Wilson School District
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Published – November 17, 2022
Wilson School Board member Michael Martin was publicly reprimanded for reading a statement from an article that said, “No group is perfect. However, I have to say that black people get offended quicker and more often than any other group I’ve ever seen or dealt with.”
On November 14, 2022, WFMZ-TV 89 News reported, “The Wilson School Board voted 8-0 at a special meeting Monday night to censure board member Michael Martin and request his resignation. Martin abstained from the vote.”
WFMZ-TV also said, “The censure removes Martin as the board’s treasurer and prevents him from serving on all committees, but the board has no legal recourse to remove him as a member.”
Martin defended himself by declaring that he’s not racist and has “done more to help people of color over the last 40 years than most people probably don’t realize or understand.”
Martin also allegedly made intimidating comments to parents of transgender children in the Wilson district.
During the November 7 meeting, board member Amy Kennedy stated that she wanted to give Martin the opportunity to apologize for making “hurtful statements toward a group that’s already marginalized.” Kennedy also said, “There was such an air of toxic masculinity in [Martin’s] statement because I wonder if he would do the same thing if he saw a little girl dressed up like a baseball player…making threats is not something we should do in this community.”
Martin denied making physical threats and clarified, “I stand by what I said. I…can’t believe any parent that has any sanity would start dressing their two-year-old in the opposite sex clothes because they wanted a girl or a boy…I’ll confront any parent on that issue any day, any time, any place…I don’t believe in that. I think it’s wrong and I stand by those words.”
Prior to the exchange between Kennedy and Martin, public comments came out against gender reassignment literature geared toward 4th to 8th graders. Parents and community members objected to students reading the book “Melissa” (formerly published as “George”).
“Melissa” is a fictional tale of a boy who transitions to a girl, uses new pronouns, and finally reveals his secret of wanting “gender-affirming” surgery. The book gives age-inappropriate, sexually explicit details and descriptions of body parts. Two educational associations — the PA Libary Association and the BCIU (Berks County Intermediate Unit) — voted to keep the book on the district’s assigned reading list.
Board member Guadalupe Kasper gave a rebuttal to parental concerns, stating,
“I have to address this issue…about attacking our trans and non-binary youth at Wilson and their supportive parents. First, it’s never appropriate to accept one’s perspective when it’s predicated on hate and an unwillingness to be open to others’ perspectives. Words matter.”
She continued,
“As someone who has taught gender studies, it’s important to note that gender is a social construct. And therefore [it] can be challenged and transformed in the context of any space or time within our society.”
Wilson School District has over 6,300 students enrolled across eight schools.
