Texts by Richland School Board members show appalling disregard for law and public process - Tri-City Herald

The more we find out about the behind-the-scenes plan by three Richland School Board members to defy Washington state’s school mask mandate, the more alarmed we are.

It’s common for candidates with an agenda to think they can force the changes they want when they first take office. But typically, once in power, they quickly understand there are restrictions to how far they can go without breaking the law.

Sadly, that important realization failed to take hold in the Richland School District.

Newly-elected Richland School Board member Audra Byrd, in particular, has such little regard for state laws and proper procedure that it is truly horrifying.

For starters, in February she used her official school board email to lash out at State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, telling him to “quit being a coward” and “get your act together with Governor Inslee” and end the school mask mandate.

Reykdal told Byrd he was working on it, but in the meantime he took an oath to uphold the law — as she did.

He also reminded her that “attacking me with words using your school district account is likely an ethics violation” because it may be viewed as political speech.

Reykdal cautioned her to use her personal email account to share her feelings, and that the school district email shouldn’t be used unless she is representing the school board.

Her response to the Herald was that she didn’t buy Reykdal’s comments about the ethics violation, and that it fell within her rights to speak for her constituents.

Really, Audra? You don’t buy it?

That isn’t your call to make.

And this is the crux of the problem.

Citizens do not get to pick and choose which rules to follow, and becoming an elected official doesn’t suddenly change that.

Byrd was wrong to use her school district email the way she did, and her response should have been an apology.

There are protocols and laws in place to ensure public officials operate appropriately and in the open so the public can monitor how their decisions are being made.

A recent Herald check into text messages between Byrd, Richland School Board members Semi Bird and Kari Williams reveal discussions that should never have taken place behind the scenes.

Byrd actually texted she would rather fire Richland School Superintendent Shelley Redinger and deal with the chaos of the teachers union than send kids back to school in masks.

But worst of all, in her text message she actually said, “And I am deleting all of this now.”

That’s likely a blatant violation of a state law prohibiting the destruction of public records — which is what those text messages are.

Byrd told the Herald her phone doesn’t have enough space and she has to continually delete messages and apps in order to continue using it.

That’s no excuse, though.

Once she was elected to the school board she had a responsibility to save and keep track of all text messages shared between her and others on the school board.

From the text messages acquired by the Herald, it is clear that Richland School Board members Byrd, Kari Williams and Semi Bird had their plan to defy the state mask mandate in place before they actually took a vote Feb. 15.

A few hours after it was made, Richland school district officials were forced to scramble and ended up deciding to close schools for two days because they were unprepared to handle the consequences. The students eventually returned to school wearing masks until the state requirement was lifted March 11.

The entire situation was a mess, and it only affirmed why they shouldn’t have tried to do an end-run around the process.

We understand the passion that drove three Richland School Board members to defy the state mask mandate, but this warped idea that one’s own view is above the law is dangerous.

Democracy needs decency and a set of rules to operate by — otherwise there’s chaos. And that’s exactly what happened after these three board members voted to end the mask mandate. Let’s hope they have finally learned their lesson.

source: https://www.tri-cityherald.com/opinion/editorials/article260024175.html

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