Opinion | Merrick Garland and a Michigan Mother

The National School Boards Association has apologized for its infamous letter to President Biden last September suggesting “threats” and “acts of violence” at raucous public school board meetings “could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism.” But Attorney General Merrick Garland’s memo to the FBI to investigate parents still stands. And if you want to understand why parents are still upset, look no further than what happened to a Michigan mother who complained to the Chippewa Valley school board.

Sandra Hernden’s son Conor has special needs, and since the Covid pandemic she’s been complaining that the board’s policies—from closures to virtual learning—led to her son’s GPA dropping to 1.5 from 3.5. Board members responded to her criticism by reporting her first to her then-employer, the Harper Woods police department, and then to the Department of Justice.