Concerned about COVID? Don’t bother emailing this Wichita school board member

As COVID-19 cases hit record highs in the Wichita area, we’re all feeling helpless and frustrated.

But one Wichita school board member’s rant against teachers and constituents Monday was shocking and unfair.

After voting against a plan to stick with online classes for Wichita middle- and high-schoolers, board member Mike Rodee attacked the parents, teachers and families he was elected to represent, suggesting that they shouldn’t waste their time sharing concerns with him.

“I heard all your emails about putting kids back in school. Don’t email me unless it’s something special,” Rodee said.

“Because I’m tired of getting 1,000 emails that are 10 pages long and hard to read.”

Then Rodee went a step further, saying teachers need to stop their whining, too.

“Email me if you’ve got something new you want to say. But if you’re a teacher telling me how you’re overworked or underpaid or something like that, you know, I get it. I get it. But let’s talk about something new now.”

It’s almost like Rodee’s saying he didn’t sign up for this.

Except he did. Twice.

Wichita school board members set policy for a district with nearly 50,000 students — the state’s largest. Rodee had to realize that when he ran for the seat in 2013 and again in 2017.

The Wichita board oversees one of the biggest governmental budgets in the state. It takes on controversial issues all the time, from closing schools to setting schedules, cutting programs to negotiating teacher contracts, hiring superintendents to adding recess.

People get passionate about public schools — and they should.

On Monday, Kimberly Howard, president of United Teachers of Wichita, implored board members to move to a full-remote model until COVID-19 case numbers improve.

“Do not take further advantage of our teachers. Do not add injury to insult,” Howard said. “And do not push our teachers to the brink, because we’re just about there.”

Rodee must have recognized that when he paused briefly during his rant to say, “I’m going to catch hell for this, and that’s fine.”

All righty then.

Like other elected bodies, the Wichita school board is facing a public health crisis few people could have predicted. It’s faced with what seems like a no-win dilemma — to open school buildings and risk spreading the virus, or close them and risk long-term educational fallout.

Nothing about this is easy. Nothing is pleasant. The fact that the school board is a volunteer gig certainly doesn’t make it less tedious.

But telling worried parents and teachers to stick their emails in the trash folder is nothing short of appalling.

And it’s not the first time Rodee has thrown a temper tantrum at the board table.

Less than a year ago, when a majority of board members approved a statement of non-discrimination that protects gay, transgender and gender-nonconforming students, Rodee opposed the move and resigned in a huff.

The next afternoon, he submitted a statement rescinding the resignation and asking his fellow board members to “continue to consider me an active member of the board.”

So make that three times he knowingly signed up for this.

Being an active member of a school board involves researching issues, considering all options, and most importantly, listening to the constituents you’ve sworn to represent — whether you agree with them or not.

If Rodee thinks that’s a waste of time, perhaps he should rethink elected office.

This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 9:15 AM.