In March of 2021 many Grand Haven Area Public School children ages 5-9 were encouraged to read the electronic book provided to them by their teachers, Call Me Max by Kyle Lukoff which features a transgender main character. The book was sent to teachers by the district Director of Instructional Services Mary Jane Evink. Parents were upset and complaints began to pour in to teachers immediately. Working to quiet parent concerns while moving forward with her agenda of pushing the idea that gender is a choice for children to make, Mary Jane Evink sprung into action. She emailed all of her gender choice allies asking for assistance and scheduling meetings. Be sure to read previous articles on this topic if you haven’t already.
Kara Endsley is the Reading Specialist from Griffin Elementary who put together the diversity, equity and inclusion reading list which Mary Jane Evink sent to all young 5s-4th grade teachers. Mary Jane emailed Kara.
Instead of discussing following district policy with leaders and concerned citizens, Mary Jane Evink emailed a reading specialist and stated she had been “defending” the book. She requested a meeting with this ally, Kara Endsley, “to prepare the next moves together.”
Next Mary Jane Evink emailed a middle school librarian, Sarah McElrath, to “plan a response to some teachers.”
Again, she did not discuss following district policy or presenting opposing viewpoints with leaders and concerned citizens. Instead, Mary Jane Evink emailed a middle school librarian asking her to “help me plan a response to some teachers.” Isn’t it interesting that instead of addressing the issue of why people were opposed to their actions, they figured out a work around.
Next, she emailed several contacts from the Gay-Straight Alliance and LGBTQ organizations hoping to receive professional literature that would help push her agenda. The following image includes Mary Jane Evink’s email and one of the responses she received.
Mary Jane Evink did not seek resources that presented the opposite point of view; that gender is obvious at birth and not a choice. Instead, she sought more professional persuasive information that would help to push the idea that gender selection is a choice. She emailed contacts and LGBTQ organizations so she could “curate talking points for parents and teachers of elementary students on how to talk about transgender.” Parents wanted to know why this topic was presented to their children. They did not ask Mary Jane to help them talk to their children about gender.
Next Mary Jane Evink sent a follow-up email to all district teachers young 5s-4th grade reminding them they should preview all materials provided to students. A few days after sending out the book lists to all district elementary teachers which implied they should use those books with their students for March is Reading Month, Mary Jane Evink reminded those same teachers that it is their responsibility to preview all books provided to their students.
Instead of addressing the fact that she was responsible for approving and providing the book lists to teachers, and neglecting to follow district policy on the topic of controversial issues Mary Jane attempted to deflect the blame away from herself and towards the teachers. She did this by sending another letter to all district teachers young 5s-4th grade reminding them they should preview all materials provided to students. Do you see the mixed messaging coming from Mary Jane Evink?
This last email is an excerpt from an email response to a parent which clearly shows this mixed messaging.
You can clearly see Mary Jane Evink’s internal conflict in the last two sections of this email to a parent. In the last bullet point she reaffirms the district’s plans to push forward with the anti-racism agenda not only onto students, but onto the community through the Momentum Center. She does not discuss presenting the opposite point of view that people are either male or female, and gender is obvious at birth. She doesn’t seem to care about that. Then in the last paragraph Mary Jane Evink attempts to reassure the parent by apologizing and stating that the district will improve in the future. She presents two conflicting ideas in a word salad that leaves the recipient feeling confused.
With the Director of Instructional Services, Mary Jane Evink, leading the way, many Grand Haven Area Public School professionals clearly violated GHAPS policy 2240 Controversial Issues.
Board Policy 2240 Controversial Issues that states.
The Board will permit the introduction and proper educational use of controversial issues provided that their use in the instructional program:
a. Is related to the instructional goals of the course of study and level of maturity of the students;
b. Does not tend to indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view;
In summary, this collection of emails leads the public to one conclusion. Mary Jane Evink is determined to push the idea that gender is not obvious at birth but rather a choice. She will push this idea upon GHAPS students through her position at GHAPS and the Grand Haven Community through her work at the Momentum Center. In conjunction with this, she will push the anti-racism idea that you can either be a racist, or an anti-racist, but cannot just be not a racist person.
She has a network of individuals she works with, and she will not stop no matter how much resistance she receives. She will tell concerned people she welcomes their input, wants them to be heard and wants to be transparent. Meanwhile her actions will reveal her true goals. Mary Jane Evink and all personnel working to persuade students towards the view that gender is a choice should be held accountable. GHAPS should be notified of board policies and given warnings when they violate those policies. Subsequent violations should result in leaves of absence and/or termination.