A local private Christian school, Wesley Prep, has appointed a new head who is well-versed in Critical Race Theory (CRT), and one activist organisation is openly protesting the selection.
The Wesley Prep search committee selected Meg Fahrenbrook to replace Linda Altick as the head of school, beginning June 1, 2022.
Tweets obtained by The Dallas Express suggest that Fahrenbrook has promoted ‘CRT’ education and ‘gender fluidity’ theories.
“Save Texas Kids reached out to Ms. Fahrenbrook with inquiries concerning her record, and no answer has been provided,” stated Save Texas Kids Director Carlos Turcios. “We would appreciate a statement from Ms. Fahrenbrook to help concerned parents, students, and even instructors understand her Twitter tweets pushing ‘equity training’ and ‘Critical Race Theory’ rhetoric.”
Neither Fahrenbrook nor Altick answered to calls for comment.
On Twitter, Fahrenbrook sent a message that referred to a Harvard University website of CRT experts called Teaching the Hard Histories of Racism.
“Great ideas here on how to teach the unpleasant facts of history,” Fahrenbrook commented.
On her Twitter profile, Fahrenbrook describes her ‘pronouns’ as (she/her) and in another Tweet praised the California-based ‘anti-racist’ consultants Leadership + Design.
“Thank you for hosting! It was invigorating, thought-provoking, and so lovely to see all those amazing humans,” Fahrenbrook said on Oct. 29.
Leadership + Design advertises a racial immersion programme on their website, which is characterised as a sequence of four interactive, layered experiences that begin with the school’s leadership team.
“If you participate in all four, you will ultimately involve the whole school community,” the website claims. “Part I of the Racial Immersion Program is available now as a three-module experience for your senior leadership team. Building an anti-racist culture must start from the top. The Racial Immersion Program is created for a ‘majority white’ team of educators that knows that it is time to change and delve deeper as an organisation, but it is not for the administrative team that is checking the ‘race training box.’ We will challenge your entire team to move beyond academic learning to emotional and experience learning. We will not collaborate with teams wanting a comfortable experience: the Racial Immersion Program is unrealistic, hard, painful – and powerful.”
Meg Fahrenbrook Dallas Episcopal has worked at the Episcopal School of Dallas for seventeen years as a teacher, advisor, middle and upper school mentoring director, middle school advisory and student leadership coordinator, and assistant head of middle school, according to a message distributed by Meg Fahrenbrook Wesley Prep Board of Trustees.
“Texas’s new Senate Bill 3 recently went into effect this month, and we want assurance from Ms. Fahrenbrook that she will comply with the new law,” Turcios told The Dallas Express.
House Bill 3979, which Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law on June 14, dictates how America’s history of slavery and racism is taught in Texas classrooms.
However, Senate Bill 3 is more stringent and has broader scope, according to media sources. It should be highlighted that Senate Bill 3 is only relevant to public schools, not private ones like Wesley Prep.
“Parents want leaders that will not introduce unneeded politics and divisive beliefs into the classroom,” Turcios remarked. “We have seen the diversions that such ideas and politics may generate in classrooms. Parents demand school leaders who will put students’ education first and not introduce politics and ideological inclinations into the classroom and the school.”
