Turning Point USA’s application for approval at Johnston was postponed Monday night due to district policy 504.2, which states that the organization must submit a list of members as designated contacts, staff, its constitution and bylaws as well as the constitution and bylaws of any off-campus organization with which it is affiliated.
Based on how “adults” in Johnston are reacting to the formation of a conservative student group, why would those minors have their names listed to subject themselves to the bullying that is being done by these “adults” to others who have been public?
But that is another conversation for another day…
At issue was the lack of including the constitution and bylaws from the national organization.
However, in 2019 a student group called March For Our Lives applied for board approval and seemingly had no trouble gaining said approval.
The documents the group submitted, however, did not include any constitution or bylaws from the national organization based on what was provided through an Open Records Request submitted by The Iowa Standard.
Three students were listed as the names submitting the request, but there was not a list of students who would be members.
The form used referred to the group being associated with a “nationally renowned non-profit organization already. It was created by the Parkland students after the Florida school shooting.”
The purpose for the club is to “harness the power of young people across Iowa to fight for sensible gun violence prevention policies that save lives while encouraging youth involvement in politics.”
While one student representing March For Our Lives spoke against Turning Point USA noting March For Our Lives may seem political, but is instead just related to one issue, the application seems to indicate otherwise.
“Organizing community events and educating ourselves in politics from a non-partisan perspective.”
There was also one line left for “rules,” which also asked for the constitution of the club, officers, attendance, etc.
That line, however, was left completely blank. All that it said below that was:
“It will be democratically run. Attendance to meetings is highly encouraged, attendance at events is required.”
The only other document submitted to the district was a presentation with seven slides — including an introduction slide and a thank you slide at the end.
Details were sparse.
The Iowa Standard asked the district if we could receive the required documents from the national organization.
“The documents we just provided you are the only documents that were submitted by the club at the time of formation,” the district said in response.
By contrast, Turning Point USA’s application includes far more details.
Unlike March For Our Lives, TP USA also turned in this local chapter’s constitution.
Here is the founding documents submitted to Johnston by March For Our Lives:
March For Our Lives presentation
The board policy in question — 504.2 — was first approved Feb. 27, 1989. it was reviewed and revised on Jan. 11, 2021 and was on the agenda Monday night for approval of additional revisions.
Regardless, it certainly seems as though the Turning Point USA group was held to a much higher standard for formation than March For Our Lives.
