Dad Banned from Lexington Schools Plans to Address Parents' Rights Rally
by Jim Brown
September 6, 2005
(AgapePress) - A Massachusetts parent is preparing to face trial on criminal charges stemming from his protest of homosexual material being presented in his son's kindergarten class.
In April, David Parker was arrested for criminal trespassing after he refused to leave the campus of Estabrook Elementary School in Lexington. During a meeting with the school, he told the Estabrook Elementary officials he would not leave the campus until they agreed to grant his request to be notified when discussions of transgenderism and homosexuality took place in his son's kindergarten class; and as a result of his insistence, he ended up spending a night in jail, facing criminal prosecution, and being banned from the Lexington schools.
Parker intends to fight the criminal charges and promises he will not be backing down during his jury trial, which begins September 21. "I refuse to have any plea bargain or acceptance of this situation because, primarily, the school continues to ban me from all school property," he explains, noting that this ban is not part of his arrest, but is "solely at the discretion of the superintendent and the principal at Lexington."
According to the Massachusetts dad, the district officials have unnecessarily and unjustly barred his access to school property throughout the community while his trial is pending. "At the discretion of the Lexington school administration," he says, "they have banned me from stepping foot on all schools in Lexington -- and this includes places to vote, teacher-parent meetings, picking up and dropping off my son, school committee meetings, and all things that take place at school."
Parker notes that his young son, who will be starting first grade tomorrow, is aware of the ban, which has affected his family to some degree ever since it was enacted. "Even during the summer," the father notes, "we used to go on the playground there and ride bikes. There's also walking trails that the school owns, and we can't do that anymore."
Parker says he had to explain things to his son when the child asked him whether they could go back to the school grounds to do some of their favorite activities. "He understands the situation," the Lexington man says, "and I tell him I still can't go on school grounds. I tell him I love him, everything's going to be okay and, basically, that his daddy's in charge. The school isn't in charge of him."
The Lexington school district administrators have "absolutely no reason to continue this ban," Parker insists, "other than to bully my family, be hurtful, and to make us feel unwelcome in Lexington." A mindset exists within the schools, he adds, "that these type of issues are not parental notification issues."
However, the Massachusetts parent asserts, "They are clearly parental notification issues." And pro-family activists who agree are holding a parental rights rally tonight on the historic Lexington Green to show their support for the Christian dad at the center of what has become a contest between the schools and parents over parental notification rights.
Parker maintains he has committed no crime and will continue to fight both the ban and the charges against him. He has been invited to address those gathered at tonight's rally in Lexington and plans to deliver a 20- to 30-minute speech.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
