(The Center Square ) – A Michigan mom is appealing a court’s ruling that she suffered “minor harassment” at the hands of school leaders for speaking out at board meetings against the COVID-19 policies enacted by her child’s school district.
Sandra Hernden, the mother of a special needs student formerly enrolled in the Chippewa Valley School District in Clinton Township, Michigan, alleges that school leaders violated her rights by contacting her employer and the Department of Justice for her outspoken opposition to remote learning.
The initial lawsuit alleged that an email referring Hernden to the federal law enforcement agency came immediately after Attorney General Merrick Garland sent an Oct. 4, 2021, memo calling on the FBI to investigate “harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff.”
“Harassment is harassment,” Hernden said in a press release from the Mackinac Center, which represents her in the case. “Parents know what’s best for their children, yet this decision undermines our ability to advocate for our children and their education.”
“It’s disheartening to see that the government views parents as obstacles, not as allies,” Hernden added. “This decision is a travesty of justice and has failed every child and their families. I will continue fighting to ensure that no other parent faces intimidation or retaliation for simply advocating for their child.”
The Chippewa Valley School District said that the court sided with school leaders and that the parties in the lawsuit have moved on.
“Hernden had accused the district of violating her First Amendment rights, but on Monday, Sept. 30, the court ruled in favor of the district, determining that no such violation occurred,” a district spokesperson told Chalkboard News.
“The former board members named in the lawsuit, Elizabeth Pyden and Frank Bednard, are no longer serving on the board, and Hernden herself has moved out of the school district,” the spokesperson added.
According to the court’s Monday ruling, Hernden protested CVSD’s “policies limiting in-person instruction,” and discussions became “heated.” The district spokesperson also said Hernden became “increasingly agitated” about the school district’s response to the pandemic.
“Her increasingly agitated tone raised concerns among attendees, particularly after she compared the board’s actions to those of Nazi Germany during one meeting,” the district’s spokesperson said in an email.
In December 2020, Hernden and Chippewa Valley School District Board Member Elizabeth Pyden emailed about the school’s safety protocols. Pyden said the policies were safety precautions, but Hernden said they were politically motivated rather than based on “medical considerations.”
According to court documents, Pyden then forwarded the email exchange to Hernden’s then-supervisor in the Harper Woods police department, saying she was “concern[ed] regarding how one of your officers [Hernden] conducts herself in her own community.”
Pyden also told Hernden’s supervisor that she was concerned about the “level of anger, disrespect, and veiled racism” in her conduct.
The email, sent without the board’s knowledge, resulted in an internal investigation of Hernden by her supervisors, which exonerated Hernden, the court found.
On Oct. 4, 2021, Hernden emailed members of the school board about a court decision regarding parents’ First Amendment rights, saying the board was not allowed to interrupt her at school board meetings.
That same day, CVSD board president Frank Bednard submitted a complaint to the Department of Justice (DOJ), attaching the email from Hernden and saying she posed a threat to members of the board and asking for the FBI to “curb this behavior.” Oct. 4 was the same day Garland released his controversial memo about school threats.
“I appreciate your looking into these groups of people who bring such threats to anybody that stands in their way,” Bednard said. “The email I included below is from Sandra Hernden. This woman, Sandra Hernden, comes to our every meeting to harass our board, administration, and community who oppose her views. . . . [Hernden] goes around to school board meetings throughout the tri-county area to promote her agenda in any way she can including threats and intimidation.”
“Anything that could be done to curb this behavior by these people would be greatly appreciated by our board, administration, and our community,” he added in the complaint to the DOJ.
CVSD’s spokesperson said it “affirmed its commitment to ensuring parents’ rights to engage in their children’s education, emphasizing that those who attend school board meetings are always guaranteed their First Amendment rights”
“The school board welcomes and encourages active participation from all stakeholders, recognizing the importance of community involvement in shaping the future of our schoolsl,” the spokesperson said.
Researchers have shown that students suffered learning losses during the pandemic because of the government’s response, which closed schools and sent children home to learn online.
A 2023 study from a Stanford economist estimated that the loss of schooling could reduce the lifetime earnings of students who attended school during the COVID-19 pandemic by $70,000.
James Peyser, former Massachusetts secretary of education, told lawmakers in that state after the pandemic that “if we didn’t know it before, we know now there is no substitute for in-person learning.”
