Personal attacks, threats: School board member says parent bullying has gone too far
(KUTV) — Angry letters, personal attacks and even death threats. These are the experiences of Utah school board members in 2020. They’ve been met with impossible decisions that cannot please everyone.
Darrell Robinson, a school board member for Jordan School District, said the criticism from parents has gone too far.
“I think COVID has made us lose all of those values,” he said.
As Utah gets deeper into the pandemic, the comments and criticism get harsher.
“I think what’s very difficult is when people leave the issues and start attacking you,” Robinson said.
In the past several months, he’s gotten personal attacks even threats to his family. He described letters from parents blaming him personally for the deaths during the pandemic.
Robinson hit is breaking point Tuesday night after an especially cruel letter from a parent. He took to Facebook in a “rant” of his own.
“My turn to rant," he wrote.
I am a guy who has never struggled with mental health. I tend not to get down on myself often and I always look for the silver lining even when my world turns upside down.
Since joining the school board, and especially since Covid hit, I have received personal attacks on my character, Threats on myself and my family, and flat out hate-red comments made to me.
I now suffer from anxiety, depression, sleepless nights and I will be honest, I have had suicidal thoughts a couple of times. I have had to seek mental health help, because of how people treat me.”
Robinson said he’s sought out help for his mental health, but he encourages frustrated parents to recognize there are people on the other side of their computer screens. Most school board members have been working long hours with little pay on top of full time careers outside of their work as board members.
“None of us have ever dealt with a pandemic before,” Robinson said. “We’re making decisions based on the best evidence that we have.”
For now, he’s stepping back from the computer and the angry letters.
We want our kids to stop bullying each other, but we see it so much among adults. We need to raise the bar. We need to be better people,” he said.
