School board elections in Twin Cities suburbs center on LGBTQ inclusion, academic achievement

Kyrstin Schuette wants more people to vote in school board elections. As a former political director for the Minnesota DFL, she's seen what a successful get-out-the-vote operation looks like.

So she launched an effort to curb what she sees as harmful rhetoric against LGBTQ inclusion in Minnesota's public schools. The School Board Integrity Project, Schuette said, is an effort to find and train candidates capable of turning down the heat on elections that have become increasingly antagonistic in recent years.

"Nobody wants to fight with their neighbor over culture war issues," she said.

Such national political issues are on full display in the electoral contests for three seats on the Anoka-Hennepin school board, which oversees the largest district in Minnesota. That polarization concerns local election watchers.

"These races are nonpartisan," said Kirk Schneidawind, executive director of the Minnesota School Boards Association. "You want candidates who, at the end of the day, are interested in the goal of helping the school district and the students."

Schneidawind said school board elections have garnered greater interest and more campaign spending in recent years. Some parents may have been concerned over lessons and teaching tactics they objected to when schools went virtual in 2020. Families with children in schools and community members have also been galvanized by persistently low reading and math scores.

"All of a sudden, some people who may not necessarily have been engaged before are interested in running for these seats," he said.

In November, voters in 53 school districts across Minnesota will elect board members for four-year terms, according to the Secretary of State's office. Included are four suburban districts that count among the state's largest: Anoka-Hennepin, Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan, South Washington County and Wayzata.

Those districts enroll more than 99,000 students, according to the Minnesota Department of Education. They account for more than 1 in 10 of the state's 870,000 public school students.

In the Anoka-Hennepin district, even when candidates differ on support for LGBTQ students, many agree on one thing: Student achievement is at a crisis level.

But they sometimes disagree on how the state's largest district should tackle the fact that about half of its students read at grade level and even fewer are proficient in math.

Candidates such as Erin Heers-McArdle and Michelle Langenfeld, — both are endorsed by the local teachers' union and backed by Schuette's campaign operation — say it's essential for students to feel seen in the classroom.

"We should be able to acknowledge their humanity and have a safe environment for them to learn in," Heers-McArdle said.

Cyrus Wilson, who's running for the District 5 seat representing parts of Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center and the southern portion of Coon Rapids that Langenfeld is also pursuing, similarly lists equity initiatives as a priority for his campaign.

Campaign websites for Zach Arco, Linda Hoekman and Scott Simmons make nods to the parents' rights movement. All three candidates are endorsed by the Anoka-Hennepin Parents' Alliance, a nonprofit that lists academic excellence, school safety and parental rights "on political, religious and moral issues" as its main priorities.

Hoekman and Simmons, who previously ran unsuccessfully for the state Legislature, also list endorsements by the Republican Party in Senate District 31.

"I don't see parental rights as a partisan issue," Simmons said. "I see that as a human issue about allowing the parent to be the champion of a child's education."

He said he also believes concerns over political parties weighing in on school board races may be overblown. Simmons points to the fact that the DFL has long endorsed candidates in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

He served on the Brooklyn Park City Council from 2003 to 2006, another nonpartisan position, and saw municipal issues get heated.

"I used to say that you shouldn't make something like snowplows a partisan issue," Simmons said. "But it happened. You can't put the genie back in the bottle."

Transparency is among his top priorities as a school board candidate. He said parents have told him they're frustrated when they ask for detailed descriptions of classroom learning materials.

"Even if they find someone, they're not responsive," Simmons said.

He said he might propose that the district hire an ombudsperson to field those requests and build trust.

Arco, whose campaign website also lists parents' rights as a pillar of his campaign, declined to answer a reporter's questions to clarify what the term means to him. When asked to provide voters clarity on the policies he would pursue as a board member, Arco responded: "That's not something I'm interested in."

Hoekman did not respond to requests for comment. Hers and Arco's campaign websites say the districts must depoliticize curriculum.

The Anoka-Hennepin Parents Alliance did not respond to requests for comment.

In early October, the group admonished the local teachers' union for celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month on Facebook. The alliance accused the union of "pushing gender ideology" on young children after it encouraged its members to ask pupils about their pronouns.

Simmons said conversations that center students' gender identity are better suited for middle and high school.

"Elementary school is not the time and place," Simmons said. "When schools start doing that, you're creating a wedge between the parent and the child."

Rhetoric like that rankles Schuette. She was one of several plaintiffs in a 2011 case that led the U.S. Education and Justice departments to require Anoka-Hennepin district leaders to hire consultants, document harassment and submit annual reports on its efforts to combat sexual harassment against LGBTQ students.

In 2021, a transgender student who was barred from using the boys' locker room to change for swim meets settled with the district for $300,000 after Anoka-Hennepin leaders agreed to alter its policies on bathroom and locker room access.

"We're seeing history repeat itself," Schuette said of campaign material that takes aim at LGBTQ inclusion initiatives within district schools.

Heers-McArdle, who's running against Hoekman for re-election to the District 1 seat that includes Ramsey and Anoka, said those affirmations of identity are an integral component in any plan to boost a student's academic progress.

"For any student to learn, they need to feel like they are safe, they need to feel like they are included, they need to feel like they are welcome," she said.