Students Model Democracy, While Adults Model Disrespect

This letter to the editor, by Kerry Kittel, appeared in the Hudson Star Observer on February 19, 2026.

New Richmond has produced so many amazing students. A group of articulate, mature and respectful future leaders was on display during the Feb. 10 special meeting of the New Richmond School Board. The students perfectly modeled how a republic that uses democratic principles should function.

They shared different perspectives and opinions. None of them ridiculed, shouted down, or talked over their peers. They spoke directly to a board whose job it is to make policy for the entire district. It was exactly what meetings discussing local policies should look like. Then the “adults” chimed in and any pretense of improving a bathroom use policy ended.

Much of the rest of the meeting contained hateful, threatening speech directed at board members, their attorney and even some students.

Political agendas took center stage. U.S. Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany, who once voted for the largest cuts to education in state history and who is not a district resident, managed to weasel his way into the meeting by having a thinly-disguised campaign statement read by one of his supporters.

Many parents spoke from the heart about keeping their children safe. Over and over again, members have talked about wanting safety for all students. It was so disappointing when Ben Englehart made a motion and while the other members were attempting to discuss it, both he and his supporters continued to yell and interrupt the conversation.

We should commend most of the board members for keeping their composure and listening to everyone despite enduring two hours of personal attacks and disrespectful comments. We are lucky to have an experienced, clear-thinking board that is working to protect all students while not risking expensive legal fights and judgments.

New Richmond calls itself “The City Beautiful,” but outside of the students, nothing was beautiful about the Feb. 10 meeting. That was not the New Richmond that I grew up in, taught in, or where my kids went to school. We must not become another hateful, angry community where a small group can bully and shout to get what they want. New Richmond must be better than that.