Edina teachers and school board members say they are receiving threats in the wake of growing tensions with some community activists.
In front of a packed school board meeting with teachers Monday night, Chairman Leny Wallen-Friedman said threats made against teachers last fall included one note to a teacher that read: "You really need to do society a favor and kill yourself."
Another profanity-laced e-mail, he said, stated: "I will do what it takes to get you fired."
Wallen-Friedman apologized to the crowd of teachers at Monday's board meeting, adding that they don't deserve to be threatened.
"When our teachers were threatened last fall, the board was remiss in failing to speak out against these threats," he said to them. "Tonight, I apologize to our teachers for failing to make a public stand for them last fall when they were threatened. I also reaffirm my support for them and the work they do."
An ideological divide has intensified this year in the west metro suburb. In November, an article in a magazine produced by the Center of the American Experiment was sent to Edina homes about the district's "All for All" equity plan that teaches racial equity, calling it an effort to "indoctrinate students in left-wing political orthodoxies" and saying it has threatened the district's quality of education.
In March, members of Edina High School's Young Conservatives Club settled a lawsuit after claiming the district had wrongfully revoked its school-sponsored status. And earlier this month, the school board's vice chairwoman Sarah Patzloff came under fire for a social media post criticizing a teacher's blog about teaching students about racial and social justice issues.
Some residents rallied around Patzloff before the meeting, where the school board declined to take action against her.
