Trevor Chuna for Copley-Fairlawn School Board

I want to share some perspective about the meeting minutes open for approval from March 11.

If you take a step back, the most direct and personal contact we ever have with the government is through families, and specifically our children, in the school system. The government is given the power by the people, to serve the people. And when dealing with children, there is no higher duty we have as people then to ensure the government is being the best stewards possible of the power we have given them.

As a deeply ingrained member of this community, I have heard from countless people about what is most important as the school stewards what is most precious to them, their children. I am one of 5 Board members. I have no power to do anything on my own. I am simply a voice of the people, who do have the power.

In my short tenure on the Board, I have simply asked for what the community has asked for.

• Transparency that serves as the basis of a trusting relationship between the schools and parents.
• Parental rights by upholding the spirit of our existing Board policy - which is to pursue full parental involvement, not selective or subjective inclusion.
• Academic excellence by upholding the spirit of the Board Mission - which is to raise critical thinkers in a learning environment that is free of ideology.

The Board meeting on March 11th was to cover open questions the community, and I, have on a variety of topics.  In what appears to be a coordinated effort to intimidate me, a group of approx. 50 people, a majority of which were a select group of faculty members, met the questions I asked from the community with jeers, sneers, laughs, insults, and other interruptions.  The community should be concerned by this response. That response wasn’t toward me, but to our community. And if that is the response they are giving to the community, what is the response they are giving our children when we are not present? Is it an environment where kids can thrive with the free thinking and free speech necessary to raise critical thinkers? Or is it one where they are intimidated into what the government decides they should think, say, and believe. Each child’s ability to achieve their full potential will hinge on the support of their families and their ability to know how to think, and not what to think.

So, in the spirit of transparency and ensuring the government is being the best stewards possible of the power we have given them with our children, I encourage you to read the meeting minutes and listen to the special work session meeting that occurred on March 11th and understand what your fellow community members are asking and the responses being given.

This is an open dialogue and I encourage parents to be invested and engaged.  Ask your children what is being discussed in class. Look at their curriculum and non-academic presentations. If you have concerns, ask the school questions and don't accept easy answers. Speak up in these Board meetings or through the public comments section of the Board website when the district is not aligning with Transparency, Parental Rights, and Academic Excellence in an ideology free learning environment.

While the meeting minutes are accurate, they can’t possibly reflect the full context and content of the meeting itself.  I will make my own personal use recording available on my website, trevorchuna.com along with this message and link to the meeting minutes. Thank you.