Source: Triad City Beat
An extremist education group that is known for its controversial statements surrounding anti-masking and anti-vaccine mandates and sharing anti-LGBTQ+, anti-CRT, and discriminatory posts on its social media platform, announced that it will be shutting down.
The official Take Back Our Schools – GCS Facebook page published a post signaling the group’s disbandment and stating that their “fight is over.”
This comes just weeks after the Guilford Board of Education called for state and local officials to investigate the group’s activities with the slate of this year’s Republican school board candidates.
According to the Triad City Beat, the group allegedly illegally supported and endorsed all four of the Republican Guilford school board candidates; Linda Wellborn, Tim Andrew, Crissy Pratt and Demetria Carter. All four were part of Take Back our Schools’ slate of extremist candidates, called the “New Vision New Direction”. Only two secured seats on the Guilford school board.
The group also came under fire from Guilford community members, including The Guilford Green Foundation and LGBTQ Center which spoke out against Take Back Our Schools’ anti-LGBTQ attacks at a school board meeting a few months back.
The center called out groups like Take Back Our Schools that are attempting to “silence and erase LGBTQ students, teachers, and families right here in Guilford County.”
Leading up to the school board meeting, GGF wrote in their Facebook post, stating, “False narratives and fearmongering are being used in an attempt to remove LGBTQ-themed books and resources from schools and penalize teachers and administrators for providing resources to students. We must ensure LGBTQ kids are safe in our schools!”
While Take Back Our Schools has indicated that it will be shutting down, the impact of its discriminatory and hate-fueled work will be felt in Guilford’s community, as educators, students, and families continue to face challenges pushed forth by extremist groups and leaders.