BEAVERTON, Ore. — One man voiced concerns about critical race theory (CRT) while a woman spoke out against masking kids in the classroom.
"We need to look at the future and masking our children is not the answer," she said.
Dozens rallied outside Beaverton School District offices Monday night because they were not allowed to testify in front of the school board that met virtually. Protesters were upset their comments could not be made or heard live while the meeting was occuring.
"A group of us, a large group of us, are tired of the school board shutting us out of public comment, live public comment," said Jeanette Schade, who ran for the school board and lost and is now part of Build Back Basics.
As it turns out the crowd that was tired of being shut out by the school board was almost shut out by protesters.
"We are out here to counter-protest some organized activity," Jenn Burleton said.
Burleton is part of a group in support of masks, inclusivity, and critical race theory.
"I do support the need for more comprehensive education about the true racial history of this country and CRT is one way to do that," Burleton said.
It was clear that the Beaverton community is nowhere near united with the start of the school year a little more than a week away.
KGW reached out to the Beaverton School District to get its take on the frustration of people who want to give in-person comments to the school board and cannot.
"BSD values the opinions of all parents and community members," said district spokesperson Shellie Bailey-Shah in a statement to KGW via email. "The School Board has been accepting written comments throughout the pandemic. Board members read and consider all those comments prior to the board meeting. As the Board continues to operate in a virtual environment, it's considering additional opportunities for sharing real-time comments directly with Board members. We'll be sharing more on that in the coming weeks."
Hostile school board meetings have been occurring across the country. Spanning topics like CRT and mask wearing during the delta variant spike across the country, some school board members are leaving their posts, according to the Associated Press.