ASHE IN AMERICA

Correction: An earlier version of this article mistakenly said Corey Wise had the gavel. The man hysterically running the meeting was board president David Ray. My bad — It’s hard to tell the bald guys apart with their face diapers.

I never attended a school board meeting before this evening. It was fascinating, theatrical, morbidly amusing, and oh so sad. 

I arrived at 5:00PM and there was a line to get in. The teacher’s union godless commies were there, all masked up — outside because, science — in the front of the line. They didn’t take their masks off for a moment for the next five hours. Yes, five hours.

party like its 1776

Next to the line, the People had made themselves at home. Several pop up canopies with folding tables underneath formed a base camp where people were making signs and signing affidavits. They also set up a large TV so those who couldn’t get in could watch the meeting. It was a festival atmosphere despite the rain. 

A wonderful man (whose name I unfortunately did not get) made chili and cornbread, and he brought water and sodas and everything needed to feed the crowd. If anyone knows him, please DM me. He fed me around hour three, and I am eternally grateful. I was starving and cold, and he helped me make it to the end.

The Patriots there also collected 38 affidavits in support of our — the People’s — lawsuit against the Douglas County School Board (individually and collectively). 

Oh, these petty tyrants have no idea the sleeping giant they’ve awakened. And our resolve is, indeed, terrible. 

decorum is in the eye of the beholder

The Superintendent for my county is Corey Wise. The man running the meeting was David Ray, a tall man who looks normal enough, but has the sensitivity of a 13 year old girl while reminding me a bit too much of King George III. He was wielding the metaphorical gavel this evening, which really just means he had the power to cut mics. And boy did he use it.

For two hours, the board congratulated themselves for their mediocrity, discussed at length their compensation and capital expenditure plans, then congratulated themselves some more for how many hours and months of work they put into their master plan to waste our tax dollars. 

After that, they celebrated the progress they made with dyslexia in the district. They measured that progress (and called it good) by the number of teachers they trained in Orton-Gillingham. As a mother of a child with mild dyslexia co-indicated with other learning disabilities, OG is a great multisensory, structured way to teach literacy. Teaching that boy to read was rough, and I applaud the district’s efforts to help kids who learn differently. 

That said, measuring your success based on the reach of your methods, with no specific measures — or even a mention — of the learning outcomes those methods produced, is peak bureaucracy. 

When I mentioned that in my remarks, Corey unWise’s face (what I could see of it above the diaper) got all twisted like he was thinking, “Learning outcomes? What are those?”

After the dyslexia presentation, things really got going. Around 7:00PM, the principals of four Douglas County charter schools formally requested waivers from the district’s masking and critical race policies. It was a bit tiring for me to hear the principals and the board relitigate why charter schools have autonomy (and their own school boards) in the first place, but the principals were excellent.

There was no decision made by the board — that is for the next meeting. I hope Chili Guy comes back for that one. Can’t say the same for the godless commies. 

you’re making me feel unsafe…by existing

Several times the during the Principals’ presentation, the non-commie parents (i.e., the ones not there with the teachers’ union) clapped and cheered.

This made King George very, very upset.

“We need this to be a safe space for everyone.”

David Ray
douglas county school board president and terrible human

Clapping is now considered violence. Ray also objects to whooping and cheering, sign holding, and flag waving because those activities are also unsafe. Jazz hands appear to be ok by him. Yes, really.

When public comment finally came around, a huge batch of commies went first, using remarkably the same talking points. It was then that we learned who exactly felt “unsafe.”

Testimony after testimony talked of how politics had infiltrated the school board meetings, ironically, with each speaker closing their remarks with a pitch to reelect the people sitting before them. They are so intellectually inept they don’t even see it. Sigh.

It’s crystal clear to me now what they mean by unsafe: Hearing facts and opinions that they don’t agree with — particularly when those facts and opinions are supported by evidence presented in the moment — gives them cognitive dissonance. That makes them feel anxious. They don’t like feeling anxious (who does?) and they call that feeling “unsafe.” 

Pull that thread and realize that the world they want to create is one where they will never feel anxious about anything. Sadly, that world is Heaven and, as long as they remain godless commies, they will never experience such a place. I pray they find Jesus.

out of the mouths of babes

When one of the commies said she felt unsafe, “in this room right now,” we all laughed (because it was hilarious) and apparently that made it more unsafe. King George then deployed a couple of staff members to stand in the crowd to be able to identify the people making sounds so they could be expelled by the gaggle of cops in the room.

I know you’re wondering, so I’ll tell you. Yes, one of those staffers was sent to stand near me and Claudia. No, she didn’t do anything to throw us out, but she was definitely eye-balling Claudia (who never stopped clapping, lol). We didn’t get removed. 

When an amazing and brave young man named Noah — middle school aged, articulate and passionate — spoke of how the masks were impacting his special needs sisters, we all clapped. 

“I can handle the constant change, but my sisters can’t, and they shouldn’t be caught in the middle. I love my sisters and their mental health, and that’s why I am standing up for them tonight. I wish I was old enough to vote in this election.”  

Noah

Yeah, we all clapped. I teared up a bit and told that kiddo and his dad how incredible he was.

Oh boy, the board did not like that. Ray told us that he was going to start removing people…for praising a boy who had just crushed it in a very public speaking engagement.

A few speakers later, King George got all bothered that one of the parents waved a small American flag in support of a commenter. Keep in mind that they told us that we couldn’t make sounds. The lefties were doing their jazz hand thing, but apparently flag waving is violence.

The board president (quoting from memory) said, “Sir, with the flag, come on. We need to maintain decorum,” or something like that, which heated up the crowd a bit.

Several parents protested asking, “Why can’t he wave an American flag in America?” to which one of the godless commies replied, “There’s already an American flag up there.”

It’s a prop to these people.

where is all this violence i’ve been hearing about?

I was the second to last person, out of more than 60, to speak. I had prepared remarks, but based on how the meeting was going — and the fact that the board decided to cut our allowable time from three minutes to two (during the meeting) — I decided to rewrite them. My originally planned remarks as well as what I actually said (with video) are below this article.

While there were moments where the board’s decorum rules were broken (the rules were ridiculous and violated our rights), at no point during the entire five hour production was anyone on the Kid’s First side violent or even disrespectful. Nonetheless, the meeting did appear on the edge of turning violent when the board decided to take a break.

As everyone got up to leave, a gentleman stood up and said, “These people cannot force you to mask your kids,” and began talking about the 14th Amendment. At that moment, Big Red — one of the godless commie teacher union puppets — fully snapped and started charging at him from across the room, wielding her knitting needs and screaming, “Just get out of here!”

The cops stopped her and then told the guy who was talking — peacefully during the break — that he had to leave. Big Red got violent, but the intended victim of her violence was punished. Is that a beautiful example of what it’s like dealing with leftists or what?

I left the meeting after the violent leftist was pacified, and all the people saying the things that made her anxious and violent were made to leave. I wish we had that bit on video!

strange days ahead

When I showed my kids my remarks on YouTube when I got home, around 10:30PM, my middle son looked me dead in the eye and said, “If they mess with me or suspend me, it’s your fault.” 

Isn’t that incredible? My son fears retribution because his mother spoke at a school board meeting. Is this even America anymore?

We have school board elections next week, and these petty tyrants are running for reelection. Sure, the election will likely be rigged, but if there is one thing 2020 taught us it’s that turnout breaks the algorithm.

Also, voting is your sacred duty as an American. Get out and vote next week for candidates that will put your children first.

I know who that is for my school board.

Do you?

Watch my remarks to the school board here:

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My girls Claudia and Linda contributed to this report. You can find my delivered remarks as well as the original three minute version below. If you’re speaking at a school board meeting soon, please feel free to use anything that is helpful.

Also, don’t you dare not vote. Don’t yield the battlefield in the middle of a war. Vote next week like your kids’ lives depend on it. They do.

Delivered Remarks (Rewritten During the Meeting to Make 2-Min)

Hello. My name is Ashley Epp and I have two children in Castle Rock schools. I have one child that I homeschool because I will not send my kids to school until they can stand up for and advocate for themselves against the adults that surround them. I had an entirely different set of remarks set for this evening, but here we are. It’s my first time attending a school board meeting and I find it fascinating. You have a lot of people here who have asked to remove people here for using their First Amendment rights. It’s kind of a metaphor for what we are going through as a society. You guys (the government) have a microphone and any time the people try to speak you want to silence them. To people who feel this room is unsafe, may I educate you that despite what your fantasy curricula has told you, speech is not violence, clapping is not violence, flag waving is not violence and jazz hands are not violence. Rather, this is what civic involvement looks like. This is what democracy looks like. And if people showing up to advocate on behalf of their children make you feel unsafe, you should resign immediately. This level of parent involvement is a direct result of your unscientific and fear-based decision making. Your policies have repeatedly resulted in lost learning and wasted resources. You spent hours tonight congratulating yourselves which is stunning given that there wasn’t a single discussion about learning outcomes. You can’t talk about learning outcomes because they are abysmal right now, because of your policies. Due to the evolving science, our health department made the decision to remove the mask mandate because they aligned with the people. And you, decided to sue. There is no science that supports masking our children, they are not super spreaders and they are of little risk of this disease. But you’re suing. What’s your endgame? Lastly, I’d just like to ask a question. When we called Mr. Wise’s office to find out who voted for this lawsuit, we were told it was a consolidated decision. What does that mean? (They cut my mic, so I ended up having the shout the last bit).

Prepared Remarks (Originial 3-Minute Version)

My name is Ashley Epp and I have three children aligned to the Douglas County School System, two who attend high school here in Castle Rock and one who I homeschool. I made the decision to homeschool after the policies of the Douglas County School Board destroyed my children’s education in the spring of 2020. My high schoolers wanted to go back so I let them, after calling the school to confirm that masking would not be required. My oldest attended school last year, he has a chronic respiratory condition, and the masks compromised his health. I was assured by the school that masks were optional this year. They should have added: Until the school board changes their mind. Now my children are having to fight with their educators for the right to breathe. They are being peer pressured from both adults and friends on the masks and the vaccine. And that’s on you. Those of you in positions of educational authority have created an environment for my children where coercion via peer pressure is acceptable, encouraged and viewed as virtuous — and caution, research and critical thinking are considered dangerous. The reactive, fear-based and unscientific decision making by this board has repeatedly resulted in disrupted and lost student learning and wasted resources. Worse, your solutions are meant to benefit you and other irrationally terrified adults, not the children you signed up to protect. I never thought I would have to protect my children from their educators, but here we are. I’m here today, despite my insanely busy schedule, because this school board has decided to target my children. And given that the Governor of Colorado has told children to lie to their parents about their healthcare decisions, I need to know if that’s going to become policy that you embrace. There is no science that supports masking our children. Children are not super spreaders of this virus nor are they particularly at risk for serious illness with this virus. Your so-called solutions are aimed at fixing a problem that critical thinking tells us doesn’t exist. So how did we get here? From my perspective, what happened in the past 20 months, is that petty tyrants manipulated emotionally weak people in an effort to amass power. Our Health Department has removed the requirement to mask — because of science. Researchers from Brown University have shown that children born during the pandemic — seeing all the human faces and emotions shielded by masks — have lower IQs. Is that a learning outcome you’re driving towards? Researchers in the UK have demonstrated a disturbing link between the mask and mental health. The suicide rate among minors is at an distrurbingly high in Colorado. Have you even discussed the impact that your fear-based and irrational policies have on our children’s mental health? The reason that we have our own health department is that our Commissioners listened to the people. The precipice for this action happening now is largely the full court press to mask and vaccinate our children. Now we hear that you have sued the health department for listening to the People.  What’s your endgame here? When we called to find out who voted for this, we were told that there was no roll call vote recorded and this was a “consolidated decision.” What does that mean? If this decision is something you all feel so strongly about, despite the fact that it is diametrically opposed to the will of the people, why hide your position? With an election next week, the People deserve to know which — if any —  of you stands with them. As for me, just the idea that you considered suing the health department to obstruct the will of the people as it relates to OUR CHILDREN is enough to remove every single one of you. And we will.