Michigan School Board Contacted Employers Of Parents Against Remote Learning

A community school board in Rochester, Michigan is dealing with a case of tattletales within the district, though this time, it's the board members, not the kids, who are doing the snitching.

The Detroit News reports that members of the Rochester Community School Board and district superintendent Robert Shaner contacted the employers of parents whose social media posts they deemed "concerning" or "aggressive," according to a lawsuit filed in May 2021.

Only the post weren't actually "concerning" or "aggressive." They often just expressed the belief that schools should be open amid overblown COVID concerns.

Simply put, parents did not agree with the district's decision to teach students remotely. If and when they voiced their displeasure on social media, Shaner and the school board contacted their employers and hinted that they had made threats against the school board. In at least one instance, they even called local police.

During a deposition earlier last month, Shaner admitted to calling the employers of some parents. In at least one case, a parent involved lost his or her job as a result.

Clearly, common sense and human decency are no longer part of the Rochester Community Schools curriculum.

Rather than fess up, Shaner used his deposition to congratulate himself and the school board members for monitoring parents' social media activity so carefully.

"Yeah, so again, I just want to be clear about the social media. We do watch it and try to make sure we know what's going on in our community, but that's not the only place that we get information on social media," Shaner said via The Detroit News.

"Believe it or not, there are parents that support what we are doing, and they often share what's going on in social media with us as well...Yeah, we value the input of all parents, and we certainly want to keep our thumb on the pulse of the community, so we monitor social media very closely on all fronts and make sure we're responsive to the community."

Various reports indicate the school board has settled the lawsuit, but neither the school nor any plaintiffs have confirmed that information.

Once again, squealing was the wrong choice, and now Shaner and the tattletales on the Rochester School Board come out looking like pigs.

 

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