In March 2020, when the Gladstone School District announced it would transition to remote learning, Oregon mother Glenda Scherer was concerned about the effect this action would have on her daughter and special-needs son. She soon began to speak out, utilizing the district’s social media pages and board meetings to ask questions and offer feedback.
It didn’t take long for the district to attempt to silence her.
Scherer explains it started with a virtual school board meeting in July 2020. When she submitted a public comment that was critical of the district, it was not only disregarded during the meeting but even excluded from the minutes. Although the board claimed it would consider her comments and address them at a later date, it never did. When the board muted Scherer, she changed her display name to “Unheardparent” — a moniker she has since adopted on social media, where she has a growing audience of 11.5K followers.
The district escalated its online censorship campaign by blocking her on Twitter, requiring her Facebook posts on a school page to be preapproved by school personnel, and prohibiting her from tagging the district on social media. The district also sent Scherer a letter purporting to ban her from attending public school board meetings in person — unless and until the superintendent granted approval.
Notably, the board also adopted a ban on “comments regarding any individual district staff member” — a policy it has interpreted so broadly as to prohibit any criticism of board members
