Supporting Transparency and Truth in School District 728

Why 728 United Was Created

In May 2021, a recording from an Elk River High School classroom went viral on social media of a staff member advocating for violence towards white business owners as a means of racial activism. As a result, local community members of all backgrounds and ethnicities organized and dug deep to understand what was happening in District 728. This work entailed connecting parents across the state and working with multiple leaders, including black leaders, to understand the problems important to parents and the impacts on students of creeping indoctrination and decreasing academic standards in the public school system.

District 728 is part of the I-94 corridor that is quickly growing, in part, because parents are looking to escape the failing city public schools and seeking higher academic standards elsewhere. We support their search for better opportunities for their children. 728 United’s motto is Excellence in Academics. 728 United strives to support ALL parents and ALL students in achieving the best academic outcomes possible in apolitical classrooms, thus 728 United was born.

What We Did

728 United respectfully requested the ISD 728 superintendent, administration and school board members change direction to a more positive, unifying message regarding addressing racism as well as increasing transparency for parents on a number of items and pushing for an apolitical atmosphere in schools. 728 United volunteers worked with several organizations to provide the district information regarding how the current approach was negatively impacting students and families, including families of color. In one case, a black activist whose organization strives to impact black family structure and declining academic standards, was denied a voice in our district, please see “Interview of Black Leaders Experience with District 728” in the menu above. To date, there have been no formal changes in response to these requests.

This summer, the district will be making a decision on curriculum options for the Ethnic Studies Class that it will begin offering in 2023. 728 United volunteers facilitated a meeting with Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (F.A.I.R.) that offers curriculum on this topic which addresses racism in a unifying manner, focusing on a pro-human approach, that brings individuals together and provides hope. Please see the affiliates tab for a link to “F.A.I.R.’s website.”

What We Learned

Tax dollars were used to provide divisive, racialized training and information to 728 leadership, board members, staff, and in some cases, students. These source documents can be viewed in the menu above entitled “Sankore Audit.” Further, staff reading lists obtained were, in 728 United’s view, one-sided, racially divisive and contained Marxist themes; see this info under the Staff Racial Resources tab. 728 United offered to donate books by African American authors, including but not limited to Thomas Sowell, Booker T. Washington, Dr. Carol M. Swain, Walter Williams and Dr. Anne Wortham, that would provide a countering voice to the one-sided staff reading list. To date, the district has not responded to this offer. Further, the school board voted on policy changes that censored out the public speaking segment of their meetings from being posted with the rest of the meeting on their websites in August of 2021. Additionally, elected board members began refusing to meet with constituents, even those who had a proven track record of respectful communication. Parents and 728 volunteers found that the only response to their inquiries, even when directed to specific board members, would be a generalized response from the board chair. 728 United worked with local state representatives and pro-freedom of speech board members in other districts to encourage the 728 School Board to change course. At this time, the censorship of public comment posts to the district website and refusal of board members to meet with constituents continues. Please see MN House Representative Eric Lucero’s email to 728 board below.

Purpose of Website

To educate the community about lack of transparency from district leadership and school board members towards parents and to expose the racially divisive ideologies infiltrating our schools that ultimately impact our children. Further, our goal is to provide the community with additional resources to assist concerned community members in creating positive academic outcomes for ALL students. Our hope is that this information will inspire greater community involvement in the district through community curriculum boards, attending school board meetings and getting involved in school board elections.

An Important Note

The information shared on this website does NOT reflect on every ISD 728 employee. Our district is home to many dedicated teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators and support staff. Many families have experienced positive student teacher relationships and countless children have thrived and achieved successful academic outcomes as a result of these educational professionals. However, the information uncovered demonstrates serious concerns in the district that without broad community intervention, will likely lead to serious harm to our students, state and country if left unchecked.

728 United Mission

To provide a network of support, education, and place of action for parents, taxpayers and students of ISD 728 that results in positive outcomes within our district for all children and families. Our goals include a message of unity, inclusivity and peace to counter the violent and politically divisive rhetoric. We aim to educate through critical thinking, understanding, and bridge building with a focus on high quality academics and maximizing resources for all students while respecting the burden on taxpayers. While our message supports unity and peace, we are firm in our resolve to reject violent and radical rhetoric and insist our schools reject group think and bias while recognizing individual families as the predominant source of values for our children. We aim to focus on individual minds, characters and hearts and believe true diversity lies within an individual’s experiences, thoughts, culture and frame of reference beyond simply outer physical attributes.