My daughter attends Kennedy high school and was in a meeting with a school counselor where her girlfriend wanted to change her name. The name change was done on the spot without parent consent and my daughter was witness to this. Her girlfriend now goes by a new name and was given the pronouns he/him. This friend has a disability and is also thinking of joining the Gender and sexuality club. My daughter was so upset by the name change and is fearful of her friend getting gender surgery.
Empowering Bloomington Parents
We are a group of parents within the city of Bloomington, MN who see the detrimental consequences to our children sitting front and center to a system that puts political ideals above the overall mental and emotional health of our children, resulting in declining competency and lower academic standards overall.
Mission & Vision
OUR MISSION To inform and educate Bloomington, MN parents on what is transpiring in our local school system that align with agenda driven policies rather than dedication to the academic successes of our children. By uniting as a group of concerned residents we hope to empower each other to engage in constructive civil discourse, and recognize that our children are relying on us as parents to take an active role in restoring the Bloomington education system to the respected position it once had.
OUR VISION To create a more representative form of leadership within the schools so that we as parents, who are the arbiters of our children, have meaningful influence on policy making decisions and to support educators who understand the value of parent-teacher collaboration for the success of the whole child.
VALUES: Perseverance· Action· Respect ·Truth· Strength
Single Video
Bloomington parents speak out about the anguish they feel over the Washburn elementary closure.
District Plan: Discussed at the October 14th Study Session
Repurpose Washburn
● Consolidate Pond, Southwood and all district early childhood programs at Washburn Elementary School at the start of the 2025-26 school year
● Washburn students will join the elementary school communities of Normandale Hills, Poplar Bridge and Valley View
Link to the study session materials:
https://drive.google.com/.../1H-EqvVUvzdHsTMeRGP...
BPA Facebook link to video clips of staff and community members speaking to the School Board.
https://www.facebook.com/BloomingtonParentsAlliance/
Monday nights listening session had a disturbingly familiar theme:-the lack of transparency by the school board and superintendents-confusing and badly timed communication from the district-the speed at which a decision was made without enough school and community input
Washburn Elementary staff and families will be displaced and there was a resounding echo of disappointment for the way the district has handled the situation thus far, causing distrust with families, teachers and the broader Bloomington community.
It was an emotional night of testimony to the bond Washburn staff and families share and the betrayal they felt from the board and district leaders.
Link to district audio on all statements made at the Oct 14th Listening Session: https://drive.google.com/.../1Aq3gvWe7TGJ21lae.../view
District Plan: Discussed at the October 14th Study Session
Repurpose Washburn
● Consolidate Pond, Southwood and all district early childhood programs at Washburn Elementary School at the start of the 2025-26 school year
● Washburn students will join the elementary school communities of Normandale Hills, Poplar Bridge and Valley View
Link to the study session materials:
https://drive.google.com/.../1H-EqvVUvzdHsTMeRGP...
BPA Facebook link to video clips of staff and community members speaking to the School Board.
https://www.facebook.com/BloomingtonParentsAlliance/
Monday nights listening session had a disturbingly familiar theme:-the lack of transparency by the school board and superintendents-confusing and badly timed communication from the district-the speed at which a decision was made without enough school and community input
Washburn Elementary staff and families will be displaced and there was a resounding echo of disappointment for the way the district has handled the situation thus far, causing distrust with families, teachers and the broader Bloomington community.
It was an emotional night of testimony to the bond Washburn staff and families share and the betrayal they felt from the board and district leaders.
Link to district audio on all statements made at the Oct 14th Listening Session: https://drive.google.com/.../1Aq3gvWe7TGJ21lae.../view
Hot Topic
Yesterday Superintendent Dr. Melbye shared via email, that due to ongoing funding challenges, students at Washburn Elementary will be relocated to Normandale Hills, Poplar Bridge and Valley View elementary schools starting next school year. Washburn will cease operating as an elementary school.
This is extremely sad and frustrating news for Washburn Elementary families that will be uprooted and now need to figure out next steps for their children's education.
There were several factors cited, including inflation, evolving student needs, declining enrollment, and expirations of COVID relief funding. These are some of the same factors first cited in Fall 2023 that led to the Right-Sizing the Budget initiative that ratified budget cuts in February 2024 for 2024-25 (https://www.bloomington.k12.mn.us/right-sizing-budget ) school year and identified ongoing budget shortfalls that need to be addressed. It is unclear how much impact there is due to inflation compared to the numbers provided previously for Right-Sizing the Budget. It is also unclear exactly what is meant by evolving student needs, since the historic funding provided by the state legislature in 2023 "primarily addressed shortages school districts have endured covering increasing costs for special education and English language learning programming - otherwise referred to as cross-subsidies", per the Winter 2023-24 School Pages newsletter.
https://www.bloomington.k12.mn.us/.../bps-school-pages...
The district also shared that, in addition to displacing Washburn Elementary, there are a series of budget recommendations being prepared for approval in late October. However, no plans were announced to engage with the community about the recommendations.
The district has invited the community to share comments or questions through email at commrelations@isd271.org.
It is important that they also hear your voice, so please call BPS Community Relations at 952-681-6400 to share your concerns and ask for more transparency and engagement around this decision and other budget recommendations planned for October.
Thank You Principal Anthony Sicoli, of Valley View Middle School, for taking the BLM and Pride flags off the wall!
Thank you for working with the student and parent to ensure that district policy on neutrality are being communicated and handled in a collaborative manner.
Bloomington parents, your voices do matter. One father advocated for his child and created change!
Resource for parents to reference:https://www.umlc.org/umlc-secures-major-victory-in-free.../
Listening Session Statements
School Board Meetings
April 22 Study Session
School Board Study Session on New Gender Policies
Academics Over Agendas
Explicit Books
What are Gender and Sexuality Clubs
What is a GSA Club
"Genders & Sexualities Alliances, or GSA after-school clubs, have emerged as vehicles for deep social change related to racial, gender, and educational justice." Some of these clubs still go by the name Gay Straight Alliance.
Learn More
The GSA Platform and their TRUTH 9 Point Manifesto
The GSA platform is to radicalize public school students, under the pretense of compassionate inclusion. The organization offers extensive materials designed to facilitate the active rejection and destruction of traditional family values and the dismantling of the entire system we live and work in.
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Gender & Sexuality Clubs in Bloomington Schools
GSA clubs are in the Bloomington Public Schools. These clubs are supposed to be after-school and student-led, but are in fact teacher-led, highly advertised, and use school resources, even throughout the school day. Teachers, principals, and staff time are allocated to these clubs, and they expose and condition your child to a specific ideology on gender and sexuality in the name of social justice. District policy is not being adhered to when it comes to GSA clubs.
Learn More
School Board allows policy 801 violation when district staff spends $700 on pride posters for GSA clubs; an after-school "student-led" club
August 22nd, 2022 – Principal at Valley View Middle School sends 'The Print Shop' of MN an email to print off 25 GSA (Gender and Sexuality Alliances) posters for open house. This goes against policy 801 by expending public funds and providing sponsorship to a non curriculum-related group: Part I, section B "There is no sponsorship of the meeting by the school or its agents or employees" (“Sponsorship” includes the act of promoting, leading, or participating in a meeting.") Part II, Section E, "The District shall not expend public funds for the benefit of students meeting pursuant to this policy beyond the incidental cost of providing space." https://bitly.ws/JcsJ https://sites.google.com/isd271.org/club-formation/home
Learn More
Taxpayer money spent on posters promoting non curriculum-related groups found in Valley View Middle School
Policy 801 is being broken over and over again as GSA (Gender and Sexuality Alliances) clubs are highly promoted at Valley View Middle school, and it is clear these are not student-led clubs. Students in middle school struggle to navigate puberty and find peace with their changing bodies, yet district staff recklessly and brazenly compound the confusion with their GSA LGBTIA political agenda! The pictured 'raised fist' also symbolically points to the Marxist Communist Manifesto that GSA clubs, along with Black Lives Matter, state as their mission; and serve to undermine our schools, cities, and nation. Our school district is letting these activist groups permeate our schools and undermine the very reason the schools exist!
Learn MorePolicy Violations- Genders and Sexuality Clubs
FULL Data on Genders and Sexuality Alliance Clubs in Valley View, Kennedy, and Jefferson
GSA CLUBS IN BLOOMINGTON
Genders and Sexuality Alliance is supposed to be a student-led after-school organization, it is instead being highly promoted and coordinated on school time by staff.
Read MoreLocal News
Resources
Dr. Lisa Littman - Physician Scientist: Conducting Research about Gender Dysphoria, De-transition, and Desistance
Dr. Littman is a physician-scientist whose research is focused on gender dysphoria, the experiences of people who desist (or re-identify) after identifying as transgender, and people who de-transition after gender transition. She is known for coining the phrase, “rapid-onset gender dysphoria” (also called ROGD) to describe a phenomenon that has been observed by clinicians and parents, and has been acknowledged by several de-transitioners.
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Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing our Daughters by Abigail Shrier
“Abigail Shrier has written a deeply compassionate and utterly sobering account of an unprecedented and reckless social experiment whose test subjects are the bodies and psyches of the most emotionally vulnerable among us.” —JOHN PODHORETZ, editor of Commentary magazine and columnist for the New York Post Link to a free downloadable copy: https://ia601807.us.archive.org/9/items/shirier-2020-irreversible-damage/shirier%202020%20-%20irreversible%20damage.pdf
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When Kids Say They're Trans: A Guide for Thoughtful Parents by Sasha Ayad, Lisa Marchiano and Stella O’Malley
There have been many books written for parents who are facilitating a child’s gender transition, but almost none for parents who decide that social or medical transition is not the best option for their child. When Kids Say They’re Trans aims to redress this balance.
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Child Protection League
MISSION: CPL promotes the welfare of children and protects them from exploitation, indoctrination, and violence. We educate citizens on issues that protect or threaten the safety of children. We equip and activate parents and the public to reclaim self-governance, and to expose and defeat the cultural revolution in our midst.
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Minnesotans for Health and Parental Rights
WHAT WE DO: Every family is unique, rich in history and experience and diverse in the faiths and cultures that brings us to who we are. Minnesotans for Health & Parental Rights is a pair of volunteer organizations that strive to connect the community to one another and support the freedom to make individualized decisions for our families.
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Minnesota Parents Alliance
ABOUT US: MPA exists to ensure that every parent who wants to get involved in their child's education has every resource they need to do so successfully, and that their engagement is an inspiration to others. We connect parents across the state with one another by hosting a variety of educational events and online forums, as well as with individuals and organizations that can provide additional support. Our goal is to effectively and efficiently channel the momentum of the parent movement into positive and lasting changes for education in Minnesota.
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Trapped!: Chaos In The Classroom Alpha News
oin Alpha News Journalist Sheila Qualls in this gripping podcast series as she delves into the alarming rise of violence and the decline of QUALITY EDUCATION in Minnesota schools. Through in-depth interviews, expert insights, and captivating stories, "Trapped!: Chaos in the Classroom" exposes the complex web of factors contributing to these pressing issues. Tune in to explore potential solutions, hear from the voices of students, educators, and parents, and understand how we can work together to create safer and more effective learning environments for our future generations.
Read MoreJoin us
- Bloomington, Minnesota, United States
