIRNATY, mashes up the words “community,” “immunity,” “mRNA,” and “COVID.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com
by Corinne Murdock | Aug 24, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Last week, the Secretary of State’s office received the “Arizonans for Voter ID Act:” a ballot initiative to strengthen ID requirements for in-person and mail-in voting through universal voter ID. The initiative will require ID for mail-in ballots, but will also provide a free voter ID to those registered voters who need it. Voters would also be required to give certain information: their date of birth, as well as either the last four digits of their Social Security Number, driver’s license number, or nonoperating state identification number.
Proponents of the Arizonans for Voter ID Act assert that its voter ID requirement will also deter ballot harvesting. The political committee that filed the ballot initiative, Arizonans for Voter ID, was joined in their efforts by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, Heritage Action, Honest Elections Project Action, Foundation for Government Accountability, the Goldwater Institute, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Arizona, AMAC Action, and Arizona Women of Action.
As required by law to qualify for the 2022 November ballot, the Arizonans for Voter ID Act acquired at least 237,645 signatures by July 7.
Arizona Free Enterprise Club President Scot Mussi asserted that most Arizonans and all other American citizens support strong voter ID.
“This initiative will ensure that no matter when you vote, where you vote, or how you vote, identification will be required,” said Mussi.
The polls support this claim. Over 60 percent of Arizona voters support voter ID. Nationally, around 80 percent of Americans support voter ID.
In July, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito ruled that Arizona law makes it “quite easy” for individuals to vote. The court case, Brnovich, et al. v. Democratic National Committee, et al., outlined the provisions of Arizona voting law that ease the burden for voters. Alito noted that this included in-person voting on Election Day, 27 days of early in-person voting, and only one application required for mail-in voting which could be extended perpetually through the Active Early Voting List as long as voters vote once within two straight two-year election cycles (rebranded from “Permanent Early Voting List,” or PEVL, through legislation passed earlier this year limiting the system’s perpetuity).
ID plays a role in many mainstream societal transactions, as Arizonans for Voter ID Committee Chair Vicki Vaughn argued.
“Arizonans show identification all the time in their daily lives to purchase alcohol, receive unemployment benefits, make major transactions, and board a plane, among others,” stated Vaughn. “Requiring identification before casting a ballot is necessary for our elections.”
A photo ID or another valid, government-issued ID is also required for the following: obtaining a driver’s license, receiving certain in-patient or out-patient doctor or hospital treatments, receiving certain over-the-counter or prescription medicines, buying guns or ammunition, visiting schools or jails, filing court documents, adopting a child, engaging in parole or probation, receiving auto insurance, donating blood, cashing or paying with checks, pawning items, responding to a traffic stop, obtaining a passport, picking up packages at the post office, buying cigarettes, opening a bank account, renting or buying a house, applying for a mortgage, adopting a pet, renting a hotel room, applying for a hunting or fishing license, establishing a utilities account, and applying for a job.
Learn more about the Arizonans for Voter ID Act here.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
