A Fort Worth-area school board candidate opposes Marxist student group
A school board candidate is not happy about a student-led Young Marxists club at Grapevine High School, saying the organization goes against conservative, Republican values.
Tommy Snyder, who is running for the Place 5 seat on the Grapevine-Colleyville school board, said in a Facebook post that he learned about the organization from a “concerned parent.”
“Friends, yesterday a concerned parent made me aware of a club where Marxism is being introduced in our schools and I was shocked to see comments where the liberal left embraces the teachings of Karl Marx. This is being done without our knowledge and right under our noses. If you are a conservative Republican like myself, you know that we live in a culture where our values are being stripped away. I am a US Army Veteran and I believe our children should not be exposed to Anti-American propaganda.”
The school district wrote in an emailed statement that student-led organizations are allowed as long as they conduct their activities outside of school hours.
“The student-created and student-led Marxist club at Grapevine High School is a non-curriculum-related student group that is permitted by the Equal Access Act passed in 1984. For the purposes of the Act, GCISD high school and middle school campuses offer an opportunity for non-curriculum-related student groups to meet on school premises during non-instructional time.”
The school district’s student handbook says that the district doesn’t sponsor non-curriculum student groups and cannot imply in any way that they are sponsored.
The Young Marxists flyer also has a disclaimer that the group isn’t sponsored by the district.
The students responded to Snyder’s concerns on Twitter saying that he launched a “misinformation campaign” against the group, and accused him of covering up a portion of their flyer which said that the school district is not responsible or affiliated with its content.
The students also tweeted, “We believe that someone running for an office in charge of the education of every child in GCISD should be held to a higher standard and should look out for the interests of all students equally. It is imperative for the district to support student expression.”