PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — At the final Calvert County Board of Education (BOE) meeting, speakers spent the public comment period reviewing and criticizing the actions taken by the board since they took office in 2025.
The Dec. 11 meeting was the last of 2025, and the first since the board voted to move the public comment period back to the beginning of the meeting.
Most of the speakers focused on the BOE’s decisions to repeal the anti-racism policy, remove inclusive language from the code of conduct and the BOE mission statement, and the removal of safe space stickers.
Speakers also called out behavior of BOE members, including Melissa Goshorn’s claim that teachers used safe space stickers to groom students. Goshorn based this assertion on a story she said she heard at the National School Boards Association (NSBA), that a member of the Beau Biden Foundation had told her about a Maryland principal who used safe space stickers to sexually exploit children. The BayNet previously reported that the Beau Biden Foundation later denied any knowledge of the alleged incident, and that no public records confirm such a case.
“You’re playing with the lives of actual students to pursue a political agenda,” speaker Sheri Tardio said. “Your calls for unity ring hollow when you continue to ignore the concerns of so many of your constituents.”
Speaker Joe Cormier added that he believed Goshorn was “prioritizing culture war fan-fiction over the factual reality of our classrooms and the well-being of students.”
Several speakers banded together to read a letter written to the board back in September by Alexandra Nichols, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, a Northern High graduate and former Student Member of the Board. Four speakers read the letter so that it could be heard in its entirety despite the two-minute limit per speaker. Nichols shared the ways in which an inclusive education served her well in her life, as well as data on how protections allow students to meet their potential.
“The language being removed from the code of conduct and the BOE mission statement represents more than words. It represents a paradigm shift that is harmful to students,” speaker Ann Jones said, reading Nichols’ letter.
None of the board members responded to the speakers during the board comment period at the end of the meeting.
The next Board of Education meeting will take place on Jan. 15, 2026.
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Stay the course Board! Many in the silent majority do not always attend Board meetings but do support the repeal of this incendiary policy. The anti-racism policy was enacted because of heightened tensions during George Floyd’s death. The School Board’s “anti-racism” policy did not protect anyone, instead it fomented further division. Specifically, the policy “acknowledged the concept of white privilege and white supremacy” which had the effect of creating group punishment of all white people. Don’t be swayed by the “Social Justice Warriors,” the voters spoke when they voted you in office.
Sounds kind of like something a board member would write anonymously…
When you say acknowledging the concept of white supremacy and anti-racism promotes division, I think this leaves out a majority of us who identify with white abolitionists who opposed slavery. Seeing slavery as a “you must either support black or white” denies those who simply see injustice and how it continued to marginalize generations.
Calvert BOE is a maga driven hate machine. Remove them in the next election.
You’re an idiot. Education over sexualization is why they got elected.
Calvert is a red county. Safe. Low crime. Great place to raise kids. Take the ideological bs to pg.
Calling someone an idiot for disagreeing with you tells everyone your IQ level. Calvert is a purple county. I would say it hides crime, not prevents crime. In what way were they sexualizing over educating. Explain it. How has the school board changed that other than informing kids there is no longer a space for them to breathe free? They have not found books to ban, no fraud, etc. They just made teachers leave the county, demonized bus drivers as overpaid, and told special needs kids they don’t matter and refuse to put in the resources they need. How does that serve children well? Good ahead and explain each of those.