Group targets Decatur superintendent for defending staff accused of teaching ‘woke politics’
.jpg "The Decatur superintendent defended his teachers against accusations they teach “woke politics.”")
A conservative group is accusing Decatur Superintendent Chad Jones of using tax dollars to “weaponize” the school district against two candidates who are running for seats on the school board in Saturday’s election.
The group, Wise County Conservatives, posted on its Facebook page that Jones used district letterhead in his April 26 message to parents and staff in response to a campaign text message calling on voters to support Sandra Schneider and Jeremy Duncan. The text accused the district of teaching “woke politics” and encouraged “Decatur to get back to the basics when educating students.”
In his response, which was also posted on the district’s website, Jones wrote: “Decatur ISD teachers do not teach woke politics nor do we indoctrinate children. We teach the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) that are approved by the Texas Education Agency and these educators do it with a deep passion and genuine desire to make your children successful.”
Jones also said in his statement that the text message was sent during STAAR testing week, a stressful time for teachers.
“When our district and teachers come under fire, I want every staff member and citizen of Decatur to know that they have a superintendent who will back them when they are unjustly called out as a group for actions or activities that are false and damaging to their personal reputations and that of Decatur ISD.”
Jones declined to comment on the group’s accusations, other than to refer to his statement.
The Star-telegram asked the Wise County Conservatives if it had filed a complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission, which handles election-related concerns, and received a message that said: “Wise County Conservatives has not filed a complaint with the TEC regarding the DISD Superintendent. Thanks and have a great day!”
The group wrote in its Facebook post that Jones insinuated that the candidates “hurt” the school district. The candidates were not named in the Wise County Conservatives’ post, but they were named in the campaign text message.
Schneider and Duncan did not return messages fseeking comment, but they addressed the text message on their Facebook pages.
Schneider wrote, “I DO NOT believe that DISD teachers are ”woke.” I do not believe that DISD is a “woke” district. It was never my intention to make teachers feel villainized and or accused of teaching woke politics or indoctrinating our children.”
Duncan’s Facebook post stated that he wanted to recognize the superintendent for advocating for educators.
“I never had, or will, have ill intentions towards our educators. I want to advocate and support you all! Words have been twisted and misconstrued, and I whole heartedly want all educators to know that I am here for you and I invite anyone to please reach out to further discuss this matter.”
The post from the Wise County Conservatives also accuses the school board of failing to protect students and teachers from “radical woke agendas such as allowing kids identifying as a gender not on their birth certificate to use opposite sex bathrooms or policies to protect teachers and students from having to use preferred pronouns.”