Grand Haven Area Public School district leaders Brian Wheeler and Mary Jane Evink were willingly directed by former superintendent Andy Ingall to serve as liaisons to the Anti-Racism Task Force at the Momentum Center. The Anti-Racism Task Force at the Momentum Center works to create anti-racist activists out of Grand Haven citizens.
In August 2020 when families across the country were unsure of how their children would be educated during the upcoming school year, the GHAPS district was coordinating with the Momentum Center, a leftist-political organization disguised as a community support center, to indoctrinate Grand Haven youth with anti-racism.
The following email chain from August 2020 shows the Anti-Racism Task Force leader Barbara Lee VanHorssen requesting GHAPS support from Superintendent Andy Ingall. Andy Ingall eagerly replies less than 5 hours later with a resounding yes. These three emails need to be read in reverse order.
As a taxpayer and community member I would like to understand how supporting the Anti-Racism Task Force is necessary for my children to achieve the skills required for a high school diploma? How much time are GHAPS administrators spending during the school day working on Anti-Racism Task Force activities? Is this how my tax dollars are being spent?
Given how quickly Andy Ingall responded to this request from the Momentum Center, it is highly unlikely that he sought approval from the school board, but later emails reveal at least three school board members fully stand behind this decision. The relationship between GHAPS and the Momentum Center is a clear violation of board policy 1130 Conflict of Interest.
1130-A-2 “No staff member, officer, or agent shall use his/her position to benefit either himself/herself or any other individual or agency apart from the total interest of the School District.”
1130-A-4 “Employees, officers, and agents shall not engage in business, private practice of their profession, the rendering of services, or the sale of goods of any type where advantage is taken of any professional relationship they may have with any student, client, or parents of such students or clients in the course of their employment or professional relationship with the School District.”
1130-F “Employees, officers and agents found to be in violation of this conflict of interest policy will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination, as permitted by applicable Board policy.”
GHAPS leadership must be held accountable.
What is “anti-racist”? See