Police in Pendleton, Indiana, have confirmed that they are investigating the theft of several signs from the yards of community members in support of a suspended counselor.
These signs, which say “Keep Kathy” (pictured below) indicate community support for Kathy McCord, a counselor who is currently suspended and facing termination by the South Madison Community School Board for confirming the presence of a hidden transgender policy in the school district.
This hidden transgender policy, which McCord confirmed in an exclusive interview with The Daily Signal, required teachers and counselors to hide information regarding name and pronoun changes of students from their parents—implementing a legally questionable treatment plan without parental knowledge or consent.
Pendleton Police Chief Marc Farrer told The Daily Signal that several people had mentioned “Keep Kathy” yard signs disappearing from their yards. Days later, two girls were seen by officers stealing these signs from a Pendleton yard and a license plate number was recorded.
Farrer told The Daily Signal that an officer is currently investigating the situation and that arrests should be made shortly.
Following The Daily Signal’s original exposé on South Madison’s hidden transgender support plan, McCord was placed on leave pending termination at the recommendation of Superintendent Mark Hall.
This email obtained by The Daily Signal from parents in the South Madison district shows teachers being asked to use a child’s given name and pronouns with parents, rather than share with the parents the child’s new preferred pronouns and name:
Hall told parents that there both was and wasn’t a school policy hiding gender changes from parents. He also changed his rationale on a hidden transgender plan, citing first the U.S. Department of Agriculture nondiscrimination policy for free and reduced lunches and then the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Parents and other Pendleton locals have expressed support for McCord, who they say did nothing wrong.
One parent and Pendleton alumnus told The Daily Signal, “Kathy made an incredible difference in my life and thousands of other students. Firing her for standing with parents is a cowardly and evil decision.”
This isn’t the first time that anti-McCord activists have attempted to disrupt the community.
During a school board meeting in February, a transgender activist attempted to shut the lights off during public questions about the school board’s decision to refuse comments to the media and to keep the Gender Support Plan template (pictured below) off of the district’s website.
The Indiana House recently passed a bill that would forbid schools like Pendleton Heights High School from hiding a student’s name or pronoun change from parents. It would also require schools to obtain written parental permission on any “gender support plan.”
The South Madison Community School Board and Hall, the superintendent, have refused to provide any comment to The Daily Signal. The South Madison Community School Board is voting on the termination of McCord’s contract on March 9 at 7 p.m. Eastern.
