MoCo principals’ document shows concern over LGBTQ books, ‘opt-out’ denial: CAIR

A Muslim civil rights group on Tuesday released an email and a memo in which Montgomery County Public Schools principals and administrators warned the district about potential problems with a planned LGBTQ curriculum that has become the focus of parental rights protests and a lawsuit.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations released an email and a “white-paper styled memorandum” expressing MCPS administrators’ concerns that some of the proposed LGBTQ+ “supplemental” items “are not appropriate for the intended age group, or in one case, not appropriate at all for young students.”

Parents who objected to the items were told there was no provision to “opt-out” their children from the materials, which MCPS has said promote inclusivity, according to the unsigned memorandum.

“MCPS has stated publicly that there is no option to opt-out, with the rationale that MCPS is simply providing books about inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters and inclusivity,” the document states.

“However, due to the concerns shared earlier about the plot and nature of the books, this creates a significant concern by some parents about ‘indoctrination’ or ‘hidden agendas,’” the memo says.

Cloverly Elementary School Principal Michael D. Bayewitz, elementary chapter chair of the Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals, emailed the memo to schools officials.

The MCAAP document also raises questions about inadequate teacher training on presenting the materials, potential religious bias in suggested answers to student remarks and the appropriateness of some books for younger students.

For example, “Pride Puppy,” a pre-kindergarten text about a Pride parade is said to depict a drag queen. “Love, Violet,” intended for fourth-grade students, tells the story of a “young school-age girl who falls in love with another girl in her class,” the document states.

“It is problematic to portray elementary school age children falling in love with other children, regardless of sexual preferences,” the MCAAP memo states.

MCPS communications director Christopher Cram told The Washington Times via email: “Out of respect for and the integrity of pending litigation before the U.S. District Court of Maryland, MCPS cannot comment at this time.”

The administrators’ concerns, obtained by CAIR under a public records request, support the objections parents have raised in recent months, the organization said.

Zainab Chaudry, CAIR’s Maryland office director, told a news conference in Rockville that MCPS made a “unilateral decision [that] was executed absent a transparent process without any opportunity for public input.”

She said the school district must “stop ignoring parents, community organizations and even their own school principals. … MCPS should reinstate the opt-out option now and work with the larger community to create a safe, inclusive and respectful classroom environment for all students.”

Wael Elkoshairi, director of Family Rights for Religious Freedom, which is part of a coalition of Christian and Muslim parents opposing the “supplementary materials” MCPS will give students without parental notification, said the MCAAP document’s concerns were “ignored as we have been ignored.”

“We’re basically being told, ‘You do what we say, you have no right to speak on behalf of your children.’ And we do not think that this is fair and we will continue to fight for our rights and our religious beliefs in this great county of Montgomery,” Mr. Elkoshairi said.