Opinion: Thank You To The Hamilton County School Board
To the members of the Hamilton County School Board who voted to end the partnership with Centerstone, thank you. From the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of so many parents I have spoken with, thank you for having the courage to make a difficult but necessary decision to protect our children and reaffirm that parents are the primary stakeholders in their education and well-being.
This decision has, predictably, drawn fierce criticism from those who believe outside organizations know better than our own families. Most recently, Ben Sessoms of the Times Free Press published an editorial that mischaracterizes our motives, slanders grassroots parent groups, and ignores the very real concerns that led to this vote. It’s time to set the record straight.
Mr. Sessoms would have you believe this was a decision driven by a “well-known right-wing activist group” based on “paranoid delusions.” This is not only insulting to the duly elected board members but also to the parents who have expressed concerns for years. This was a decision fueled by a desire for transparency, academic focus, and parental rights.
Let’s address the contradictions in the opposition’s narrative. If, as Centerstone’s executive claimed, their employees already underwent thorough background checks, why did board member Ben Connor feel the need to introduce a revised MOU specifically to require them? This inconsistency alone should give every parent pause. It suggests that the previous oversight was not as robust as we were led to believe.
Mr. Sessoms then parrots the most tired and inaccurate smear in modern politics: he labels Moms for Liberty as a book-banning, homophobic group, citing the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a credible source. This is a grave error in judgment. The SPLC’s “hate map” is a dangerous and discredited scam, a fact evidenced by the multiple defamation lawsuits it has faced, including a multi-million-dollar settlement and formal apology in recent years.
To be perfectly clear: Moms for Liberty has never called for books to be “banned.” They have championed academic transparency, asking that materials available to students be age-appropriate and relevant to their education, and that parents have the right to know what is being presented.
There is a profound difference between censorship and responsible curation. Furthermore, to claim that this group is homophobic or transphobic is a malicious falsehood. This is not, and has never been, an anti-LGBTQ+ student stance. Every child deserves to feel safe and supported at school. However, it is entirely reasonable to believe that matters of identity, sexuality, and gender are deeply personal issues best guided by families at home, not by outside contractors in a school system that is struggling to meet basic literacy and math standards.
Our schools should be laser-focused on academic achievement. When we have outside organizations deeply embedded in our schools, as the leaked strategy call revealed-- with counselors taking on roles they weren’t contracted for -it diverts from that core mission. The numerous public complaints about Centerstone’s services, from unprofessionalism and high staff turnover to concerning interactions with students, cannot be ignored. When a company operates with a “parents will be contacted as necessary” policy, it fundamentally undermines the trust and partnership that should exist between schools and families. We are not the last to know; we must be the first.
Could the transition away from Centerstone have been handled better? Of course. But was ending the contract the right decision? Absolutely, yes. The board has allocated millions for 250 new student support coaches, counselors, and social workers, proving a commitment to mental health that is directly accountable to the school district and, by extension, to parents and taxpayers.