The week of her mother's funeral, Gardner Edgerton school board member Kristen Schultz woke up to a text telling her to kill herself.
It was just one incident in a series of personal attacks, insults and threats Schultz said she's received over the past two years, amid tense disagreements over COVID-19 protocols and other hot button education issues. Schultz said the threats became so bad she had to be escorted to her car twice after school board meetings.
But this past weekend, she said, was the final straw.
Schultz and fellow board member Katie Williams went out to dinner on Friday and said they were harassed, yelled at and recorded by a few residents who regularly attend school meetings. Afterward, feeling like she received no support from the rest of the board to condemn such behavior, Schultz submitted her resignation.
She is the fourth member of this board in southwest Johnson County to resign this school year — and the second to do so since the November election, where four winning candidates shifted the seven-member board to be majority conservative. Earlier this year, the superintendent's resignation took effect.
Schultz wrote in her resignation letter, submitted Monday, that her decision "is about my realization that I cannot make dishonest people honest."
"I cannot demand integrity from those who have no desire to show it. It's about realizing I can no longer sit next to people who choose blatant lies even when the truth is played right in front of them and I cannot be a part of a group that not only dismisses abhorrent behavior by their followers, but also defends and empowers that behavior to continue."
Two other board members, Greg Chapman and Tom Reddin, who both won election in November, rejected that characterization and said they do not condone harassment. But since they were not present during the altercation on Friday, they said it was not the entire board's responsibility to publicly address the incident.
"I won't get in the middle of bar room high school drama," Chapman said. "It shouldn't be dealt with at the board level. There are different stories on every side, and more questions than answers. Let's just work together and be done with it. I don't feel like that's something we needed to get dragged into since we weren't the ones involved."
"I am disappointed to see Kristen leave," he added. "I think she has a wealth of information and knowledge that the district could definitely use."
Members agree that the new board has gotten off to a rocky start. The district has been shrouded in controversy after a campaign by school board candidates to oust the district's top leader. After they won the election, then-superintendent Pam Stranathan resigned with a $425,000 exit deal in hand.
Second-term member Robin Stout resigned from the board in January, after a controversial first meeting, where members hurled accusations at one another and violated board policy. "I refuse to be part of a board that not only participates in unethical behavior but ignores it when it happens," Stout said at the time.
Williams is now the lone liberal left on the board, which is is expected to discuss appointing new members to fill the two empty seats at its meeting on Monday.
While acknowledging the difficult start, three members who won election in November said they believe the board is still on the right path. They said members have successfully worked together to appoint an interim superintendent and engage the community in a search for a permanent leader.
"I think things are going really well. I just think there's still some inner turmoil and some bumpy roads ahead as far as the board figuring out how to do this the right way, rather than with secret agendas and all that," Chapman said. "It's hard to do it the right way and make sure seven voices are heard, rather than how it was done previously."
But Schultz worries the board members' behavior and the recent controversies could seriously damage the district and cause teachers to quit.
"I feel a tremendous sense of grief," she said. "I don't feel like this district is where it once was. And I feel like we're going to struggle for a while before we can get there again. And it makes me sad. We've had many long-term teachers who have left. It makes me worried about what this looks like to someone who might be thinking about coming here. All of that went through my head when I resigned."
School board tensions
School board members across the country have received threats and hateful messages, sparked by tense debates over mask mandates and other COVID-19 rules, LGBTQ books and the teaching of race.
The Gardner Edgerton school board apparently saw some of the most extreme examples of that anger in Johnson County over the past couple of years. During mask protests this past summer, two board members, Shawn Carlisle and Tresa Boden, walked out of a meeting and then resigned, saying they were frustrated with people on all sides of the issue.
"It's about masking," Schultz said of the anger that has come from community members. "And now we've opened this Pandora's box of angry people, and they will continue being angry at whatever they can."
In November, four conservative candidates — Chapman, Reddin, Jeff Miller and incumbent Lana Sutton — won after campaigning against mask mandates, for more transparency with parents, and on the idea that Stranathan had failed in leadership, especially during the pandemic.
One week after the election, Sutton began unilaterally searching for an interim superintendent, even though Stranathan had no public plans to leave her job at the time.
To avoid a possible wrongful termination lawsuit, the former school board approved a $425,000 severance package for Stranathan. Supporters of the incoming board members criticized the deal as a "golden parachute."
Then in January, the new board's first meeting was a rough one.
The agenda included a discussion item about Sutton, alleging that she leaked confidential information out of closed session when the former board discussed Stranathan's exit deal. Sutton denied the accusation.
But Chapman decided to create and present his own agenda, removing that item and adding and subtracting others. Some on the board say that violated district policy, as well as the board's transparency with the public. But Chapman denied wrongdoing, and the board proceeded with it.
Both Chapman and Reddin said that the other board members were "playing games."
Schultz said the meeting was a "complete embarrassment."
"I saw a lot of instances of behavior that our past superintendent (had been criticized for) and that was repeated that night," she said. "Transparency was such a big thing for (new board members), and then the first meeting it was like we're only going to be transparent about what we want to make transparent."
After the meeting, Stout submitted her resignation, saying that it was clear to her the board would not be able to overcome its differences and work together.
Threats in Gardner
Schultz had grown used to receiving threatening and hateful messages.
"Most of it's been done in the board room. We've been called child rapists, child murderers. I've publicly been accused of causing kids to want to commit suicide," she said. "It wasn't just hard on me. My kids read that stuff. My husband saw it. My neighbors saw it."
Last year, while grieving the death of her mother, she even received an anonymous text, shared with The Star, that read: "Kill yourself."
But she had never been worried about going out in public until after the altercation last Friday.
Schultz and Williams went to a local restaurant for dinner. They both said they noticed someone at the table next to them holding up their phone, supposedly taking photos or video of them.
"At first I thought she was taking a selfie and we were just in the picture," Schultz said. "So I said, oh I'm sorry. And that opened the door to her saying, 'You're a disgrace. You should resign. You need to leave town.'"
Schultz and Williams, who are both Democrats, said they eventually recognized the three people sitting at the table as community members who had protested mask mandates, shown up to school board meetings and supported the conservative candidates in the election.
The board members say that at dinner they had talked about Reddin visiting several schools in the district. The mention of his name grabbed the attention of the patrons at the next table.
The board members said the residents continued to interrupt their dinner to harass them. Schultz claimed that one of them grabbed her arm. Williams said that she was wearing a mask, and alleged that one of the people repeatedly coughed on her. She also claimed they followed her to the bathroom and threatened to meet them in the parking lot.
Two of the residents who were allegedly involved declined an interview with The Star.
Williams emailed the rest of the school board about what had happened. In the email, shared with The Star, she wrote, "As a unified board, I think it's important that we come together and make a statement at the next meeting that this is unacceptable behavior. Whether they support board members or not, surely this is not behavior we want to be seen encouraging, or overlooking."
After board members did not respond, Williams requested that the three constituents be barred from the board office. She said she did not feel comfortable that "they won't follow me to the restroom or my vehicle at board meetings."
Chapman responded, according to an email shared with The Star, and said that there are several sides to every story.
"It is already common knowledge that you shouldn't harass or threaten people, whether they are a citizen or a board member," he wrote. "I'm not sure what you expect to gain from a 'public comment' from the board. We are not special and if we upset the citizens we should expect to hear about it from them whether we are in the grocery store, restaurant, district game, etc."
Chapman added that board members should not "trash talk" their fellow members — something that both Schultz and Williams denied doing.
Schultz argued that the reason behind bringing up the issue with the rest of the board was "lost on him."
"It's about the right to be in public without being accosted. I did not sign up for drunk belligerence," she said.
Chapman said he does not support barring anyone from board meetings based on "hearsay," and said he and the Gardner Police would be available to escort board members to their cars if needed.
"I know Kristen very well and I'm sure she handled herself in a classy manner just like she always does," Chapman said. "But I find it hard to believe (she and Williams) didn't instigate some of it and there wasn't fault on all sides."
Williams called that "victim blaming."
Reddin said in an interview that "nobody should be harassed" but that "there are two sides to the story."
"If we make a statement in her defense and find out the other side was right or neither side was right, in my opinion, that puts egg on our face," he said.
Schultz said that it wasn't the altercation on Friday that caused her to resign, but that it was the lack of support from the rest of the board.
"It was a light bulb moment for me when I realized it doesn't matter how low people go, this particular board has no interest in upholding integrity and character. And that my time here was not beneficial anymore," she said. "In addition to that, the mental and emotional toll was no longer worth it."
What's next
On Monday, the school board is expected to discuss appointing new members to fill the two vacant board seats. Members said they have received more than a dozen applications.
"It's about finding the people who will put the district first regardless of politics, regardless of personal feelings," Chapman said. "It's the people who have the wisdom and knowledge to move our district in the right direction and blaze the new trails we're trying to accomplish. Kristen did leave a big hole that's going to have to be filled. It's definitely sad to see her go."
Schultz said she would like to see the board "make a good faith attempt to appoint someone who doesn't have any political ties with their group."
"I think that if they don't, the teachers in our district will become even more worried about what the future looks like here. If we don't make some serious changes long-term, I think we're going to be struggling."
Williams said that she plans to remain on the board as perhaps the single liberal.
"I'm a little stressed about it. But I feel like the more pushback I get from citizens telling me to resign, it only makes me want to stay longer," Williams said. "I had never been concerned about going out in public by myself before Friday night. But now I'm checking my surroundings everywhere I go. I'm worried that I'm going to get accosted just going to get a coffee. I am worried it's going to happen again because people don't agree with my politics or whatever it is."
Board members said they hope they can move past the bickering.
Sutton said in an interview that the board is headed in the right direction. She pointed out that members unanimously approved the appointment of interim superintendent James Sutton (no relation) last month.
"We have an interim superintendent that is leading us through the next few months. We've hired a search firm that can conduct a nationwide search (for a superintendent)," she said. "We are looking for public input, teacher input, student input. We are going about this through a very open and transparent process, and making sure that all stakeholders are consulted about what they feel is important. So I think really good things are happening."
Reddin said he's been visiting schools and getting to know staff across buildings, hoping to foster better relationships with the board than the district had in the past.
"I want the drama to go away," he said. "Let's get in and do our job. Let's be visible in the schools. Let's leave the drama aside and get some work done."
Schultz said that while resigning was a painful decision, she hopes it will help the board focus less on politics and more on improving the district.
"With that, I will end this by wishing our board members much success," she wrote in her resignation letter. "To do otherwise, would be to wish our district failure. I genuinely hope the next two years are much easier on them than the last were on us."
The school board will meet at 6 p.m. Monday at the board of education office in Gardner.
