North Cook News

Barrington 220 School Board President Sandra Ficke-Bradford celebrated Pride Month at a recent school board meeting. 

“It is Pride Month," Ficke-Bradford said. "I’d like to acknowledge all of our LGBTQ community here at 220 and express our pride in them. I’ll just share a quick quote from the Dalai Lama, ‘Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.’”

Ficke-Bradford made the comments during the Monday, June 21 school board meeting.

Her invocation of the Dalai Lama disregards his own views on same-sex relationships which he has been notably consistent over time. 

"From a Buddhist point of view, men-to-men and women-to-women is generally considered sexual misconduct,” the Dalai Lama noted in 1997.

In recent years the Dalai Lama has maintained that position. He has noted his belief that one’s religion should play a factor in same-sex relationships saying it is best to “follow one’s own teachings.”

Ficke-Bradford’s comments come as school districts across the nation have been in recent years limiting overtly political Pride Month displays by staff and instead emphasizing neutrality on the topic.

Other school districts across the country have limited comments from teachers regarding Pride Month given its political nature. In Wyoming, some schools have taken down overtly political Pride Month advocacy materials. According to WyoFile, Park County School District 1 Superintendent Jay Curtis noted while his school district supports the LGBT community it does not allow overtly political messaging on campus. 

“There’s a big difference between students engaging in political speech and teachers engaging in political speech,” Curtis told WyoFile. “We actually encourage our students to engage in tough, critical dialogue surrounding these issues.

One group, Christian Concern noted its opposition to Pride Month on the grounds that it alienates the rights of Christian parents whose children are exposed to sexual identities by the school district. 

“If you are a Christian parent, please write to your school asking them if they are planning on celebrating or marking Pride in any way. If they are, complain,” the group said in a post titled Is Your School Celebrating Pride In June?. Christian Concern further noted its stance on Pride Month being celebrated in public schools. 

“Pride is a political movement, which has been marketed as a demonstration of inclusion and diversity, to prevent vulnerable LGBTQI+ people from being discriminated against. It has become the main virtue signaling method for many schools to pacify the aggressive lobbying groups and cultural evangelists who are targeting schools and children. While many adults in society now choose to attend Pride events, children should not be exposed to such political and moral indoctrination by their teachers.”

Ficke-Bradford was first elected to the board in 2009. She lives in Barrington and is a mother of three. Ficke-Bradford was selected as Barrington 220’s school board president in 2021. She has a master’s degree from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University.

Ficke-Bradford’s statements came before she turned the mic over to a fellow school board member to discuss the inclusion of Gender Queer, a graphic novel including scenes of graphic gay sex the school district included on a summer reading list for its sixth graders. 

“Sixth-grade reading teacher sends out a summer reading material, including 'Gender Queer,' right?” irate mother Nelda Munoz said at a Barrington 220 school board meeting. “Hopefully everybody can see this. 11, 12 years old. Hopefully, you like this. Yeah? You guys over there because you guys make the decisions over there. OK, 11-year-old. Alright?! Now, from this book — brother talking to sister. 'So you never tasted yourself?' Sister shows brother vagina slime. There’s words, ‘blowjob' and ‘gay ship.’ This is exactly what I would expect a pedophile to behave when approaching a child. To normalize sexual behavior, to abuse them. And this is how I see you. Stop sexualizing our kids. Stop abusing them.” 

Ficke-Bradford is the school district’s ED-RED representative. ED-RED is a school advocacy group comprised mainly of collar county schools that has been heavily focused on Social and Emotional Learning as of late.