The scandal-plagued USD 500 in Kansas City, Kansas remains mum on board member Pamela Penn-Hicks’ charges in a recent meeting that unnamed colleagues and district staff members are working to undermine the mission of the Kansas City District.
In a September 22nd meeting, Penn-Hicks read from a prepared statement:
“We are held responsible by the community for making sure that this district functions. The expectations include oversight over the superintendent, supporting students’ academic progress, and in finding the funding to employ high-quality teachers and support staff, and fiscal responsibility. Constructive criticism, feedback, opinions, suggestions, and disagreements about decisions are part of the process.
“What is happening now has gone beyond acceptable public discourse. And what we heard tonight surely qualifies for that. Certain entities and individuals are going out of their way to make the budget process an opportunity to attack board members politically, and community members personally, and have ventured into the realm of hate speech and harassment. I want the community to know that the courts recognized this by authorizing protection orders, acknowledging that hateful verbal abuse, property damage, and lying exceeded First Amendment protections. However, outside organizations have continued their attacks on board members to influence voters, so vehemently that they have now violated federal laws. Their actions do not represent true concerns for our students, nor the well-being of this district.
“These actions have, unfortunately, been supported internally by employees of this district and other board members violating state statutes, codes of conduct, and failing to follow board policies. Which begs the question: why? I will not speculate on motives, but I will ask the community to consider that opposition to increasing taxes, and exceeding revenue neutral, and asking for information about our expenditures, precipitated these attacks. I leave it to the community to decide for themselves what motivated those actions.
“My hope is that we move forward with the business of the district, prioritizing our students’ well-being, understanding our role as board members, and make transparency and accountability a part of our North Star.”
In recent weeks, USD 500 has been the focus of reports of the U.S. Department of Justice suing the district over secret gender transitions, another lawsuit over the alleged sexual assault of an elementary school student, and lavish spending by board members on out-of-town conferences.
We reached out to the district for documentation and context of Penn-Hicks’ accusations against fellow board members and employees of USD 500. We received no response.
