Austin’s letter to Gov. Northam and Sec’y of Ed Qarni

Here is the letter Buchanan School Board member Michelle Austin sent to Gov. Northam and Ed Sec’y Qarni. She read it at the July monthly meeting of the School Board. Over the weekend the VDOE stated they are not using Critical Race Theory in the curricuum changes. Botetourt School Board voted not to support CRT at the meeting. If you would like an emailed doc copy of the 27 pages of k-12 curriculum pages, please message us and include your email.

July 6, 2021

Dear Hon. Ralph S. Northam and Secretary Qarni:

I am a member of the Botetourt County School Board and have served since 2017.  Like other divisions throughout our Commonwealth, our board has received numerous questions and concerns from constituents about Critical Race Theory.  While I have expressed that our school division does not teach Critical Race Theory, many constituents are not comforted by that assertion.  The fear that I have heard is that the technical edits to the history curriculum for the 2022-23 school year may somehow be the start of inappropriate indoctrination of our students.  Can the Virginia Department of Education help provide assurance that this is neither the goal nor the intent of the Commission of African American History Education?

Since the state mandated curriculum initiates in Richmond and is presented to our division under the authority of the VDOE, our representation is dependent upon this Commission established by Governor Northam in Executive Order Number 39.

I reviewed the composition of the 36 members of the Commission.  I was saddened to find that only two members of the 36 were from the Roanoke region.  Additionally, there are zero members on the Commission who reside west of Roanoke, Virginia.  There are two out of state Commission members, yet a large portion of our own Commonwealth failed to be included on the Commission and were not afforded the opportunity to provide valuable input. 

One element of diversity, equity, and inclusion is geographical inclusion.  I learned about this concept while serving as Botetourt’s representative on the Roanoke Valley Governor’s School Board.  As championed by the VDOE, Governor’s Schools across Virginia must improve on geographic diversity in accepting students into their respective schools.  Yet, geographic inclusion was ignored when establishing this important Commission whose decisions impact every school division in Virginia, even the ones west of Roanoke.

In the spirit of diversity, equity, and inclusion can additional members be added to the Commission to include those geographies ignored?  Since the history technical edits are not effective until the 2022-23 school year, can you request feedback from every school division so that we can get input from our students, parents, teachers and community?

A final concern arose when a parent of a teacher in the Commonwealth contacted me.  The parent is fearful that her child, a teacher, is going to be caught in the middle of a divisive environment when teaching mandated content in the 2022-23 school year.  After watching the news clips of a recent Loudon County School Board meeting, has the VDOE considered that the resulting controversy could possibly compromise the safety of our students and educators?

I want to be part of the solution but I presently feel frustrated because none of the decisions thus far have been within the scope of our authority and not all areas of Virginia were represented on the Commission.  Please advise on how we can best represent our constituents we serve and make sure all voices are heard when considering impactful changes to our curriculum. 

Thank you for your commitment to the education of all Virginians.

Sincerely, Michelle R. Austin

–Cathy Benson