Ohio school district cancels 'Diversity Day' after critical race theory uproar

Originally Published on The Washington Examiner

An Ohio school board voted to cancel a local high school's planned "Diversity Day" after several parents and board members raised concerns the event would incorporate aspects of critical race theory.

In a Sunday afternoon meeting, the board for Forest Hills School District near Cincinnati, Ohio, voted to bar Turpin High School from holding its planned "Racial Diversity Awareness Day" during school hours or with district funds, citing parental concerns.

In late March, the school board forcibly postponed the event the day before it was supposed to take place to provide an opportunity for "parent review," the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

The Forest Hill School Board was one of many school boards nationwide that saw conservative candidates oust more liberal incumbents amid a national grassroots movement for parental rights in schools. The board now has a 4-1 conservative majority.

At the Sunday meeting, board president Linda Hausfeld read several letters from community parents expressing concerns about the event, including one note from a parent who said, "Voters made it very clear in the November election that we do not want to fund social justice and political programming that is inherently divisive."

Turpin High School had held a "Racial Diversity Awareness Day" for the past seven years. And while students attending the event were required to obtain parental permission slips, according to Hausfeld, teachers at the school were offering extra class credit for attending…