The divisiveness on the Chilliwack school board has reached a whole new level, with two sitting trustees encouraging police action against a third.
At the centre of the issue is a battle over library reading material and its contents 鈥� an debate amongst trustees that first began in June when sitting trustee Heather Maahs took issue with 鈥楢ll Boys aren鈥檛 Blue鈥� being available at a local school library.
鈥淚t desensitizes kids and it鈥檚 all in the name of LGBTQ because it鈥檚 boy on boy, and I鈥檓 talking young boys being depicted in stories with things I鈥檝e never even heard of,鈥� she said on an internet talk show at the time. 鈥淚t鈥檚 bad.鈥�
Most recently, in a Facebook post on Aug. 17, Willow Reichelt argued against banning books with LGBTQ2S+ and anti-racist content, suggesting that 鈥渘o one advocating book banning in 2022 has any business being involved in public education.鈥�
On Aug. 19 Reichelt returned to Facebook, saying she had received two emails threatening to report her to the RCMP. A post being shared by the Facebook group EXPOSING SOGI 123 threatened the same.
鈥淎re you a parent with children in Chilliwack schools? Are you tired of the pornographic material/books being shown to minors, children under 16? Do you want to DO SOMETHING about it? I am looking for parents in Chilliwack who are willing to file police reports against the trustee pushing these books on our children, Willow Reichelt and anyone else who approved of their use in schools. I am hoping to be ready to file our reports to the sex crimes unit of the Chilliwack RCMP.鈥�
Reichelt grabbed screenshots from trustees Darrell Furgason and Barry Neufeld, who appear to encourage the filing of police reports.
鈥淚f you want to get traction on this post, you should post it publicly!鈥� Neufeld wrote. 鈥淏e prepared for some nasty pushback, but ALL parents need to know!鈥�
鈥淚 am not not surprised about Willow Reichelt鈥檚 response to your concerns,鈥� wrote Furgason. 鈥淪he and the other 3 鈥榳oke鈥� Trustees all stand in favour of sexual 鈥榚ducation鈥� being taught to young students in our District. I totally agree with your concerns about sexualizing young children, and suggest that you do proceed with your actions with the RCMP.鈥�
In her Facebook response, Reichelt said enough is enough.
鈥淪o now two sitting trustees in the span of 24 hours have tried to get me arrested for defending freedom of thought,鈥� Reichelt responded. 鈥淎 reminder of my supposed crime: I told people to read books and think for themselves.鈥�
Reichelt has been a staunch defender of 鈥楢ll Boys aren鈥檛 Blue,鈥� saying it has been given a starred review by Kirkus (Book Review Service) and glowing reviews by School Library Journal, Booklist and the New York Times.
鈥淒iverse representation leads to empathy, compassion, understanding and a sense of belonging,鈥� she said in June, responding to Maahs鈥� comments. 鈥淪exuality is part of human experience, and some books written for a teen audience contain sexual content. Young-adult fiction presents this content in an age-appropriate manner and tends to focus on the social-emotional aspects.鈥�
The Progress reached out to Neufeld and Furgason for comment, but did not receive a response before this story was published.
The Chilliwack school board election is Oct. 15.
The field of declared candidates includes Reichelt, Maahs, Furgason, Neufeld, David Swankey, Carin Bondar, Teri Westerby, Margaret Reid and Brian Vangarderen.
eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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