WENTZVILLE, Mo. — The Wentzville School District is adding more security at its board meetings after they say there have been threats of violence and disruption.
The board made the decision Thursday night at its monthly board meeting, which lasted more than five hours. Toward the end of the meeting, members discussed approving a contract for a second security officer due to long meetings, threats, and safety concerns.
Board Member Jen Olsen said this move was a step too far and that words don't constitute violence.
Other members pushed back, including Board President Jason Goodson, who argued that while words don't hurt, sometimes those words include threats of physical violence.
The back-and-forth heated up even more when a board member admitted to asking for an officer for that meeting.
"I was notified that Black Lives Matter would be in attendance tonight and I asked to have an officer," Renee Henke said.
During this discussion, an argument even broke out in the crowd and Goodson had to ask security to intervene.
Ultimately, the board voted 4-2 in favor of the contract.
The two members who voted against the measure, Olsen and Henke, are also the two whistle-blowers who complained to the attorney general about trans bathroom policies.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is now suing the Wentzville School Board, saying the board violated Missouri's Open Meetings Law.
Zebrina Looney, the St. Charles County NAACP president, was there to speak during the public forum. Her own kids attended and graduated within the Wentzville School District and now, she advocates for others.
"I was there last night because I was contacted by 17 different families about racism and the disciplinary actions taking place," Looney said.
That was just one issue brought up, along with other matters like policies for students who are transgender.
She said she's been seeing the animosity grow at board meetings in recent years.
"I'm not surprised by that (adding security), with the climate and the vitriol that we see in this district in particular, it is needed. There are current threats right now made to our board members," she said.
She was shocked to hear the Black Lives Matter comment from the board member.
“To be clear, there was a call for extra security because of board member Henke’s claim, which was not true," Looney said. "This could’ve very well put the minority residents and families attending this meeting in harm's way."
Looney said the NAACP asked community members to come and support their students speaking during public forums.
"The acknowledgment of extra security has nothing to do with this claim," she said. "It speaks more to the culture of the district and community post-COVID and the rise of the anti-Black, anti-LGBTQ +, anti-woke and book banning movement.”
"It’s telling of some of the positions that they consider the organization a hate group," Looney said. "It is dangerous to equate minority parents, who are concerned about their children and their education, to Black Lives Matter. This shows what they think of minority parents."
Gary Ritter is the Dean of the School of Education at Saint Louis University and studies education policy. He said this hostility seems to be growing.
"We can certainly tell you that the pandemic is one thing that made parents a little more aware of what's going on and whenever you're aware of what's going on, you might have more questions. On top of that, we have all of these culture war issues," Ritter said.
Ritter encourages public discussion that is meaningful and solution-based.
Looney said she hopes that's the move for the sake of the students.
"Mainly the kids are the ones being hurt, families are being hurt, the more and more we dig deeper, it really does divide us because the ones being affected are our children," she said.