Esko parents express worry, anger over issues

Some parents in the Esko school district are not happy with what they perceive as the “woke” culture at Esko High School, according to Kara Kangas, a parent in the district.

Kangas expressed frustration at Esko’s decision to elect its homecoming candidates based on personal character only, without requiring a set number of boys and girls. The results of the vote had two boys with the most votes, followed by two girls.

“What happened to our homecoming,” Kangas said to the board. “We had two males elected as royals. What’s next, two furries?” She called the decision not to celebrate the homecoming court at halftime disgraceful.

Board chair Jeff Salo said the homecoming changes were not a board decision: they only ask to be kept up to date.

Including Kangas, a total of four residents addressed the board Monday, with concerns about masking and critical race theory and the struggles some young children are going through because of Covid restrictions. Briana Pennington suggested that the school find a compromise regarding transgender students using school bathrooms that don’t align with their sex at birth.

After the parents addressed the board, superintendent Aaron Fischer told parents that the district doesn’t teach CRT, explaining that it is college-level theory not taught at the high school. Regarding the requests to remove the mask mandate for students in the elementary grades who are not eligible for vaccinations, Fischer said there is no magic number, rather he meets with the school nurse daily. He’s happy with Esko’s Covid protocols, he said during the meeting, giving the example of a classroom full of kids that would have been quarantined for exposure last year, but not this year because they were all either masked or vaccinated.

In response to a question asking if Esko was getting paid for masking kids, the answer was no.

Elementary school principal Brian Harker reported that staff have realized that this year’s second-graders are behind academically and behaviorally after missing parts of the past two school years due to the pandemic. “We’re seeing some real immaturity,” he said. “It’s nothing they’ve done wrong, it’s the hand they’ve been dealt.” Staff are meeting to discuss how to help the children catch up and relearn school routines and rules.

High school staff are also working to reestablish expectations, particularly for attendance and timeliness, principal Greg Hexum said. He said 85 percent of the staff feel there has been learning loss in the upper grades during the pandemic, but they have it under control. “Older students were more able to adapt to the technology,” he said, comparing even a middle school student to a first-grader.

In other matters Monday, the board:

-Approved potential travel and competition plans for the Esko Subzero robotics program, after a lengthy presentation about the highly successful and popular extracurricular program.

-Approved a letter of commendation and the resignation of elementary and adapted physical education teacher Cynthia (CJ) Johnson after 44 years, effective Dec. 22.

-Approved the installation of rubber flooring in the hockey shelter locker rooms and bathrooms for year-round use, with up to a 50-percent match by the Esko Youth Hockey Association. The estimated cost is $8,500 total.

The board also canceled its Oct. 25 meeting because a community facilities planning meeting is set for 7 p.m. Oct. 25 in the Esko school theater. Fischer is hoping for a good turnout from the public, and said he hopes people will share their thoughts and priorities about maintaining and expanding the quality of the Esko educational facilities. Participants are asked to bring a smart phone or electronic device to participate in survey questions.