Minnesota State Wire

Local parent Mariah Hines is demanding answers about the $87.500 SEED was paid to give teacher training to Pequot Lakes faculty.

“We were told that that SEED was not paid, the teachers weren't paid to take a seat,” Hines told Minnesota State Wire. “That's what they said at the first board meeting. We requested the actual expenditures from the SEED program and we found out that they actually were paid $87,500 in the forms of stipends.”

Hines said parents were also told at the first board meeting that it was not a reoccurring program.

“And then, of course, again, we come to find out that it is a reoccurring program,” she added. “It's a three-hour course, and the teachers that take it have to take the three-hour course once a month for every month that school's in session. I don't understand why our school board wasn't aware of this and if you were aware of it why you would blatantly lie to us?”

Parents have also started to speak out against what they see as Superintendent Chris Lindholm’s misguided vision for the district.

“So we first came to notice something was a little off when some parents started sharing this YouTube video made by our superintendent,” Hines added. “It was made for a government agency in Minnesota, state government agency called Region Five for a project called Rural Reveal. Basically in this video, he was very demeaning towards our small town. He said that he moved here from Minneapolis eight or seven years ago and was really distraught by how racist and bigoted we were. And he knows that his previous neighbors in the cities who were gay and biracial couples, they wouldn't have been accepted here. And he goes on to basically say that and that upset the community members because we don't think that we're a bigoted, racist community.”

In the video, Lindholm joins other district leaders in calling for what they deem the enactment of equity practices into staff development. Throughout the video, he shares his perception and experiences of the Pequot Lakes community since arriving there in 2013. He pointed to efforts at the district level aimed at involving teachers in diversity training through the National SEED Project and what he described as positive outcomes resulting from this work.

Hines and others argue it’s all part of the community getting a reputation they insist isn’t earned.

“He goes on to basically say that and that upset the community members because we don't think that we're a bigoted, racist community,” she added. ”Obviously, we are a majority white community. We don't have any problems with other races or anything like that. But we also don't want our children being taught that being white is bad, or if you're white, you're automatically an oppressor.”