Andrew Bailey is so furious with officials running the Columbia Public School system that he’s demanding they resign. The Attorney General for the state of Missouri insists they should do that before they’re fired. He’s also working real hard to get them fired, because he doesn’t trust them to do the right thing and quit. Administrators were fully aware “of a drag queen breakfast attended by middle schoolers that allegedly went on without parents’ consent.”
School officials under fire
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey demanded “the resignation and/or termination of any school official who knew that they would be subjecting children to this adult-themed drag show without parental consent.”
He tapped that out in a tweet on Monday night, January 23. His post “highlighted an interview from KCMO Talk Radio.” That’s when he spelled out that “all legal options need to remain on the table.”
There’s only one way to “restore public trust.” School leadership “officials who knew or had an ‘affirmative duty‘ to know about the nature of the drag show should be removed.” That’s because they “were either ‘willfully negligent‘ or ‘purposefully concealed‘ information from parents.” Probably both.
I am calling for the resignation and/or termination of any school official who knew that they would be subjecting children to this adult-themed drag show without parental consent. https://t.co/ax9HOnkrcL
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) January 24, 2023
Parents, he explains, should go to the local school board meeting and “register their disgust with the shameful behavior.” If they aren’t hauled away by the FBI first, they should “demand steps to rectify the issue.”
Meanwhile, he’s getting proactive by “calling on school boards and superintendents throughout the state to adopt a resolution or a public position that drag shows have no place in curriculum.”
Students don’t need an education on that. Especially when they can’t actually read, write, or figure out how much change to make, unless the cash register tells them.
Demonstrate the absurdity
Such a special resolution really “needs to happen.” That will “demonstrate the absurdity of the Columbia Public School action and to ensure it doesn’t happen elsewhere in our state.”
The public learned recently that “around 30 Columbia middle schoolers attended drag performance hosted by the Nclusion Plus performance group at the annual Columbia Values Diversity Breakfast.” The parents were intentionally misled as to what would be included.
According to the Columbia city website, “the event typically features a breakfast, award presentation, artistic celebrations, and keynote addresses.” That sounds harmless enough. They add that “the Celebration is coordinated by the City’s Office of Cultural Affairs and enjoys the support of many community volunteers and sponsors.”
After our breaking report about a school taking kids to a drag show without informing parents, Missouri Attorney General calls for the resignation of school officials who were involved 👏
You can read the full story here: https://t.co/aR13AKMfgp https://t.co/8L1fZCAa0a
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 24, 2023
School officials didn’t tell parents what those “artistic” celebrations would be. Local families say they hid the details on purpose because they knew there would be backlash. Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden tweeted that “his office had been flooded with emails and calls from parents upset by the event.”
One parent posted a copy of the permission slip on Facebook. It said “songs” and “performances” but not a single word about a drag show. The school district even admits that “attendees are not provided details of the performances in advance of the event.” In other words, they have gotten away with this before.
Officials are still insisting that “the drag show portion of the annual gathering” as a “dance and singing performance.” They do acknowledge “an ‘unfortunate amount of misinformation‘ about the event.“
