On a seemingly normal Friday morning, more than 300 Cedar Drive Middle School students filed into their school’s auditorium for an assembly—except it wasn’t their principal giving the presentation; it was U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon.
The Colts Neck visit on Dec. 5 was the third stop on the Department of Education’s 50-state “History Rocks! Trail to Independence Tour” and, according to McMahon, was meant to serve as a patriotic “celebration of our nation’s 250th birthday.”
The national visits are sponsored by more than 50 conservative organizations, including Turning Point USA (TPUSA), founded by the late Charlie Kirk. The group’s presence drew the ire of some protesters and parents, as TPUSA has been accused of espousing anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-civil rights views. The group has denied those allegations, describing itself as an organization dedicated to promoting “free markets” and “limited government.”
Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill opposed the use of a public school as a venue for organizations she described in a statement as “far-right organizations that promote an extreme MAGA agenda.”
The president of the Colts Neck Board of Education (BOE), Angelique Volpe, was credited with bringing the event to the school.
“We extend our gratitude to Colts Neck Township Board of Education President Angelique Volpe for her early outreach to the U.S. Department of Education and her leadership in helping position our district for consideration in this unique opportunity,” Superintendent MaryJane Garibay wrote in a letter announcing the event.
On Nov. 19, the school board adopted Volpe’s proposed “Parental Bill of Rights,” which mandates that students’ parents be notified if their child changes their preferred pronouns or gender identity. It also emphasizes parental awareness of the content that their children are learning in school.
According to the Parental Bill of Rights, “Parents have the right to be informed in advance about any guest speakers, presentations, or school assemblies…The Board is committed to full transparency so that parents can understand what is being taught and can meaningfully engage in their child’s learning process.”
On Dec. 3, the Colts Neck Board of Education cancelled its regularly scheduled meeting and then announced a “special meeting” at Cedar Drive Middle School at 7:45 a.m., on the day of the assembly. However, the board closed that meeting to the public, according to parents who say they were denied entry to the school for the meeting.
Outside the meeting and subsequent assembly, on the edge of Cedar Drive’s parking lot, stood a small group of protestors opposing the BOE’s unilateral decision. Among the activists was a man playing the snare drum and wearing a hot dog costume. Although he requested that his name be kept anonymous, he said he was a teacher in a neighboring county’s elementary school. He explained that he thought the decision to host the assembly was made with disregard for the people it affected.
“I feel like [the BOE members] are not thinking about all the people in the community that are stakeholders in the education system. I think that they’re trying to promote their agenda,” he said. “I think that if they actually thought of everybody, they would’ve had more sensitivity to the upsettingness that it might cause.”
He also explained why he was protesting in a hot dog costume.
“There’s been a lot of people that show up [to protests] in costumes just to fight the narrative that we’re violent or that we’re, like, anything besides people that are concerned about our community and future of the country.”
