A petition was started on April 18, 2023 to oust Willow Reichelt from her position as Chilliwack School District (SD33) chair. The petition on change.org has collected over 3,000 signatures in three days.
The spotlight landed on Reichelt after a wave of parents expressed concerns that SD33 has sexually explicit materials available for chindren in the schools.
According to the petition, Reichelt censored voices that don’t support her progressive, woke ideals and disparages those who do.
“As seen many times in public School Board meetings, Willow does not listen when parents, guardians and other residents of the Chilliwack community, attempt to voice their concerns. She will turn off their mic before they’ve finished speaking,” wrote Cindy Carpenter, who began the petition.
“She will also shut off the mic of fellow trustees, if their opinion doesn’t align with hers. She has also raised her voice, scoffed, laughed at and belittled, the ones trying to speak.”
Trustee Heather Maahs was recently censured by the board for siding with parents and that their children belong to them not the school, Maahs attempted to ‘enshrine’ parental rights within the schools policy. The board is now demanding parents to provide photo ID to attend public meetings. It’s unclear if the collection of personal data will lead to proactive banning of some parents that don’t share the same views as the chair Willow Reichelt.
The petition cites several comments from the public which include a former student who alleges that as a teacher, Reichelt “never allowed room for anyone’s thoughts or beliefs except her own.”
“I highly believe it’s crucial to leave space for kids to discover their own opinions rather than being told what’s right and wrong – she would openly tell certain students she wished they were the only ones in the class etc. worst teacher i’ve ever had. honestly thought she got fired,” wrote the anonymous former student.
At the time of writing this article the petition has collected 3,100 signatures.
