Timothy May, incumbent and candidate for Nevada County Board of Education, published an article in The Union on Sept. 5 attacking his opponent Alvin W. Gebhart for his political stances and clumping Grass Valley School District candidate Sarah Lindblom in with “far-right extremists.”

To May, this Nov. 5, 2024 school board election cycle is a “war against Nevada County School Boards,” as his article title in The Union states.

This war is being waged by “far-right extremists,” according to May, who are coordinating their efforts to “recruit” candidates like Gebhart and Lindblom.

Whether May understands the implications of such rhetoric or not, a quick Google search of “far-right extremism in the U.S.” will result in findings related to political violence, right-wing terrorism, and even Nazism.

May continues with his wartime analogies describing an article written by Lindblom in Sierra Thread as “the opening salvo [artillery] for the fall school board war.”

Lindblom’s article that May takes issue with discusses her opposition to the presence of four flags representing sexual orientation in a classroom at Bitney Prep High School while highlighting the absence of an American flag, which is a direct violation of Ca. Educ. Code 38117.

Ca. Educ. Code 38117 states that “the governing board of each school district shall provide smaller and suitable United States Flags to be displayed in each schoolroom at all times during the school sessions.”

Lindblom responded to May’s attack in The Union on Oct. 11 by providing missing context and further substantiating her Sierra Thread article’s purpose and intent.

“The basis of my Christian faith — loving every individual — is true inclusivity. With that said, Christians also need to feel included at school, otherwise we are walking towards religious discrimination,” wrote Lindblom.

Lindblom shared that the Sierra Thread article was not the only way she communicated her concerns.

She also met with the school board president to discuss her concerns about the flags.

Through this meeting, they “created an open line of communication to make real solutions. It was not political. It held the concerns and values of every child in the forefront,” says Lindblom in The Union.

Lindblom believes this type of direct communication is “the way forward to undoing polarization in our schools.”

While she does not anticipate an apology from May, she does hope for an improvement in the means and methods of communication in the future.

“As much as I would appreciate an apology from Mr. May in his representation of my religious beliefs, perhaps just a change moving forward would suffice,” Lindblom concluded.

May continued on in his article to compare his direct opponent, Alvin W. Gebhart, to a “combat recruit” for the far-right’s alleged war against the school boards.

“Time now for new right-wing combat recruits,” says May as he introduces Gebhart.

May highlighted several controversial stances Gebhart took in the Sept. 17 Nevada County Board of Education Trustee Area 2 Candidate Forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Nevada County.

Gebhart disagrees with the premise of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI), does not support books with sexually obscene content being in school libraries, and says he is “not a fan of LGBTQ.”

The beginning of Gebhart’s answer to the question about LGBTQ rights in schools, and the part that was left out of May’s article, is as follows:

“It’s fair that everyone has a right to be who they are, what they are, when they want to be what they are. We should respect that right.”

Gebhart went on to explain the importance of teaching our children to also respect the right of other’s to be who they want to be despite differences.

“If we teach that to our children when they’re young then what will happen is they will show the respect when they get older to other people,” said Gebhart.

In a Q&A with Kitchen Counter Conversations (KCC), Gebhart explained that he is opposed to sexually explicit books being in school libraries because he believes the parents should be the primary educators in this area and should be able to “make the judgements” of what their children should know about sexuality.

Gebhart disagrees with May’s battle rhetoric, responding on Oct. 9 in The Union that “[t]his is not a war; it’s a nonpartisan race for the Nevada County Board of Education.”

While May’s rhetoric paints a picture of a great divide, Gebhart hones in on what he believes to be the common goal held by those running for school board.

“Mr. May refers to others in this race, but they are good people with a shared goal: improving our school systems,” says Gebhart.

May claims in his Candidate Statement that he has “no interest in partisan battles concerning library books, transgender issues, and anti-science crusades that needlessly embroil school districts in contentious debates,” but his rhetoric seemingly indicates otherwise.

KCC reached out to May following Lindblom and Gebhart’s responses and rebuttals but has not received a response.

What are your thoughts on the 2024 School Board candidates? Where do you stand? Leave a comment.