Public commenters urge review of WRE program after allegations about volunteer organizer and associations

Two speakers raised safety concerns about the county’s weekly religious education (WRE) program at Southern Campus during the public comment period on Sept. 11, asking the school board to investigate the program’s leadership and consider a different provider.

Devin Ross of District 2 told the board he was “shocked” that Kathy Reiner — the wife of Larry Reiner, a convicted child sex offender whom Ross said is not listed on an offender registry because of the dates of his offenses — runs the WRE program on Southern Campus. Ross asked the board to “do your own homework with the goal of finding another vetted religious church to run Southern Campus religious study program.” He said he was handing out print materials to board members that he said included articles and documents not readily available online.

Ross introduced a second speaker, who identified herself as Mary Wilcox and said she was reading statements from one of Larry Reiner’s victims. Wilcox said her children have participated in the WRE program and expressed concern that the head teacher at the campus is married to a convicted offender; she said some families had been encouraged to attend the affiliated independent church and that town restrictions had recently limited that couple’s public performances and advertising.

The transcript shows Ross offered board members printed material and asked them to “please take time” to review it. The board allowed Ross to deliver the public comments and to distribute paper materials; no formal board action or directive to staff was recorded in the meeting record during public comment.

Why it matters: the comments alleged that a person associated with the WRE program has family ties to a convicted sex offender and that local oversight of outside providers may be insufficient. The board did not record a motion or direct staff in open session, but the public complaint requests an inquiry into background checks and program oversight for volunteers and partnered religious providers.

Provenance: Transcript excerpts for this article are drawn from the public comment segment beginning with Devin Ross’s remarks and the subsequent statement read by Mary Wilcox.