An Augusta father was silenced at a Wednesday public school board meeting when he used his testimony to criticize the Augusta school board’s interpretation of Title IX anti-discrimination laws that allow transgender-identifying males into girls’ sports.
[RELATED: Mills’ Continued Defiance of Trump’s Deadline for Title IX Compliance Could Cost Maine Hugely…]
“I’m sorry, but negative comments will not be allowed,” said Augusta School Board Chair Martha Witham.
Augusta father Nick Blanchard began his testimony by praising the board members who voted in favor of an interpretation of Title IX that does not allow males in girls’ sports. When he began to criticize Cony Middle and High School Principal, and Chair of the Maine Principals’ Association (MPA), Kimberly Liscomb, Blanchard was told that negative comments would not be allowed at the meeting.
Based on Witham’s comment, she seems to believe that the school board meeting is exclusively intended for parents to praise school employees and express their satisfaction with policies.
Blanchard continued with his statements, calling for Liscomb to be removed from her position as principal and citing a petition he started that has gathered over 1,000 signatures, calling for her removal.
“Unfortunately, multiple instances have raised questions about her ability to respect and uphold the civil rights of our children and the decision-making authority of us, as parents. This inappropriate overreach has led to a direct violation of parental rights that cannot be overlooked,” said Blanchard’s petition.
Blanchard was unable to explain his specific grievance with Liscomb during his testimony, because as soon as he mentioned her name, Witham slammed her gavel and accused Blanchard of somehow making defamatory remarks.
“I’m sorry, it will not be tolerated. I’m going to ask you to step from the podium, That’s the second warning I’m going to give you about making defamatory remarks,” said Witham.
When Blanchard asked how his statements could be considered defamatory, Witham claimed that she did not have to explain her assertion and removed Blanchard from the podium after he continued to try to speak.
“I don’t have to explain it to you,” said Witham.
“Wow, Communist China right here,” responded Blanchard as he left the podium.
The MPA, chaired by Liscomb, and the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) are the primary entities that decide on policies like the one that allows transgender-identifying males to use girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms, and to compete in their sporting events. Both the MPA and MDOE have refused to change their policies, even as the end-of-day Friday deadline for compliance with new Title IX standards rapidly approaches.
If Maine has not complied with federal law and removed males from girls’ sports by the end of the business day on Friday, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) will refer the matter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for enforcement. That enforcement will likely lead to a complete rescission of much-needed federal education funding for Maine schools.
Despite the potentially devastating funding cuts, school districts such as Augusta’s are doubling down on their support for radical gender ideology or simply refusing to defy the MPA or MDOE by addressing the situation.
One concerned Biddeford father reached out to The Maine Wire, sharing his communications with Biddeford Assistant School Superintendent Chris Indorf.
The father had previously written to the superintendent and school board, asking whether President Donald Trump’s executive orders combating discriminatory Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies and radical gender ideology in schools have had any impact on Biddeford. He also asked what the school is doing to comply with Title IX policies.
Indorf’s response claimed that Biddeford schools comply with all state and federal laws but did not directly address their policy on transgender athletes. He invited the father to attend a May 28 meeting where the school board will discuss potential changes to their Title IX policies. That meeting comes over a month after the deadline set by the DOE.
[RELATED: Maine’s Students Deserve a Choice]
Many Maine school districts have hired the powerful and progressive Portland-based law firm Drummond Woodsum to advise on how to clamp down on dissent from parents who speak out at school board meetings. Earlier this year, the firm advised school districts on how to “resist” immigration enforcement efforts by the federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, including by destroying documents.
Earlier this year, a man was arrested at an Augusta school board meeting for speaking over the time limit.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="37862 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=37862">23 Comments
i am scared to point i dont go to my childs school board meetings due to fear of retaliation… scared if i go and speak out id get arrested or it would skyline my kid… hes only 8, has a lot of school left. i dont trust the schools… im worried they will vax him with out my consent…along with.. brainwash him with radical gender ideaology….. wish i could afford to homeschool…
Isn’t the the purpose of having a school board to make things better for the common good by listening to people and their grievances or praise? Maybe he should have taken a different approach by saying, “I enjoy watching boys beat the living crap out of girls. Keep up the good work.” You know, put a positive spin on it.
I was wondering if Our Governor, who as we all know showed up to show her support for woman athletes competing at the woman’s national college water polo championships this week end
being held at Colby College in Waterville Maine. Young woman from all over the USA are competing for the national title of best college water polo team and we how much our governor supports the girls in sports
Now don’t we
What do you expect ?
Three quarters of Augusta’s residents work for Janey Mills and the State of Maine .
They don’t give a shit as long as their paychecks keep coming .
Augusta has been a shit hole for the past fifty years . It’s a nest .
I was wondering if Our Governor, who as we all know showed up to show her support for woman athletes competing at the woman’s national college water polo championships this week end being held at Colby College in Waterville Maine. Young woman from all over the USA are competing for the national title of best college water polo team and we how much our governor supports the girls in sports. And if the governor was busy may be a representative of the SPA could be there.
Now don’t we?
Public Comment 101: One can say many things at school board meetings, but mention a name, and you re gone
On the bright side, if the Feds do withold funding, it won t affect public schools in Maine one bit. They ll still be just as awful. To fix them, we d need to fire every commie teacher -90% of them, at least, and so defunding schools might be one way to get there
Public schools are rotten communist run temples to the sick and elite. Parents take your children out of public schools! Run for school board. Sue every constitutional violator personally. Save our children and nation.
hopefully people like her lose their jobs. weather you like his opinion or not he should be able to voice it. He seemed pretty respectful and not hostile. i’m sure she instantly didn’t like the hat. Voters need to wake up.
Unconstitutional – school board meetings are a public forum protected by the first amendment…
“ house rules” only apply to ensure that it pertains to the matter at hand not speech that the board decides it doesn’t like.
This is our “government” or “elected representatives” at every level.
abusive authority: Abuse of authority, or abuse of power, refers to the misuse of authority by an individual or group, often for personal gain or to harm others. It can manifest in various ways, including arbitrary decision-making, discrimination, and the exploitation of one’s position for personal benefit.
Once elected they forget who they work for. “power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”
Unfortunately with ranked choice voting, Maine will continue to decay into despotism.
Our schoolboard shut down a citizen from speaking the other night because he was 5 minutes late to the meeting. Refused to acknowledge him. Bringing up any TRANS issue is a big no no. The school has family members from one family on the school payroll and schoolboard. Nepotism. They do not want the public involved in their little club. They vote in their own raises every year by stacking the board meeting with school employees vs. a few public attendees. Like shoveling shit against the tide if you attend and never mind the condescending attitudes of school employees and board members towards the public. This is a statewide epidemic.
Interesting that Witham has adopted the PRC’s interpretation of the First Amendment, that of course being agree & adore my rhetorical manure or I’ll you silenced &/or shot. Perhaps she could pack up all of her self-adoration and move it and herself to China?
What kind of sick fucks are these school boards? Seriously, there hill to die on is letting boys into girl’s locker rooms? A great purge needs to happen soon.
The purpose of these school boards isn’t to improve education for the kids in Maine. It is to insure their Marxist ideology is promulgated relentlessly. The younger you can influence the better to advance your ideology. They aren’t stupid. They know exactly what they are doing
Bravo Nick. She is so old but stupid enough to understand what you want to teach her.Maine wake up. Enough of this stupidity. Vote red. We are small and poor state can’t tolerate this ignorants.
I hope a good attorney takes him as a pro bono case and sues the school district for every bloody cent they have and don’t have. This bullying by school boards has got to stop.
Listen folks (‘what to do…’), if you want to homeschool your kids bad enough, even on a low income, it IS possible! Our family (some college, no degrees, one income) did it, from birth through high-school and into college, and our kids turned out very successful in their chosen fields. I’ll be honest, not every day was easy, but the end result was well worth it.
There are some very good resources out there, some free, that you can use to accomplish your goals. If you’re determined enough, you can easily learn how to create a custom curriculum for your child, as every child has a learning style that you must be aware of. Maine has a wonderful assortment of homeschool families/co-ops that are there to help and network with, and I encourage you to seek them out and learn from them! Attend a group meeting/curriculum swap or sale/workshop/playgroup and ask lots of questions. Observing how your kids play with the other kids there and how they get along could be the first step in starting/joining a small group of your own. Different age levels is a plus! As your kids get older and develop different interests the group may grow and branch out or get smaller, or even completely change and that’s normal. Homeschooling is not just about educating your kids (and yourself!), it’s about the giving of yourself, a living legacy for your family.
Many HS families come from a myriad of backgrounds and are former teachers and high-school graduates, medical professionals, lawyers, tech experts, artists, mechanics, construction workers, farmers, and even former homeschoolers themselves, who see how destructive our Dept. of Education has been and that it’s not going to get better any time soon.
You don’t need a degree in education to teach your child, just the conviction to do the best you know how, the willingness to do so, and lots of prayer to get you through the rough days. It CAN be done!
This is what Janet “SEE YOU IN COURT” Mills id defending.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7dyJfUxgOw
You suck!
It’s time for school vouchers.
The problem is that these elected officials forget that they work for us, not the other way around. And white, educated ( supposedly) are the absolute worse. Look at Hochul, Mills, Healy, Whitmire, Hobbs, tyrants all
Suggest looking into a faith based school. Charleston academy teaches children everything they can utilize in life and is affordable. Worth a look
Questions…
How much does Martha Witham make as the School Board Chair? How expensive a mansion does she live in?