Katie Giel is worried about the teachers in her community.
Giel lives in the Kyrene School District and is a former Kyrene student. She's worried the district that runs through Ahwatukee, Chandler and Tempe will reopen schools too soon, possibly endangering the health of educators.
So Giel, as a constituent, emailed John King, a Kyrene school board member who appeared opposed to delaying the start of school.
King's response, she said, shocked her.
Giel believed her message to King was thoughtful and respectful. Reopening schools too soon, she wrote, could further the spread of COVID-19 and endanger community members. In her email signature, Giel noted that she is a law student at Arizona State University.
"I know these are heavy decisions falling on your shoulders and I implore you to protect the safety of our students and teachers above all else," she wrote.
King wrote back a few minutes later, according to an email chain Giel forwarded to The Arizona Republic and posted on social media.
"I am forwarding this to the district leadership," he wrote. "You will be contacted by the appropriate authorities. This may or may not affect your JD. I'd be careful sending such emails with this kind of verbiage."
King's reference to her JD, the juris doctor law degree she's pursuing, caught her off-guard, she said. It didn't occur to her that an elected official would try to interfere with her career. Now King is under fire online, where dozens have condemned his emails to Giel.
"His response was, quite frankly, unhinged and vile," she said. "I was shocked and thought that voters should know what his response was to a respectful request from a constituent."
King, when reached by The Republic over the phone, said, "I'm not responding to you" and ended the call.
A Kyrene School District spokesperson said the district does not comment on individual board member exchanges with constituents.
"Individual Governing Board members are elected officials who speak for themselves, when not speaking as a governing body," spokesperson Erin Helm said. "Kyrene is currently focused exclusively on the work of ensuring a safe return to school."
'Why don't you go plead with them?'
A Kyrene school board meeting on July 14 was marked by a few tense moments when King chided several other board members.
King appeared angry that two of his colleagues had signed a letter from school board members across the state asking Gov. Doug Ducey to delay opening in-person school until October. He said the two other board members should have consulted with the entire board before signing.
He also accused several board members of asking teachers to email Kyrene's superintendent to pressure her to delay opening district schools for in-person classes.
"We are not here for the politics; we are here for our students," he said.
Giel sent her email to King July 22. She said she has been concerned for teachers in the district and is worried about their safety if they're asked to report to school while the number of COVID-19 cases remains high in Arizona.
"I felt like teachers were getting lost in the conversation," she said.
She said she thought she was being empathetic to King in her message and understands that school leaders are faced with imperfect choices in reopening.
"I understand the push and pull between allowing students into schools so that parents can get back to work and students can get the resources that they need," she said.
According to Kyrene's website, the district is planning to offer the option of in-person classes starting Aug. 17 but appears to leave the in-person start date as flexible "in the event of a further delay to the start of the school year."
After Giel's first response, where he told her he forwarded her message to district leaders, Giel wrote back to King, "It seems that what offends you here is the weight of the health and safety decisions the office you decided to run for now must handle. The reality is that they are life and death decisions. I’m respectfully imploring you to consider the safety of students and staff above all else."
King responded, "It would be helpful for you to do a thorough analysis of what is really happening so that you dont come off so uninformed. Your teacher friends are able to cancel their contract without penalty. Why dont you go plead with them. And I'm not the least bit intimidated by your JD."
Giel posted screenshots of the exchange on Twitter the next day. It received numerous responses, in support of her and condemning King.
She's not worried about her place in Arizona State University's law school — the dean of the school, Andrew Sylvester, responded to the tweet.
"Mr. King might want to know that I vote in Kyrene," he wrote. "Also, his threats to our student are not only ridiculous but vile. I hope he apologies soon and realizes that Ms. Giel’s JD is much safer than his elected position ..."
Andrew Kennedy responded that he had a similar exchange with King. He wrote to the board member to ask him to consider delaying the start of school. King responded, "If you wish to threaten or badger anyone, I'm sure you could find someone who would be more favorable to this communication approach."
Kennedy wrote on Twitter that King contacted his job. He wrote, "Thankfully my bosses shut that down REAL quick!"
Giel said ultimately she wants decision-makers like King to recognize that their choices affect educators, too.
"I just wanted to make sure that governing board members are paying attention to the safety of teachers because it really does fall in their hands," she said.
King's term on the Kyrene school board is up at the end of this year. According to the Maricopa County Elections Department, he has not filed to run for reelection.
Reach the reporter at Lily.Altavena@ArizonaRepublic.com or follow her on Twitter @LilyAlta.
Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
"board" - Google News
July 24, 2020 at 05:17AM
https://ift.tt/39uAPir
Kyrene school board member appears to threaten constituent's law career after email about reopening - AZCentral
"board" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2KWL1EQ
https://ift.tt/2YrjQdq
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Kyrene school board member appears to threaten constituent's law career after email about reopening - AZCentral"
Post a Comment