Parkway Schools
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Updated – June 11, 2024
A substitute teacher at Parkway Schools was escorted off campus and suspended after removing communist propaganda from classroom walls. Parkway Central High School instructor Jason Bryant Jennings published shredded Black Lives Matter and gay pride posters on social media:
This is what needs to happen when teachers insist on grooming kids with Pride signage and promoting hate groups such as BLM! We can’t stand for teachers ruining youth!#MOLeg MUST take a stand against schools allowing teachers to hurt students! pic.twitter.com/IwQJdcEpSh
— Jason Bryant Jennings (@JasonBryantJ) April 8, 2024
On April 18, 2024, WEST Magazine quoted Jennings saying:
“‘BLM is obviously a corrupt Marxist organization that should not be promoted to kids. Teachers should not be — and not just teachers, but adults in general — should not be promoting pride or anything of that nature to students, to youth.’”
WEST also reported, “Days after posting about the destroyed posters, Parkway Central administrators caught wind of Jennings’ actions and subsequently escorted him off campus. In an email to Parkway Central High parents, students and staff, Principal Dr. Tim McCarthy said that in addition to damaging the classroom, there were reports Jennings also solicited votes from students.”
Jennings, who is also campaigning as a state representative, denied the allegations and pointed out that the students are under voting age and do not live in his home district. Parkway Schools did not cite any broken laws or policy violations when reporting Jennings’ actions to the organization that issued his substitute teaching contract.
As of publication, WEST said Jennings was suspended from all future teaching assignments through Kelly Education Services, pending the results of an investigation.
An unrelated story on February 26 reveals Parkway Schools was one of three districts accused of discrimination by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey.
KSDK 5 News reported, “Missouri [AG] Andrew Bailey is accusing three area school districts of discriminatory practices. The allegations involve hiring, students’ clubs and gifted programs. Bailey sent cease and desist letters to Webster Groves [School District], Lindbergh [Schools] and Parkway [School Districts] … He claims his office has received reports of religious and race-based discrimination against students and staff.”
In his letter to Parkway Schools, Bailey said:
“My office has received reports that Parkway School District is engaging in acts of illegal discrimination in violation of Missouri law. Specifically, Parkway is preventing students from forming religious-based clubs like Fellowship of Christian Athletes (‘FCA’), prohibiting them from using the campus announcement system, hanging posters, or holding meetings on campus. State and federal law prohibit religious discrimination in schools.”
Parkway Schools denied the accusations, called them “unfounded,” and pointed to its “long-standing” relationship with FCA. Bailey said he penned the letter after receiving complaints against the district alleging FCA students were not provided the same resources and opportunities as other clubs on school campuses.
The School Board Watchlist will continue monitoring this story and provide an update when more details become available.
__________
On April 12, KSDK 5 News reported, “A father is facing charges after a Parkway School District student brought a loaded gun to his Manchester elementary school … St. Louis County prosecutors charged Tony Fisher … with one felony count of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, creating substantial risk.”
The source continued, “According to charging documents, the principal of Hanna Woods Elementary School called the police Friday morning and told them a student brought a loaded gun into the building. The student was on the school bus Friday morning when he noticed the gun in his backpack … when he arrived at school, he told a teacher, who took possession of the gun and informed the principal.”
As of publication, police were still investigating this incident. No students or staff were harmed.
In a similar situation, a Parkway South High School student was taken into custody after he brought a loaded gun on campus. First Alert 4 said the 18-year-old “is charged with unlawful use of a weapon-carrying [sic] a loaded weapon into a school or school bus and unlawful possession or transport of an illegal weapon.”
The student was reportedly involved in a fight, and police were called to the high school. The student’s backpack was dropped during the altercation and turned into the district. Police officers found the weapon and arrested the teen after he fled the scene.
No students or staff were harmed in this incident.
Please send tips, updates, and information on Parkway Schools to [email protected].
Updated – February 17, 2023
Parents Defending Education (PDE) shared emails they discovered through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that show the Parkway School District was advised by St. Louis Children’s Hospital to avoid disclosing the chest-binding practices of students to parents.
In 2021, a school employee reached out to the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital for guidance regarding students coming out as transgender. The email states:
“The short story is that one of the students in the 5th-grade class is coming out as Trans. She has told several of her friends and now several of them are also saying they are Trans.”
A staff member responded to the email and quoted the center’s co-director Dr. Sarah Garwood, writing:
“The best we can do is affirm, validate and allow for the exploration, if in a few weeks or months, a student wants to go by their legal name and pronouns that match their sex assigned at birth, no harm was really done in affirming them before.”
In January 2022, a Parkway Schools student counselor reached out to the center asking for advice on students who are using chest-binders. The email says:
“I know our staff wouldn’t necessarily want to tell the parents but were curious if they HAD to if it becomes a health issue?… The only reason we’d want a nurse, PE, or Music teacher to know is because we have a few instances where a student passed out when wearing one that was too tight (when participating in PE activities or singing and out of breath… Just wanted to put that into context…)”
A program manager responded to the email and provided further guidance from Dr. Garwood, who said:
“I would actually decline any requirements for disclosure by students or from school to parents. I would, however, provide general education to school nurses, teachers, school counselors so that they are aware this may be something they encounter.”
Another email PDE uncovered links to a YouTube video titled, “Working with Transgender Students,” that was shown to school officials in August 2021. During the presentation, the program manager for the center told participants the following, in regards to privacy and disclosure:
“There is a lot of ethical debate about this, because parents are the parents, they’re in charge. On the other hand, the kids are with all of you 6 to 8 hours a day. I believe that the best practice would be to respect that kid’s gender identity to the best that you can, without informing the parents, throughout the school day as much as you can. Working with the student, and being like, ‘OK, we can’t change your name on all the things because we have to tell your parents. So we can’t do that, but here’s where we can change your name.”
A spokesman for the school district told Fox News the school board does not have a policy related to students’ name changes or gender transitions, but it does follow an internal process “that begins with a discussion with the parent or guardian, or, if the student is 18 years old, with the student.”
As of February 2023, the Washington University Transgender Center is being investigated by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and the office of Senator Josh Hawley. The investigations come after a former employee authored an article “blowing the whistle” on the “morally and medically appalling” actions happening at the center.
The full article can be read here.
Published – November 9, 2021
The district has mandated masks for all students, staff, and visitors. Masks are required to be worn when inside school buildings, and regardless of vaccination status.
PSD has sent administrators and teachers through Diversity Training with a third party organization in St. Louis called “Educational Equity Consultants.” Charlotte Ijei, Director of Diversity at Parkway, spoke about this program by saying “The EEC is the reason why we are closing the achievement gap in our district,” said Ijei, who has attended all 19 Parkway cohort groups that have attended the program so far. “EEC came in and hit the nail right on the head.” She is referring to the often uncomfortable (or taboo?) subjects of racism and oppression. “EEC creates a safe environment for teachers and administrators to be able to have these hard conversations,” Ijei said. “Going through the training and then putting what you learn into practice is an incredible journey. It gives us educators a common language. It is truly empowering and impactful for everyone.” Ijei said if educators do not talk about these tough topics, they can “eat away at us like a cancer.”
Parkway School District is located in Chesterfield, Missouri. The district has 28 total schools in operation with nearly 18,000 students enrolled.
