Lawmakers respond to chaos at school board meeting

BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — A Caldwell School District board meeting was cut short on Monday as Caldwell Senator Chris Trakel took the podium in opposition to a line item proposition. Today, we're hearing from lawmakers, responding to Sen. Trakel's outburst at Caldwell's school board meeting that ended abruptly in chaos.

Hundreds of people showed up at the Caldwell school board's regular meeting Monday evening. A proposed policy on gender identity and sexual orientation drew them. The crowd included first term state senator Chris Trakel, who ended up yelling at board members, causing the meeting to abruptly adjourn amid disorder.

Sen. Trakel took the podium saying, “before you waste taxpayer money, before you put a kid in harm's way, you better throw this policy out and not even consider it. I've got the floor. Mrs. Pesina, will you please listen to me?”

The policy is designed to create a safe learning environment for all students. It would allow children to use bathrooms and locker rooms based on their gender identity. It would also require school district staff to use the name and pronouns the student prefers, and provide alternative sleeping room assignment options on overnight trips.

Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking (D), a retired classroom teacher of 33 years, said, "My role was always to make sure that all children felt safe and protected, and included, and that they made the progress that they needed to to advance and be successful in life."

Three students testified in favor of the proposal, but most of the testimony opposed the policy.

After about 40 minutes of discussion, Sen. Trakel took the podium, saying he was there speaking in his official position as a state senator.

"Last time I came here as a parent, but I don't get afforded that right because people like to attack me and use my official position instead, so I'm here on my official position," he said.

He argued the policy would actually put children’s moral health and safety at risk if they approved the policy, and warned the board members they would face litigation.

The school board chair Marisela Pesina warned the crowd multiple times to maintain order.

Sen. Trakel eventually began raising his voice, shouting at the board members.

The chair moved to recess for broken protocol, which eventually turned into a vote to abruptly adjourn the meeting.

Sen. Ward-Engelking says she was disheartened to see the meeting adjourned early.

"That they weren't able to finish and take all of the testimony that they had hoped to take," Sen. Ward-Engelking said.

The chair of the senate education committee also responded.

Sen. Dave Lent says he spent years serving as a volunteer school board member and said, “occasionally you have situations like this occur where emotions tend to get the best of folks,"

However, he emphasized the importance of civility.

"It's been my experience that without civility and respect in the communications you have when people come to those meetings, the end result is everybody loses," Sen. Lent said.

“Often I feel like, in my position at least, that I need to hold myself to a higher standard because what I do in the community reflects on this whole body," Sen. Ward-Engelking said.

Caldwell police say they had five officers at the board meeting, and say things remained peaceful.

When asked if Sen. Lent thought Sen. Trakel's behavior was appropriate for a senator, he said, "I'm not going to speak specifically about a member of our body and their specific actions but I will say that civility is always in order, and in conducting the business of our people, in whatever office that is, civility should rule and respect and that's how we achieve what we've been elected to do."

A spokesperson for the Caldwell School District said they welcome and encourage feedback, but they do not welcome those who refuse to follow the rules that are necessary for a civil, courteous and respectful environment. She said the district is working with the board to determine next steps in gathering community feedback on the policy.

Idaho's new Superintendent of Public Instruction, Debbie Critchfield, also responded saying she wants her office to be supportive of school boards throughout the state and available for those members when needed.

"To me part of the overall solution or finding and the resolution of these issues is to make sure that we've got the conditions that a board feels that they have control of the meeting, parents feel as though they have a voice, and that there's opportunities for the discussion to take place on both sides," Critchfield said. "I'm hopeful that Caldwell, that the community of Caldwell is able to come together and talk about a very sensitive issue in a respectful way that gets to the solutions that they're looking for."

CBS2 reached out to each of the school board members Tuesday, but have yet to receive a response.

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