Chris Schultz Press Release

Please direct inquiries to: Chris Schultz

(262) 238-1204 schultz4mtsd@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 27, 2021

Statement from Mequon-Thiensville School Board Member

And Recall Candidate

MEQUON, WI — Chris Schultz, member of the Mequon-Thiensville School District Board of Education (MTSD BOE) and recall candidate, has released the following letter to the Mequon-Thiensville community.

While a chemistry teacher at Homestead High School, I occasionally presented my students with a petition that was circulated on the internet. The intent of the petition was to ban the substance known as dihydrogen monoxide. This substance was described as a component of acid rain, found in tumors, capable of causing severe burns in its gaseous form, as little as two tablespoons capable of killing a person, and once addicted, withdrawal resulted in certain death. Of course, students responded that this substance should be banned. The following day, when students realized that dihydrogen monoxide was the “official” name for water, they felt tricked. They had agreed to an action that would doom all living things on Earth because they had not been provided with necessary context for the set of factoids listed in the petition hoax.

I have thought of this teaching moment often during these days of recall. I see some important similarities. From my perspective, community members have been provided with information about MTSD, without necessary context, to compel recall signatures and perhaps votes. Please, do not be tricked. Search for the context. Visit our websites, contact the Coalition to Support MTSD, read the information being provided on the MTSD website, in newspapers and flyers, reach out to any of us, attend school Board meetings.

To be the best it can be, MTSD needs invested, knowledgeable, and involved citizenry. It is important to know both the “beauty and the blemishes” of what is going on in District schools, to make educated decisions and be less likely swayed by distortions or misrepresentations.

I do not know what the future holds as to my place on the MTSD BOE because that decision resides with the community. However, I wish to reinforce the truth that I am as invested and committed to the welfare and achievement of MTSD students as I was during my 17 years teaching at Homestead High School. I gave all I had then, and I continue to do so now.

Above all, I hope we, as adults and role-models, can find ways to work together because the education of our students must always be more important than our differences.

With sincerity,

Chris Schultz

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