A petition to remove Chilliwack School District (SD33) chair Willow Reichelt has accrued over 1,300 signatures two days after it was started on the platform change.org.
Reichelt has been at the centre of recent controversy at SD33 after a flood of parents complained that the school board was making sexually explicit material available to children.
The petition accuses Reichelt of censoring voices that don’t align with her progressive woke goals and belittling those who oppose her.
“As seen many times in public School Board meetings, Willow does not listen when parents, guardians and other residents of the Chilliwack community, attempt to voice their concerns. She will turn off their mic before they’ve finished speaking,” wrote Cindy Carpenter, who began the petition.
“She will also shut off the mic of fellow trustees, if their opinion doesn’t align with hers. She has also raised her voice, scoffed, laughed at and belittled, the ones trying to speak.”
The board recently censured Trustee Heather Maahs for claiming that parents belonged to their children after she raised issues with the district’s decision to put up obstacles in front of parents such as providing photo ID to attend public meetings.
The petition cites several comments from the public which include a former student who alleges that as a teacher, Reichelt “never allowed room for anyone’s thoughts or beliefs except her own.”
“I highly believe it’s crucial to leave space for kids to discover their own opinions rather than being told what’s right and wrong – she would openly tell certain students she wished they were the only ones in the class etc. worst teacher i’ve ever had. honestly thought she got fired,” wrote the anonymous former student.
As of this article’s writing, the petition has received 1,357 signatures and continues to grow.
