NACS board member criticized about comment at work session
Ashley Sloboda | The Journal Gazette
A Northwest Allen County Schools board member is under fire for his comment about sexual orientation at a work session last week.
Hours after three board members on Sunday censured Steve Bartkus, the teachers union issued a statement condemning his April 21 remarks.
Bartkus -- who was reelected to a second, four-year term by 35 votes in November -- brought up sexual orientation during a work session about COVID-19 protocols, particularly the mask mandate. He framed it as a civil rights issue.
"Where do parents' rights and children's rights come into play here to have a choice?" Bartkus said April 21. "I think most of these people that are here are not demanding that we take off masks, but they are demanding or asking, 'Do we have a choice?' Women have a choice to have abortions these days, right? People have a choice to be gay or straight these days, right?"