Forest Hills voters shake up school board with election of 2 new members

After a 2021 school board race that saw the election of four candidates who ran on an anti-critical race theory platform, voters in the Forest Hills School District decided to change course and elect two liberal-leaning candidates: Wendy Strickler Biederman and Jason Simmons.

Biederman and Simmons, both college professors, campaigned together and ran with the intent of bringing "balance" to a school board that has pushed to end events like Turpin High School's Diversity Day and approved the district's "Culture of Kindness" resolution, which has since resulted in a lawsuit.

The "Culture of Kindness" resolution bans assignments where students must consider their race, religion, gender identity, or sexuality, and has proved to be a divisive issue within the school community.