Protesting parent arrested at Independence school: Is this how we police dissent now? | Opinion

In Independence schools, a child’s parent or legal guardian can be barred from district property without recourse to appeal the banishment. Other Kansas City-area school districts operate in a similar manner, too.

How is that remotely fair? Well, it isn’t.

Ashley Richey is the parent of a former student at Glendale Elementary School in Independence. In May, Richey, 35, was told to stay away from all Independence School District property for a year. She was never informed of why she was placed on the restricted list. Nor did she have the option to argue against the ruling issued by Superintendent Dale Herl.

Due process is the cornerstone of democracy. And the Independence School District Board of Education must act. We encourage the board to revise its adult code of conduct policy. First order of business: Implement an appeals process for parents to oppose such arbitrary decisions.

Rules on restrictions vary from district to district and state to state, educators told us. But some metropolitan area school districts do allow visitors denied access to district property to communicate with the local school board in writing.

For example, In the Lee’s Summit district, banned individuals can regain their privilege to visit school but not without approval from the board of education first, according to board policy. Independence should enact a similar measure.

Parents of children in Center, North Kansas City and Park Hill schools also have the right to oppose a ban, officials told us.

District has no appeal process

We respect the role Herl sits in. When it comes to disciplining parents, the superintendent cannot be the sole judge, jury and executioner, though. Nothing keeps Herl or others in charge from silencing critics, such as banishing a protester from campus or the central office.

What better way to squash dissent? Checks and balances are good public policy, even for leaders such as Herl, who seemingly has rarely met a parental ban he didn’t agree with. He has not returned our request for comment as of publication time.

By not allowing parents to appeal these rulings, we believe the Independence school board is doing a disservice to district residents and failing to meet the needs of school children affected by such action.

Under state law, a school has the power to restrict unruly adults from entering district property. We have no issue with the statute. Educational leaders must consider: How is a child supposed to learn to their full capabilities if Mom or Dad can’t visit school to speak with a teacher or administrator about a student’s development?

In its welcome letter to families of elementary school students in the Independence School District, the stated goal is to provide a high-quality education for students and to nurture a lifelong love of learning for them.

“Our students’ successes are directly related to positive parent and family involvement,” officials wrote.

If parental involvement is paramount to student achievement — and it is — some parents in Independence are being left out of the equation. That cannot continue.

We get it: Rules are rules. And in a civilized society, we all have a duty to obey regulations put in place to keep the peace. Schools are no different. Campus grounds must remain safe. A structured environment is good for students, staff, parents and community stakeholders.

But shouldn’t parents in Independence schools and other area districts have a right to contest harsh or unjust rulings such as a building ban? We believe they should.

Mother allowed on property to enroll child

A week before Richey was arrested Aug. 22 for trespassing on Independence School District property, she was at district headquarters enrolling her child in school, she said.

Why wasn’t she placed in custody then? Was there a mix-up? Or did district officials in charge of admissions and enrollment simply not know of Richey’s status?

Either way, district leaders cannot pick and choose when to enforce policy. Inconsistency could lead to confusion.

At the behest of a district enrollment specialist, Richey was summoned back to the central office the day she was cited to submit proof of residency, she said. Independence Police officers later placed Richey under arrest and escorted her from the building in handcuffs.

“I was ready to give up on Missouri,” said Richey, a Nebraska native now living here.

Instead, she enrolled her child in a private school here and plans to fight with what she called unfair treatment of her child, who is Muslim. Expect legal action, Richey told us.

Last spring, she raised concerns about her child being bullied by staff and other students, saying school officials ignored her. She supplied us with letters she wrote to district leaders, and a copy of a police report she filed with Independence police against a janitor at the school.

Neither school officials nor police did anything to curb the alleged mistreatment, so Richey started protesting on a public street near Glendale, an action she continued this week.

Was ban from school grounds retaliation?

In May, Richey, a frequent critic of Independence schools, was banned from district property for a year. She still doesn’t know why. Herl signed a letter informing Richey to stay away for a year. We read that, too, and found it difficult to find evidence of wrongdoing.

Was Richey’s ban and subsequent arrest retaliatory? Quite possible. We have real concerns of how Independence School District leaders react to criticism.

To question how district officials handled Richey’s arrest is fair. On one hand, Richey should have known better than to set foot on school grounds. Other avenues to enroll children in the district exist, district officials and educators said. We could presume online registration would have kept Richey out of handcuffs.

But in this district, critics have routinely been silenced with threats of arrest.

We asked a spokesperson for the school district about its policy to ban parents or others from school grounds. We wanted to know: Does the district remind adults restricted from entering district property of their enrollment options at the start of the new academic year?

We’re still waiting for an answer.

We did review the school board’s policy on building bans, and nowhere in the document did we find an avenue to appeal the act.

In this country, placing dissenters under arrest for protesting their grievances is un-American. Independence school officials do it with ease.

Under the leadership of Herl, no one critiques how Independence schools operate. Or else they could face jail time and fines.

That is never OK.

This story was originally published September 1, 2023 at 5:03 AM.