O鈥橣ALLON, Mo. 鈥 On a June evening in 2021, Ken Gontarz walked from his front-row seat to speak in front of a school board he would later help uproot.
Gontarz, in his late 60s at the time, gripped the edges of a podium and held a steady gaze with members of the Francis Howell School Board. Most speakers read prepared speeches to the board, but Gontarz kept his head straight, occasionally gesturing, as he waved a pair of documents his wife found online.
鈥淒id I get an education on Saturday when my wife accessed your links and I found out there were two Black courses being introduced,鈥 Gontarz said.
The school board was considering two elective courses: Black History and Black Literature. Teachers and staff had spent about a year creating them at the request of students who wanted more Black-oriented courses after the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
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Gontarz held up a piece of paper, which he later passed out to the meeting鈥檚 attendees.
鈥淚 produced a one-page flyer of various texts, words that I believe you鈥檒l see are very related to Critical Race Theory,鈥 he said.
It wasn鈥檛 the first time school officials heard objections to the courses. It would be far from the last, as the board approved the two courses a month later.
The move poured gas on a fire that began with mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic. It led to conservatives seizing a majority on the Francis Howell School Board, and they have achieved at least one of their goals 鈥 to rid the Black studies courses of so-called 鈥渟ocial justice鈥 standards, which they argue teach CRT, a once-obscure academic concept that loosely describes the pervasion of racism throughout society.
About a month after Gontarz spoke to the board that June evening, he and his wife filed paperwork with the Missouri Ethics Commission to form a political action committee called Francis Howell Families. After early guidance from national conservative activists, they and a small group of other St. Charles County residents have gotten five members of the seven-person board elected through the PAC.
The pattern is similar to one that鈥檚 played out in school districts across the country: conservative-leaning PACs spending money on school board races in favor of parental rights and ridding schools of 鈥渓eftist principals,鈥 transforming once-nonpartisan races into political powder kegs.
And school board meetings, once considered routine or even boring, have often turned into tense standoffs over gender issues, diversity and equity programs, library books and more.
Tuesday鈥檚 election will serve as the latest rallying point, with thousands of dollars spent for candidates running for school board.
Two board members not supported by the Francis Howell Families PAC 鈥 Chad Lange and Janet Stiglich, the two most senior members 鈥 are not running for reelection. Four candidates are running for their seats, with two supported by Gontarz鈥檚 PAC and two supported by a PAC that serves as its political foil.
If you talk to people on all sides of the Francis Howell debates, you drill down to the same concern: they want their schools to be the best they can be.
But the ideas to get there 鈥 and what they think is best for students 鈥 are wildly different.
Stiglich, who was elected to the board in 2018, said it has now become almost impossible for her to avoid politics.
鈥淚t鈥檚 turned into a political arena, versus what a school board should be 鈥 which is to promote public education in your local school district,鈥 she said.
Gontartz said his goal is for 鈥渙ur schools to be great.鈥
鈥淪top with the social re-engineering,鈥 he said. 鈥淛ust teach.鈥
鈥楲et people know there鈥檚 a choice鈥
After Gontarz left his church on a recent Wednesday morning, he turned the corner and shook his head.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e stealing our signs left and right,鈥 he said.
Gontarz, now 72, was beginning another of his hours-long journeys to place campaign signs around St. Charles County for the school board candidates supported by his PAC.
He zoomed around in his Ford sedan, stamped with an 鈥淚 love the Constitution鈥 sticker, and made frequent stops at major intersections. He staked signs that read: 鈥淰OTE APRIL 2: ADRIANA KUHN, SAM YOUNG.鈥
He often stopped near where signs were already planted for candidates supported by a rival PAC. If there weren鈥檛 already signs for Kuhn and Young, he鈥檇 place one or two, at a 鈥渞espectful鈥 distance away.
鈥淚 gotta neutralize these,鈥 Gontarz said at an intersection that only had signs for the other candidates. 鈥淭hey can neutralize ours as well. I just want to let people know there鈥檚 a choice.鈥
The term 鈥渢hey鈥 came up repeatedly. They want to indoctrinate our children. They want to teach students CRT. They want to put boys in girls鈥 bathrooms. They think he鈥檚 a racist bigot who hates teachers.
In most cases, 鈥渢hey鈥 refers to Francis Howell Forward, a PAC formed in 2023 to support a slate of progressive candidates.
Francis Howell Forward is largely made up of parents and teachers who take issue with the board鈥檚 rightward turn over the past two years. When it comes to hot-button issues that put Francis Howell in the national spotlight 鈥 from dropping an anti-racism resolution to attempting to limit which bathrooms transgender students could use 鈥 the PACs have never been on the same side.
Gontarz and his PAC have largely won those battles.
Meanwhile, teachers鈥 unions have endorsed candidates on the opposing side. Other PACs, including St. Charles County Families for Public Schools, have also sent money to candidates pushing back against conservatives.
Francis Howell鈥檚 dueling PACs have raised tens of thousands of dollars for their candidates. This calendar year alone, Francis Howell Forward had nearly $16,000 in its coffers and Francis Howell Families had nearly $21,000, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday, the most recent available.
With rare exceptions in the past, Francis Howell school board candidates typically raised around $2,000 to $5,000 each for their elections. Now each is raising close to $20,000.
That doesn鈥檛 include promotional efforts PACs have undertaken for the candidates, such as hosting events and paying for ads, signs and mailers.
Dueling visions for schools
The Francis Howell Forward candidates hope to move the board away from what they see as a political rodeo.
The candidates 鈥 Carolie Owens, a retired City of St. Charles School District teacher, and Steven Blair, a Methodist pastor with two children in the district 鈥 have run campaigns focused on the nuts-and-bolts of school board duties and 鈥渆ducation over politics.鈥
Owens, who has received about $21,000 in campaign donations, said she decided to run when she saw 鈥渁ll the negativity鈥 and how it affected teachers.
鈥淚鈥檝e had some years as a teacher when I felt a lot of negativity, but I never felt that from the school board, I knew that鈥檚 not normal,鈥 Owens said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of become the normal around the United States.鈥
Blair hopes to provide a dissenting voice against divisive language, which he said has discouraged teachers and cast the district in a negative light.
鈥淚 would like the Francis Howell School District to be known for respect, especially for those we disagree with,鈥 Blair said.
On the other side, small business owner Adriana Kuhn and retired U.S. Navy Officer Sam Young are running on a 鈥渂ack to basics鈥 platforms. They have focused mostly on improving academics and budget oversight. Kuhn鈥檚 online platform also lists her goals to 鈥渟top gender indoctrination鈥 and 鈥渟upport parental rights.鈥
Kuhn, like many other parents, began paying closer attention to the school board in 2020. It was a stressful time for parents, she said. In the wake of the pandemic, they didn鈥檛 know if schools would close or continue in person for the following school year. Kuhn also opposed mask requirements for students; she started an online for students鈥 right to choose, which gained 49 signatures.
She said in an interview that she kept attending meetings over the next few years, and she subscribed to the mailing list for Gontarz鈥檚 PAC.
In August 2023, she received an email from the PAC: 鈥淭he progressive leftists in our district will be back again next year to disrupt the return to academic excellence with their relentless focus on identity politics and equity. 鈥 It is critical that we get another two candidates elected in April 2024.鈥
Kuhn responded to the call, and after a few meetings, a two-hour interview and a questionnaire, she received Francis Howell Families鈥 endorsement. She was one of 16 people who applied for backing from the PAC, though only seven were seriously considered, according to Gontarz.
It was a thorough vetting process, Kuhn said, but she insisted her leadership on the board would be independent from the PAC.
鈥淔rancis Howell Families made it very clear they endorse candidates they believe will be the best fit for directors on the school board, and when I am on the board, all voting and decisions will be at my sole discretion,鈥 said Kuhn, who raised almost $20,000 for her campaign as of March 23.
Kuhn鈥檚 running mate, Young, did not respond to requests for an interview.
Black studies draw attention
The Black studies courses that touched off the debates in Francis Howell stemmed from conservative-driven controversies over Critical Race Theory.
Nine months before Gontarz鈥檚 speech in 2021, Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist widely credited for shining a spotlight on the concept, appeared on Tucker Carlson鈥檚 show on Fox News and warned of the 鈥渙ccult indoctrination鈥 and 鈥渄anger and destruction鈥 of CRT 鈥 kick-starting a years-long battle.
But CRT wasn鈥檛 an 鈥渋nkling in our minds鈥 at the time, said Jani Wilkens, a former Francis Howell teacher.
鈥淚t was pre-CRT, pre-everything-is-political,鈥 she said. 鈥淭here was no intention to make kids feel bad about who they are.鈥
The courses, which together had 102 students enrolled this school year, were praised by parents and students who saw them as needed representation in Francis Howell鈥檚 majority-white district.
But detractors thought the standards were veiled versions of CRT that encouraged stereotyping, or told white students they were inherently bad. Critics also took issue with how the standards were created by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has labeled about a dozen 鈥減arental rights鈥 group as extremist or hate groups, .
鈥淭he goal is, at least in part, to do social justice work, and they unfortunately use Black history as a vehicle to do that,鈥 board member Randy Cook told a reporter after a January 2024 meeting.
Cook is one of the five board members supported by Gontarz鈥檚 PAC in the past two years. Before his election, he wrote a 22-page letter on the Black studies electives, with numerous citations seeking to connect the courses to CRT.
Another board member supported by the PAC, Jane Puszkar, said her goal once elected last April was to 鈥渞emove all CRT ideology鈥 from 鈥渁ll curriculum.鈥 She ended up voting for the revised curricula earlier this month.
鈥淥ther than the issues with SPLC, I want our children to be taught an unbiased representation of history,鈥 Puszkar wrote in an email to the Post-Dispatch. 鈥淥ur children deserve the best education possible, which includes the good and not-so-good about history.鈥
Francis Howell Families eventually won the battle last Thursday, when the board voted 5-2 in favor of adopting revised curricula for Black Literature and Black History. The courses now lack so-called 鈥渟ocial justice standards鈥 written by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Alabama-based legal advocacy nonprofit created the standards to give students the knowledge and skills related to both prejudice reduction and collective action, according to the standards鈥 description.
By the time of the vote, the debate had attracted national media attention, and hundreds of high school students had walked out of school in a January protest.
Parents and students also complained that they struggled to keep up with updates on the courses, and they thought at times the classes were being rescinded altogether.
Amid confusion about the future of the courses, eighth-grader Sophia Johnson was one of the students who grew enraged. She said she feels underrepresented in a school district that鈥檚 87% white, and the prospect of the courses being taken away, or 鈥渨hitewashed,鈥 was discouraging.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 feel seen, and I鈥檝e always had a hard time with that growing up in the school district, especially with a lot of moves they鈥檝e made in recent times,鈥 Johnson said.
Gontarz said he got a bad rap during the debate. He says he鈥檚 not against teaching students Black history or literature.
鈥淲e really do want an opportunity for excellence in education for all, and I stress all,鈥 Gontarz said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 care what religion, what sex, what transgenderism perspective you are. But don鈥檛 bring that ideology into the classrooms.鈥
鈥楾ime, effort, energy鈥
Gontarz鈥檚 grandkids were students in the district when he started Francis Howell Families. He said they鈥檙e a big reason he鈥檚 devoted so much attention to the school board. He鈥檚 a retired IBM sales manager who says he was raised in the 鈥渟lums of Boston.鈥 He did not plan to spend so much time on school board elections.
鈥淲e spend a lot of time, effort, energy putting together this PAC and getting five out of five conservatives鈥 on the board, Gontarz said. 鈥淲e do a lot to promote and get our school board members in.鈥
Gontarz, a pilot, has even for one-hour flights around St. Louis to raise money for the PAC.
Despite its political influence, Francis Howell Families doesn鈥檛 have many members 鈥 about 12 to 15 people, Gontarz said. It鈥檚 made up of district parents, grandparents, educators and 鈥渙ther district taxpayers,鈥 according to the PAC鈥檚 website.
And it keeps its leadership close, partly on the advice Gontarz said he received from a Texas PAC, Southlake Families, which became the blueprint for conservative takeovers of school boards.
Southlake is part of a network of PACs funded largely by billionaires who support school privatization, according to which investigated Southlake鈥檚 connection to a 鈥渉ydra-like network鈥 of PACs, consulting firms and donors that transformed Texas school boards into partisan battlegrounds.
Gontarz said he had 鈥渙ne or two鈥 conversations with Southlake and a 45-minute conversation with Southlake鈥檚 president when he first founded Francis Howell Families. They discussed the PAC鈥檚 charters, recommendations for the PAC and 鈥渁 good foundation and roadmap to put together such an organization,鈥 Gontarz said.
The two PACS have nearly identical logos and similar websites, but Gontarz says Francis Howell Families is largely homegrown.
鈥淭he biggest thing Southlake did for us is they thrust upon us the trust factor: Don鈥檛 open it up,鈥 Gontarz said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want people infiltrating your group and whatnot, so we鈥檙e very selective.鈥
Gontarz鈥檚 efforts were praised in a recent radio interview by state Sen. Bill Eigel, who said Gontarz has 鈥渢he real prototype鈥 of how to run school board elections against the most 鈥減owerful establishments the state has ever seen.鈥
Eigel, in brief remarks at a Save Our Schools Rally hosted by conservative radio host Marc Cox, chided the National Education Association teacher union and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which Eigel has advocated to defund and reform.
鈥淔olks are asking me, 鈥楥an it be done? Can we overcome this establishment in the realm of public education?鈥欌 said Eigel, who鈥檚 one of three major GOP candidates for governor. 鈥淚 say, 鈥極f course it could be done. We鈥檙e doing it. We鈥檝e already done it here in St. Charles County.鈥欌
Editor鈥檚 note: Contributions to Francis Howell Families and Francis Howell Forward PACs were updated 2 p.m. Saturday to reflect reported totals as of Friday, March 29.