Bear Branch Elementary School/Google Street View

MAGNOLIA, Tex. (INTELLIHUB) — A stay at home churchgoing mother by the name of Heather Burke told the School Board Tuesday night that she’s fed up with the Magnolia Independent School District’s Orwellian antics after being threatened to be arrested by a local constable for merely walking her kids home from school one afternoon.

Burke, a mother of four, said that her “world was turned upside-down” when she was visited at her residence by a constable who was enforcing “rules,” orders, given by a Bear Branch Elementary superintendent. The constable threatened Burke with arrest and said that if she did not conform that she would never be allowed to step foot on school property again.

Additionally, Burke explained to board members how she was originally told the “ban on walkers” was brought forth on behalf of a nearby homeowners association, which proved to be false.

“As a parent who volunteers at the school two and three days a week, help me understand how fear, threats and intimidation are a successful tool to silence and have parents conform,” Burke said.

Moreover, Burke said that she has been ignored by Magnolia ISD for the past nine months and is seeking out legal means to let the children be released to their parents to “walk home” safely.

Another stay at home mom, Lindsay Simmons, 34, also spoke in front of the board Tuesday night. Simmons said that she loves the school, but is fed up with the Principle’s threats.

Simmons was also threatened with a “Class B Misdemeanor” after walking her children home from Bear Branch Elementary one day.

Simmons told the board that there is no reason why parents should not be able to “safely walk their children to and from school” and said that such a policy may be “arguably more dangerous to our students.”

Simmons pointed out that the Texas Education Code considers parents as “partners with educators, administrators and school trustees.”

“The principal’s unilateral decision with out any input from the community and parents runs counter to this purpose stated in our education code,” Simmons explained.

Simmons went on to point out that the school has no authority to arrest parents for simply walking their children home after the ringing of the dismissal bell at 3:25 p.m. and went on to say that her kids have even been held up to 25 minutes, without being released, after the ringing of the bell.

Shepard Ambellas is a journalist, filmmaker, film producer, radio talk show host and the founder and editor-in-chief of Intellihub News & Politics. Established in 2013, Intellihub.com is ranked in the upper 1% traffic tier on the World Wide Web. Read more from Shep’s World.