Elanco parents criticize nonbinary substitute kindergarten teacher’s placement

• By Ashley Stalnecker/LNP | LancasterOnline

Eastern Lancaster County School District is facing pushback from some parents over the placement of who they say is a nonbinary substitute teacher at a Blue Ball Elementary kindergarten class.

One parent told Elanco school board members last week she was surprised when she was greeted by a nonbinary teacher at her child’s classroom during an open house held earlier this month. Nonbinary people don’t identify strictly as male or female.

People at the Aug. 19 school board meeting spoke for and against allowing the substitute teacher to lead the class, a decision the district pointed out is supported by federal law. The substitute, who the district would not identify, continues to lead the class for a teacher on short-term leave.

A parent who spoke at the meeting said the teacher requested going by Mx., which is a gender-neutral title often used by nonbinary people rather than the gender-specific Mrs. or Mr.

“Please hear me out when I say I have nothing against this person personally,” Kimberly King told the board. “However, as a mom with Christian beliefs and one who had a child placed in the class, I cannot help but share my concerns.”

Board President Jonathan Dahl wrote in an email to LNP | LancasterOnline on Friday that he learned of the teacher’s placement and concern by some parents following an Aug. 15 open house.

Dahl could not confirm how many of the approximately 150 people at the Aug. 19 school board meeting were there regarding the substitute teacher, who continues to teach the kindergarten class. He said 25 to 50 people typically attend school board meetings. The substitute teacher’s placement in the kindergarten class was not on the meeting’s agenda.

Elanco Superintendent Michael Snopkowski said the district is an equal opportunity employer.

“We adhere to the legal requirements stipulated through state or federal law and do so with our own employees as well as those who are contracted through any of our other agency partners,” Snopkowski wrote in an email to LNP | LancasterOnline on Monday.

The substitute was placed in the class through the Substitute Teacher Service, a company that provides 13 Lancaster County school districts and the Lancaster County Career & Technology Center with substitute teachers and support personnel. The substitute, who the district would not identify, continues to lead the class for a teacher on short-term leave.

The substitute teacher was not identified at the school board meeting, and Snopkowski would not confirm the teacher’s pronouns or gender identity.

He said there are no gray areas related to the district’s responsibilities for employment and hiring, especially in relation to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects job applicants and employees from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

Discrimination on the basis of sex includes pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions, sexual orientation and gender identity, according to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Parents move students to online learning platform

King and her husband, Anthony King, told the school board they enrolled their child in the district’s ElancOnline online learning platform.

“Sadly, we’ve made the difficult but necessary decision to remove our social son from this class,” Kimberly King said, adding they hope to return their child to the class when the teacher on short-term leave returns.

Snopkowski confirmed that some families have chosen to use ElancOnline.

Like the Kings, other parents of children in the substitute teacher’s classroom said they were bothered by the district’s lack of communication regarding the teacher’s placement and the effects it could have on young children.

“As parents, we were not made aware of the situation or given any sort of indication that we needed to be prepared to have these conversations with our child,” Eric Ziemer, a parent of a child in the substitute teacher’s classroom, said Aug. 19. “I don’t know how you expect 5- or 6-year-old children to process this.”

Ziemer’s speech was met with applause by the audience, which drew a quick rebuke from the board.

At multiple points during the meeting, Dahl had to ask attendees to refrain from clapping or calling out following a speaker’s public comment. He threatened to either recess the meeting or remove a resident who had interrupted the meeting by calling out.

Applause also interrupted comments from Dawn Ranck-Hower, a pastor at the New Holland Mennonite Church in New Holland.

“New Holland Mennonite Church recognizes the past treatment and exclusions of persons from the LGBTQIA community and recognizes all people of all identities and sexual orientations into the full participation of the church community,” Ranck-Hower said. “We are here this evening as allies of the LGBTQIA community.”

Hope Adkins-Durante, a registered nurse at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health who had three sons attend schools in the district, thanked the district for employing a teacher who she said “may not fit the norms of what these people perceive as religiously correct.”

The gender identity or sexual orientation of a teacher will not influence a child to adopt that same gender identity or sexual orientation, Adkins-Durante said.

“Just think about how many people your child is exposed to,” Adkins-Durante said. “Do they become that? I don’t think they do.”

Other residents disagreed, telling the board that a nonbinary teacher could be confusing to a young child and would prompt conversations that some families didn’t want to have with their children at the age of 5 or 6.

“Whilst I understand that it is an adult’s decision to live their life how they wish, employing an individual of this orientation in kindergarten, or in my opinion in any grade for that matter, is simply confusing and disruptive to children of that age,” district resident Kevin Pannebakker said.

Pannebakker said he homeschools his three children, a decision unrelated to the substitute teacher.

“The classroom is intended to be a place for learning the foundations of the world around us,” Pannebakker said. “It is also intended for young minds to develop critical thinking skills and their own viewpoints of the world free of political bias, pushed ideologies or alternative lifestyle choices.”

In addition to the input the board heard at its Aug. 19 meeting, Dahl said he had received a dozen emails offering opinion on the matter.

“Please be assured that we as a board are attentive to the values and the comments that are shared and we do understand the importance of any issue that you bring to us no matter what you think or say,” board Vice President Brian Conroy said Aug. 19.

“We work very hard to create an environment of respect for all in ELANCO, including learners, their parents and our staff,” Snopkowski wrote in an email Monday.