As guest host for a local talk show Friday, Springfield school board member Steve Makoski said inserting gender identity issues in the learning environment “does hinder academic excellence.”
He said children “curious about their pronouns” or asking themselves “am I really a boy or am I really a girl…or am I both” can be distracting in the classroom.
Makoski, director of compliance at Rapid Roberts Inc., opined that students who look for “safe spaces” in schools may encounter adults who “end up confusing these children” or, worse yet, are “looking to groom kids” or “at least having them question their own status, their own gender.”
The guest host of the Elijah Haahr Show on KWTO repeatedly said he was expressing his “personal opinions” as a citizen, not a school board member. He was elected in April.
Haahr, a Republican, served as speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives from 2018-2021. He hosts a conservative radio talk show focused largely on issues of interest in southwest Missouri.
Despite the disclaimers, Makoski repeatedly referenced his board service, the board and Springfield Public Schools.
Many topics brought up in the two-hour show were issues the board has, or likely may, tackle as part of budget or policy decisions.
They included student achievement, parental involvement, teacher training, student support services, extracurricular student groups, Safe Space stickers and designations, and compliance with the federal Title IV law and the state Sunshine Law.
The seven-member board hires and evaluates the superintendent, approves an annual budget, sets policy and establishes a strategic plan.
Despite having an official role in evaluating Superintendent Grenita Lathan, he publicly weighed in on her job performance.
“I’m very pleased to have Dr. Lathan as our superintendent and she is doing a superb job to get us on the right track,” he said.
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Later in the show, Makoski said Lathan was “a little bit reserved upfront but, man, she has really taken off and we are really doing a great job within that school system and that is because of her leadership and the Board of Education.”
Of the board, Makoski said “it’s not like we all get along” and rubber-stamp decisions made by the administration.
“We are asking questions,” he said. “We’re beginning to learn how it is that we can work together and be able to take that energy that Dr. Lathan has and get out there and help our kids within our school system.”
Makoski, who noted in advance that “gender identity” and the role it plays in academic achievement was the topic, welcomed four guests on the show.
They included Don Hinkle, public policy advisor at the Missouri Baptist Convention; Kevin Schriver, professor of psychology at Southwest Baptist University; Matt Morrow, president and CEO of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce; and Maryam Mohammadkhani, vice president of the school board elected in April 2021.
In introducing Mohammadkhani, Makoski said “we’re just citizens, we’re stakeholders, we pay our taxes.”
“We basically have our own personal views that doesn’t have anything to do with being part of the Board of Education,” he said.
Morrow, on at the end, spoke about the chamber’s decision to no longer endorse school board candidates. Schriver and Mohammadkhani, a retired physician, talked about brain development in adolescents and young adults.
Hinkle called on parents to become “deeply involved with their children, especially when it comes to their education” and noted they can have a “major impact” on curriculum.
“They need to make sure that what their children need to learn is, in fact, what they are being taught and they’re not being indoctrinated and groomed with some type of foreign ideology or some of the bizarre things that we’re starting to see in society,” Hinkle said.
He alleged public school curriculum during President Bill Clinton’s administration started to lean toward liberal activism and urged a return to “classical” education.
“I worry that our children do not have a balanced, accurate view of American history,” he said. “Therefore, as a nation, and as a people, who don’t know who we are anymore.”
Hinkle referenced an eighth-grade student in Los Angeles who wanted to “transition and change sexes” and sought the support of teachers, who did not inform or seek consent from the mother, who eventually lost custody.
“At age 19, Steve, this beautiful young lady transitioned to a male, committed suicide,” he said to Makoski.
“As adults, we’re supposed to be rearing these children and taking care of them. And, I think at times, what we do is we end up confusing these children,” Makoski said. “And we confuse them in the sense that they’re questioning their own self.”
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Hinkle was supportive of teachers but blamed teacher unions and the government for many of the current problems in schools.
He also pointed the finger at churches, saying they have been negligent. “We have sat on the sideline and we’ve let the secularists come in and take over and they have. They have taken over our government and they have taken over our education system.”
Makoski, who spoke about his Christian faith, urged believers to step up and intervene.
“They should be coming to the defense of these children because children need to be guided. They need to be steered,” he said. “And this is not the direction in which they needed to be steered or guided. So, where are our pastors out there?”
Hinkle and Makoski said those struggling with gender identity issues affect others in the school setting. Hinkle said: “There are other victims in all this besides the students.”
Early in the show, Makoski talked about the removal of Pride flags from “a handful” of classrooms at Kickapoo High School.
An email requesting the removal, sent by Principal Bill Powers, cited a board policy that sets expectations for employee conduct.
Makoski applauded Powers’ handling of the situation, and another in the past involving flags on student cars in the parking lot. “I’m not speaking for him but this is my opinion that he’s looking…to avoid a lot of the distractions within our school system,” he said.
In praising Powers, Makoski noted Kickapoo’s high student test scores and graduation rate. “I am extremely well pleased that he is in the place he is and he’s done such a great job over the years at Kickapoo High School.”
Makoski said he spent more than 20 years in the U.S. Navy to protect the rights and the freedoms of others. “If there was a flag that should be in every classroom within the schools…that should be the red, white and blue — the stars and stripes.”
Hinkle said “amen” and added that only the flag of the United States and the Missouri flag should be displayed in schools.
“If a gay club wants to reserve a room and have (an) extracurricular activity meeting after school, they can have their flags and go in their room and do whatever they want to do,” Hinkle said. “I would say that about the Christian groups as well. But we shouldn’t stop anybody. Everybody ought to be free.”
At Kickapoo, on the first day of school, PFLAG members handed out Safe Space stickers in the morning. In the afternoon, members of the LGBTQ community and other supporters protested the removal of the Pride flags.
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Makoski said he drove by the “peaceful” protest on the edge of campus. “They are going out there because they were very proud of who they are and I do think that is something we should be respecting.”
He said one protester was dressed in an all-black ninja outfit similar to what rioters who caused “billions of dollars in property destruction” in other cities have worn. “This is the typical dress of an Antifa member, whether it was or not, I don’t know.”
Makoski was critical of state Rep. Crystal Quade, a Democrat from Springfield, who was at the protest to talk to parents and former students carrying signs. He accused her of exploiting the situation for political gain.
“Crystal Quade went out there to show her support for the gay and queer community and that’s fine, but that was an opportunity I think that she took,” he said. “I would rather Crystal Quade be more concerned about academic achievement and success for our kids than that. And of course I would think that because I am a board member.”
After the Pride flag removal, the district issued a reminder about the board policy to all employees.
The district, through chief communications officer Stephen Hall, stated Safe Space stickers were still allowed in classrooms and work areas.
“The Safe Place stickers are appropriate,” he said in late August. “Those stickers have a message that makes it clear why they are there.”
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Makoski said while touring schools in his role as a board member he noticed the Safe Place signs “seem to be sprouting up” in buildings.
During the show, he read an email from a listener who argued that the stickers were not appropriate, expressed a personal opinion, and sent a message that educators who do not display them are not safe.
Board emails obtained this summer by the News-Leader showed Mohammadkhani has voiced support for removing political signs from classrooms since at least May 2021, shortly after she was elected.
Mohammadkhani asked what can be done at the building level to encourage the good teachers and “recognize the ones who have chosen the wrong career or violate board policies?”
“We need teachers who concentrate on academics, rather than focus on ideology — rampant in some English classes across the district that has gone unchecked by site principals,” she wrote in more recent emails. “How long do you think it will take to weed out the administrators and teachers who feel the need to sticker up our walls with safe space insignia — implying that we have unsafe spaces in our building?”
In the emails, she asked if strengthening board policies would help. “Will staff trainings before fall include a review of the district name and gender protocols and a review of the political signage and dress code policies?”
On the Friday radio show, Mohammadkhani said the district has “great educators” but she worries they may be at greater risk for “legally problematic” situations if they fail to maintain professional boundaries with students, some of whom may be struggling with gender identity issues.
“We are embarking on this increasingly, potentially problematic issue which is coming up with the Safe Space movement,” she said.
She said teachers are often asked to provide support services and, in many cases, they ought to refer students to other resources so they can concentrate on teaching.
“I am concerned that as we lose focus on the primary purpose of kids going to school, it puts the educational environment at risk,” she said.
She said empathetic and well-intentioned teachers can take on other roles for students, such as role model or ally, and are in danger of slipping into a friendship.
“What happens when you designate certain teachers as ‘safe’ teachers that opens this door because now you’re dealing with students who are emotionally vulnerable. And this is the classic student that is at risk for being groomed,” she said. “And you have a ‘popular’ teacher and this is also a characteristic of groomers. I’m not saying that this is 100 percent, I’m just giving the background.”
She added: “What happens is that line becomes a little bit more blurry and the teacher is at risk for violating that professional boundary.”
Mohammadkhani noted during the show that the brain often does not fully mature until an individual is in their mid-20s.
“This is a very emotionally troublesome time for teenagers and, on top of it their brains are trying to catch up with those hormones and develop so that everyone is at risk,” she said. “And so when you create this…sort of a movement, it puts our teachers at risk.”
Mohammadkhani said “every inch of our schools is a safe space” and if they are not, the district needs to know.
“All our teachers have had the training that is necessary to be able to put the student in contact with the counselor, the nurse, the appropriate mental health, behavioral support systems,” she said. “If they’re not providing that, then we need to do a better job of educating our teachers.”
Claudette Riley is the education reporter for the News-Leader. Email news tips to criley@news-leader.com.
