A school board meeting erupted into shouting on Tuesday night after a group of parents confronted the Loudoun County School Board members. A parent group, Fight for Schools, filed a petition with more than 2,000 signatures to remove the board chair.
A member of the group, Megan Jenkins, spoke during the public comment section of the meeting, calling attention to the support to remove the board members who they say support critical race theory being taught in schools.
"By the way, Denise, Brenda, Ian, Atoosa, we are well over 100% of required signatures for the petitions," Jenkins said. "So I'm not going to encourage any of you to resign because when you are recalled and removed from office, it will be much more satisfying. See you in court."
Jenkins had been speaking directly to Board Chair Brenda Sheridan, Board Vice-Chair Atoosa Reaser, Ian Serotkin, and Denise Corbo.
The executive director at Fight for Schools, Ian Prior, shared with Fox News that enough signatures had been collected to remove all four of the board members. Still, a petition to remove Sheridan was filed on Tuesday.
In Virginia, for an elected official to be removed, petitioners must gather signatures equal to 10% of the votes cast in the previous election for that office.
The uproar is from parents claiming that the school board was attempting to put Marxist philosophy into the district's curriculum using taxpayer money.
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"You have activist teachers using to indoctrinate their kids who are at the mercy of their authority," Erin Dunbar said. "That is child abuse. And you have no right to brainwash children into believing that their skin color determines their purpose."
Jessica Mendez addressed the board, saying, "I have the privilege of telling you that we are finished collecting signatures for your removal."
She added that the parent group "sacrificed and spent countless hours away from their families, day in and day out" to collect the needed signatures.
"I used to think that there was no point in speaking at these meetings," Mendez added. "There was no point in trying to have a voice because you never seem to listen, anyway. But I had it all wrong. It wasn't you who needed to hear our voices. It was all those parents, grandparents, and neighbors listening at home, horrified at your actions or inactions. They were the ones who needed to hear us, and they were the ones who sign petitions, see you in court."
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The petitions started earlier this year following reports of a Facebook group called "Anti-Racist Parents of Loudoun County" that put together a list of conservatives and opponents of critical race theory. They then proceeded to track, hack, and "doxx" them, Fox News reported.
If the cases proceed and go to trial, then a judge or jury will rule whether or not to remove the board members from their position.
