Washoe County School District
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Updated – June 27, 2024
Several Washoe County School District (WCSD) board members walked out as TPUSA Faith Contributor Pastor John Amanchukwu quoted passages from a violent, hypersexualized library book.
At the June 25, 2024, board meeting, Amanchukwu read excerpts from “American Psycho” by Bret Easton Ellis, which follows the story of a man living a secret life of violence, human torture, murder, and graphic sexual encounters.
Before public comments, Board Vice President Adam Mayberry told speakers he would give one warning and then recess the meeting if anyone interrupted using “profanity” or “vulgarity.”
When Pastor Amanchukwu approached the podium, he stated:
“I want to read from the book ‘American Psycho’ … this book references vulgarity — which you spoke about earlier — that would be condemned in a school board meeting. But at the end of the day, you all permit vulgarity to be at the fingertips of children. For you to have a policy that says in this meeting you’re against vulgarity, that means this board is a hypocrite if you endorse books like this to be in the school system.”
The final edit of the district’s video cuts Pastor Amanchukwu’s speech at 38:14 and resumes one second later with no sound as the board members exit the room. The recess lasted over 15 minutes. The social media clip below shows that Amanchukwu was eventually escorted out by police officers.
CONTENT WARNING: Graphic descriptions of sex and sexual torture.
BREAKING: @REVWUTRUTH was asked to leave the Washoe County School Board meeting after reading explicit passages from AMERICAN PSYCHO, a book available at Reno, Galena, and Spanish Springs High Schools.
The school board walked out after Pastor John Amanchukwu continued reading… pic.twitter.com/xKPMAEzH2c
— Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) June 26, 2024
During public comments at the same meeting, resident Charles Elliot — the patriarch of multigenerational WCSD graduates and current students — told board members:
“I am totally disappointed in each and every one of you for being childish enough to get up and walk out because of some obscenity that some of you guys allow in each and every one of our schools … You guys are causing our children to be exposed to something that is going to open up Pandora’s box.”
He continued:
“I want to address the LGBTQ [community] … Those people we do not hate. I don’t hate anyone. I am a Christian, I love them, I pray for them [and] I think it’s horrible that they have succumbed to this sin. But we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. I love them and I want to continue to hope and pray for their best.”
A general search of the district’s virtual library returns several salacious books available to elementary, middle, and high school students. This is not an exhaustive list:
- “Gay Power!: The Stonewall Riots and The Gay Rights Movement, 1969” by Betsy Kuhn
- “Jay’s Gay Agenda” by Jason June
- “This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson
- “The Full Spectrum: A New Generation of Writing About Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Other Identities” by David Levithan and Billy Merrell
- “Gay-Straight Alliances: Networking with Other Teens and Allies (The LGBTQ+ Guide to Beating Bullying)” by Kristina Lyn Heitkamp
- “The ABCs of LGBT+: (Gender Identity Book for Teens, Teen & Young Adult LGBT Issues)” by Ash Hardell
- “Mama and Mommy and Me in the Middle” by Nina LaCour
- “Prince & Knight” by Daniel Haack
As of publication, “American Psycho” remains available for checkout at Reno High School and Spanish Springs High School.
Please continue sending tips, updates, and information on Washoe County School District to [email protected].
Thank you, Dr. Bob!
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Updated – May 1, 2024
Washoe County School District (WCSD) board members are embroiled in altercations and lawsuits that may be taking the district’s focus and funding away from student success.
WCSD Board Trustee Jeff Church has filed at least two lawsuits; one deals with the district denying his request for public records, and the other is regarding uninvestigated sexual harassment claims against Church. The source said, “Neither of Church’s lawsuits seek money but petition the courts to intervene and force the district to comply with his requests.”
Church has also filed more than 20 Open Meeting Law violations against the district, with more complaints anticipated.
In turn, Church’s six colleagues, led by Board President Elizabeth “Beth” Smith, sought to increase its legal defense fund by $500,000.
According to the Nevada Signal, “[Church] was recently informed of accusations made against him by two unnamed school district employees. Church has denied the accusations and claims to have videotape evidence proving his innocence. He has requested an outside investigation, believing an internal investigation would be biased or incomplete in order to protect the district and false accusers.”
On April 11, 2024, The Nevada Globe wrote, “At Tuesday’s [WCSD] monthly meeting, Trustee [Church] accused [Board President] Smith of conspiring against him with [the] two unknown, uninvestigated female whistleblowers who claim that Church had ‘made them feel uncomfortable’ leading to subsequent allegations of sexual harassment after a school board meeting last fall.”
The Nevada Globe stated that Church also “filed a Writ of Mandamus on March 1 to compel the District to follow their established sexual harassment policies and Nevada law.” The half-million dollar increase was approved during the March 12 board meeting without any investigation into the validity of claims against Church.
As of publication, Church has maintained his innocence and denied all allegations, reportedly stating that the attacks are politically motivated.
Amid the controversy, one source reported that WCSD expects a “continued decline in student enrollment for the 2024-25 school year.” Anticipated losses are projected to be around 1,150 students, increasing the total to nearly 6,000 students who have left the district since the 2019-20 academic year.
WCSD Budget Director Jeff Bozzo said:
“Almost 90% of our general fund revenues and over 80% of our general fund positions are based on enrollment. So, just as another example, if we were to lose 10 students on a district-wide basis, that’s the equivalent of the cost of one teacher position.”
Alongside decreased enrollment numbers, the district is currently searching for a new superintendent as schools are closing, and over half the student population is failing basic math and reading proficiencies.
The School Board Watchlist team will continue monitoring issues in the Washoe County School District. Please send tips, updates, and information to [email protected].
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Updated – June 28, 2023
Washoe County School District came under fire for abusive incidents occurring on the Galena High School baseball team that resulted in a lawsuit. The plaintiffs of the suit are “Minor Plaintiff or N.J.” and “Plaintiff Brooklyn.” The defendants of the suit are Defendant Walker, Dean of the school and coach of the baseball team, along with Defendant Ford, a minor and member of the baseball team during the time of the incidents, but currently 18 years old. The Washoe County School District is also a defendant in the lawsuit, among other minor defendants.
Brooklyn was the manager of Galena High School’s baseball team at the time of the incident. Brooklyn’s introduction to the team is described as such:
“While participating in the baseball program, Brooklyn could no longer play competitive sports after receiving a medical diagnosis, so she joined the baseball team as its team manager. Brooklyn’s boyfriend Grig, whom she dated for three years during this time, was also a star player on the baseball team.”
“Not long after Brooklyn’s resignation, Grig died tragically in his car, N.J. was ostracized and isolated, and Brooklyn and her family would endure constant harassment, stalking and intimidation, and even threats of death from Defendant Ford.”
Defendants Walker and Ford allegedly abused Brooklyn and used her for irrelevant services to managing the team:
“Defendant Walker utilized Brooklyn as more than just a team manager; he would ask her to watch his kids, take his new truck in for an alignment, have new tires put on it before his hunting trip, get them rotated before family trips, and to run his other personal errands. Defendant Walker shared his personal, marital, and financial issues with Brooklyn.”
Defendant Walker was accused of embezzling player’s funds for his own purposes:
“Brooklyn was responsible for cleaning out the team’s lockers at the end of the season, and while doing so, she found documents in Defendant Walker’s locker that would implicate his embezzlement of funds, where he took money from one star baseball player’s family, cashed it to himself, and used the funds to purchase a new truck, off-road vehicles, and to take his family on vacations.”
Moreover, the lawsuit accuses Defendant Ford of sexual harassment:
“Defendant Ford engaged in sexually harassing conduct towards Brooklyn, grabbing her body and making sexually explicit comments to her. He further subjected Brooklyn to taking pictures of her body without her consent and videotaped himself masturbating in her presence.”
The lawsuit alleges the defendants engaged in the following:
- “Assault and provoked assault;
- Excessive and demeaning sexual harassment, including daily and repetitive taunting by other players, mocking of their sexuality, their sex, sexually objectifying them and acting out sexual acts and expressions, belittling and humiliation based on perceived sexual orientation, sex, and gender identity;
- Lewd acts and expressions, obscenity, indecency, pornography involving minors, exhibition of obscene materials to minors, disseminating intimate images, and bullying by use of electronic communication devices;
- Retaliation for notification of the lewd acts and expressions, and abhorrent and disgusting behavior, that did include libel, harassment, provoking assault, stalking, hazing, obscene, threatening and annoying telephone calls, injury to and defacing certain property;
- Embezzlement of funds.”
The lawsuit states that the students performed other lewd acts. Allegedly, students
“[T]ook out their penises and their scrotum from their pants, exposing their genitalia, put them on the faces and mouths of other minor boys, pretended to hump them and masturbate to the acts and expressions, video their excitement over the acts, and went from room to room, threatening each of the boys, including Plaintiff N.J., to whom they told they were going to ‘fuck him in the ass.’”
The lawsuit alleges Brooklyn suffered from the effects of her treatment that the coach and baseball team:
“As a result of these collective acts, N.J. and Brooklyn did manifest the following somatic and psychosomatic symptoms: Difficulty eating, loss of appetite; Increased anxiety; Panic attacks and fear at school; Fear of battery, assault, and harassment; Post-traumatic stress symptoms; Emotional distress; Depressive symptoms; and Diminished concentration and academic performance.”
According to Nevada Sports Net, the district responded to the lawsuit with the following statements:
“The safety and security of our students is always our top priority… To ensure the safety of all our student athletes, the Washoe County School District has made the decision to temporarily suspend all activities of the Galena High School baseball program. This includes all off-season programming and the use of facilities.”
Updated – May 23, 2023
A parent in the Washoe County School District (WCSD) reached out to the School Board Watchlist after she uncovered LGBTQ content in local schools. Brooke said she witnessed major curriculum changes after her son entered sixth grade. Her son also started noticing questionable symbols in his classroom.
Brooke told the Watchlist:
“When my son started middle school…He came home one day and said, ‘I want to take a straight flag to school.’ I told him to just put his head down and get the work done. At the end of the school year, they authorized another sixth-grade child to bring a pride flag to school.
“She went around the lunchroom shoving it in all the kids’ faces…I verified this when my son told me…and a lot of students kept asking her to stop. Finally, another child took [the flag] and broke it. This was the first big thing that happened.”
Brooke said the situation took a turn for the worse after her son got a new math teacher:
“My son sent me a text one day and said, ‘Hey, mom. The new math teacher has a lesbian flag hanging in the classroom’…I told him to text me a photo…I didn’t even know what [the flag] was, so I had to look it up. [And] sure enough, it’s a lesbian flag hanging in the front of his class.”
Brooke said she spoke with Vice Principal Kendra Smith who explained that the teacher was new and wanted to make everyone feel included. When Brooke challenged the legality of the flag’s presence, Smith referred her to the district’s gender identity policy, “Administrative Regulation 5161.” The policy states:
“The District is committed to addressing the health and safety needs of all students, including those needs related to a student’s actual or perceived gender identity…In all cases, the goal is to foster the safe and healthy development of the transgender or gender non-conforming student while maximizing the student’s social integration into the school setting and minimizing stigmatization of the student.”
The regulation does not expressly permit district personnel to initiate discussions on gender and sexuality with minor students. However, it does allow transgender students to cross-dress and use facilities that align with their gender identity. Also, the “Right to Privacy” section under “Regulation 5: Rights and Protections” says:
“Staff shall not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender or gender non-conforming status to others, including parents/guardians or other staff members, unless there is a specific ‘need to know,’ they are legally required to do so, or the student has authorized such disclosure.”
Soon after exposing the district’s gender and sexuality practices, Brooke discovered that educators were participating in a training program called Brave Space.
While there is no official “brave space” page connected to WCSD, an internet search for the phrase returns Brave Space, LLC and Brave Space Alliance. Both organizations focus on creating “inclusive environments” for LGBTQ-identifying youth and adults. The Watchlist couldn’t confirm if either group sponsored the training. However, the WCSD training slide says:
“The Brave Space program has been in place since 2021. The purpose was to enable employees to be approachable concerning sensitive topics…It’s a concept of another program called ‘Safe Space,’ primarily concerned with supplying support for LGBTQ+ students.”
On April 5, 2023, Fox News reported, “[WCSD]…adopted the voluntary three-part Brave Space teacher training program as a way to support students who are reporting more stress and asking for more emotional support, due to COVID-19, ‘racial tensions,’ the ‘Capitol riot’ and ‘unsettling times.’…[A parent] is [also] suing the school district for its enforcement of district policy 5161.”
Brooke said she joined two virtual Brave Space training courses but was banned from logging into the final session. Day one focused on Civil Rights and Title IX while day two focused on assimilating LGBTQ ideologies into WCSD curricula and classrooms.
According to Brooke, her grassroots social media account, “Our Parental Rights,” was banned from TikTok after she reached three million views in under three weeks. She is appealing the decision and has since moved her advocacy efforts to Twitter.
Updated – September 28, 2022
The Washoe County School Board’s protocols on transgender students, which were revised in 2019, allow students to use restrooms that correspond with their “gender identity” and not their biological gender.
“Students shall have access to the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity as expressed by the student and asserted at school. Transgender and gender non-conforming students shall not be forced to use the restroom corresponding to their physiological or biological sex at birth, nor an alternative restroom such as in the health clinic.” (Protocol C, Section i)
Protocol B asserts that students have “the right to be addressed by the names and pronouns that correspond to their gender identity.”
Students can also participate in physical education classes and intramural sports based on their gender identity. The district addresses each student for competitive team sports “on a case-by-case basis, consistent with the rules and bylaws governing interscholastic sports competition, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA), Title IX, and any other applicable laws, rules or bylaws.” (Protocol F)
According to Protocol G, students are allowed to dress in accordance with their “gender identity or gender expression that they consistently assert at school and within the requirements of the school’s dress code or site-based school uniform policy.” (Protocol G)
Updated – October 4, 2021
Washoe County School District is located in Reno, Nevada. The district is home to 61,599 students across 110 schools.
When students return to school for 2021-2022 they will be forced to “mask- up.” The decision was made on July 27, 2021 following the Governor’s emergency directives mandating that anyone older than 2 years old must wear a mask. The district will continue their district-specific mask guidelines in preparation for the Governor’s directives to be lifted in the future.
In June of 2021 the Washoe County School District decided to temporarily suspend the curriculum of social justice for elementary school students. The district will move toward creating a task force to review what will be taught in classrooms.
The District’s superintendent, Kristen McNeill, announced that she will be retiring after the 2021-2022 school year.
The Washoe County School District has 64,584 students enrolled across 123 schools.
