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Parents ask Indianola school board to audit NHS selection and allow appeals after alleged classroom incident
Summary
Parents and students urged the Indianola Community School District board to audit the high school's National Honor Society selection process, seek appeals for three rejected students and amend local NHS bylaws after alleging bias tied to a classroom political comment.
At the Indianola Community School District organizational meeting on Nov. 17, parents called on the board to investigate the Indianola High School National Honor Society (NHS) selection process and help three students appeal denials they contend were driven by retaliation for a political disagreement in class.
Tristan Grover, who identified himself as the father of one of the students, told the board that an incident on Nov. 27, 2024, involved a teacher allegedly calling students who supported former President Trump “brainwashed,” a remark Grover said affected subsequent NHS decisions. He said three students — Kendall Sandy, Alexa Geyer and Madison Grover — were denied induction without reasons consistent with the student handbook and that an expected parent-student NHS meeting did not occur as documented.
Grover said the family contacted the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP/NAHS), which told them the principal has authority to hear appeals and, if necessary, the superintendent or school board. He requested three actions from the board: a faculty audit of the Indianola NHS selection panel, assistance with appeals for the three named students, and a review of the local NHS chapter bylaws to resolve conflicts with the national constitution.
Board members also read a letter from Tanner and Jody Sandy that described similar concerns, saying their daughter’s exclusion stemmed from bias tied to the same Nov. 27 classroom incident and urging the board to research administration actions and uphold the NHS purpose of promoting scholarship, service, leadership and character.
District staff acknowledged during speakers’ remarks that the local NHS chapter bylaws and the school handbook contain inconsistencies with the national NHS constitution and that bylaw corrections will be addressed next year; parents said that timeline does not remedy the immediate impact on the students this year.
No formal board action on the requests was recorded at the meeting. The board heard the public comments during the public-comment portion of its Nov. 17 meeting but did not announce a date for an audit or appeals process at the time.
