Amy Richards
Non-Partisan | Wisconsin
Candidate Profile*
Conservative (Conditional)
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Amy Richards
Party
Non-Partisan
Election Year
2023
Election
School Board, Supreme Court, and Special SD8
Race
Kettle Moraine School District - At-Large Seat
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
University of Minnesota, Moorhead, Mass Communications/PR, Minor Marketing, 1999
WORK & MILITARY
Candidate did not provide
AFFILIATIONS
Girl Scouts USA, Troop Leader
Scouting USA, Packmaster
Kettle Moraine Middle School PTO, Secretary
Presbyterian Church USA, Delafield, Session Representative
Riverglen Christian Church, Youth classroom volunteer
Ronald McDonald House, Volunteer
Volunteer Visions, Volunteer
Habitat for Humanity, Volunteer
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Candidate did not provide
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Candidate did not provide
ENDORSEMENTS
CONSERVATIVE (2)
1776 Projects PAC; Parents On Patrol Wisconsin
SELECTED FINANCIAL SOURCE DOCUMENTS
Campaign Finance Registration Statement
OTHER INFORMATION
Video recording of KMSD Candidates Forum, March 9, 2023.
Declaration of Candidacy
Candidate speaks to Fox News in support of ban, September 5, 2022: "Wisconsin mothers defend, criticize school board’s ban on pride, BLM flags."
"Richards has been a major part of an effort to influence the Kettle Moraine School District to make wearing masks optional." TMJ4, September 2021.
QUESTIONNAIRE*
RIGHT TO LIFE
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should be a resource for instruction or services in the school.
Strongly Disagree
Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.
Agree
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
At school, students should be able to speak freely and civilly about matters of conscience and faith, including Christianity.
Strongly Agree
Students have the right to free speech. However, staff are in a position of authority and should not be influencing based on their own personal politics and beliefs.
School districts should not discriminate against individuals, organizations or small businesses because of their belief that marriage is only a union of one man and one woman.
Agree
ECONOMY
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Strongly Agree
School districts should be able to use taxpayer money for lobbying the state legislature.
Agree
Since funding is connected to state-level decision making, there are situations where it is essential for local voters to be heard at the state level.
What is your position on government funding of public education from Pre-K through college?
Public schools play a vital role in ensuring that all children have the opportunity for an education and therefore, self betterment. However, public schools must be accountable to the community in terms of the product that they offer, responsible governance and fiscal responsibility. They must deliver against objectives.
EDUCATION
What is the function of the local school board?
To represent taxpayers and residents in the governing of the District, providing leadership, vision, policy and partnership that supports stated District goals centered on academic opportunity and delivery for all students.
Who should have the authority to set curriculum and determine resources used in those curricula?
Curriculum and resources should be recommended and selected by appointed curriculum leaders within the District. The board reviews and approves those recommendations, taking into account community and parent input, legal standards, existing policy and academic goals. While board members are not required to be curriculum experts, they must oversee selection approval based on the voice of the community, legal and education objectives. Policies that prohibit the teaching of certain content, such as critically race theory and gender ideologies are the responsibility of the board and such policies would naturally impact certain curriculum decisions.
When should parents be restricted from speaking in school board meetings?
Community members, including parents, should have avenues for petitioning their elected officials, including open meeting comment periods. Any restrictions should be based on communicated and understood guidelines of decency and any operational considerations set by the board, such as time limits for individual comments.
Please list in order the following priorities in relation to the role of a K-12 public school (omitting any that do not apply): Mathematics, Information Technology, Science, Political Activism, Personal Finances, Gender Identity, Physical Fitness, American History, Critical Race Theory, Language Arts, Art & Music, Vocational Learning, Sexuality, Foreign Language, Social Emotional Learning
Mathematics, Language Arts, American History, Science, Information Technology, Art & Music, Vocational Learning, Foreign Language, Physical Fitness, Personal Finances
Which more closely matches your view of America's founding principles? A) Liberty and equality. B) Slavery and racism.
Liberty and equality
What does "equity in education" mean to you?
It means striving to make all outcomes equal rather than providing opportunity for all to achieve at their greatest potential. I support equality of opportunity in our schools, not equity of outcome.
Written parental consent (opt-in) must be obtained before students are taught courses such as Comprehensive Sex Ed (CSE) or Social Emotional Learning (SEL).
Strongly Agree
The loss of local control in education is too high a price to pay in exchange for federal dollars.
Strongly Agree
Parents are the ultimate authority in their child’s education and should be able to freely pursue whatever educational options they deem best for their child.
Strongly Agree
School boards are accountable to parents and taxpayers.
Strongly Agree
I would add that they are accountable to the students as the delivery of education is the entire purpose of the school system.
Do you believe students should have access to materials that graphically depict and describe sexual acts?
No
All print and digital material available or presented to students should be easily accessible for public review.
Strongly Agree
2ND AMENDMENT
Teachers who are licensed to carry should be allowed to carry guns at school.
Strongly Agree
Properly trained, law-abiding citizens have proven time and time again that they are very effective at protecting themselves and others. I don't want my own children to essentially be fish in a barrel for anyone who is intent on harming them and their classmates. There are very effective safety options for keeping firearms readily available to owners while being completely inaccessible to children. Arming teachers who are willing, confident and well-trained is a very practical solution.
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
Under what circumstances (if any) should schools be allowed to require vaccinations?
Our current Wisconsin laws provide exemptions that should be communicated and honored. As a whole, I believe that individuals and parents should be making these decisions, not the government.
I support mask mandates.
Strongly Disagree
https://www.facebook.com/carissa.journey/videos/1027194518089787
All official open meetings should be live streamed, recorded, and have transcripts available online for public access.
Strongly Agree
The ability to live stream and record is a wonderful tool for our form of government. Being able to share information "For the People" in a system that is "by the People" in real time and widely should be something every citizen can support. I would caution against incurring additional costs to schools via transcripts though, since the videos can be so easily accessed.
All votes should be roll call votes and recorded in meeting minutes.
Strongly Agree
Elected representatives must be accountable to voters. Voting records are important and transparent data points for citizens to use in evaluating the performance of their elected officials. I anticipate some would say that it is a, "waste of time". In the policy governance model that is used by many public schools, there is a very limited number of votes taken at any given board meeting and I believe that our votes as representatives are too important to dismiss as "too hard".
ABOUT YOU
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No.
A candidate's personal moral values are relevant when considering a candidacy for elective office.
Agree
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Conservative
If there was a choice between "Conservative" and "Very Conservative", I would probably more accurately land in that box.
Please provide publicly available information, including interviews and media reports, validating your answer to the previous question (other than your website).
https://www.gmtoday.com/the_freeman/news/four-including-incumbent-running-for-two-seats-on-kettle-moraine-school-board/article_75f0b89d-fa55-5e87-8d5c-297d5c942ee7.html https://www.facebook.com/carissa.journey/videos/1027194518089787 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/wisconsin-mothers-defend-criticize-school-boards-ban-pride-blm-flags Candidate Forum on 3/9/23: https://vimeo.com/channels/1105139/806602473
Is there anything else you would like voters to know about you?
Did not answer
VALUES
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
My Christian faith demands that I respect the inherent value, purpose and potential of every person. My conservative principles translate into leadership that respects individual freedom, limited government, fiscal responsibility and human dignity. I value honesty and the willingness to listen.
I support allowing public high school students to participate in athletic competition based on the gender with which they identify instead of biological sex.
Strongly Disagree
See my blog post from February 15, 2023, titled "This one's for the girls": https://www.amyforkm.com/blog
No school official should be involved in the sexual transitioning of a student, including the use of alternative names and pronouns.
Strongly Agree
Therapy to help children turn from unwanted same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria should be banned.
Strongly Disagree
I personally strongly disagree with this statement. However, this is not a topic for public schools to be involved in, including teachers, admin and members of the school board.
No healthcare diagnosis or treatment, whether mental, reproductive, or otherwise, should be given to a child without first receiving written consent from the parent.
Strongly Agree
Healthcare diagnosis and treatment should not even be in the scope of the mission of public school education, aside from communicating in-school observations to parents and referring parents to resources if requested.
Who is responsible for teaching sexual education to children, and what is the appropriate age when it should be taught?
Parents are the primary decision maker regarding information and timing for their children. Any school-provided content and instruction should be developed with extensive community input and ongoing transparency for parents and the public.
If you support the teaching of Sex Ed, please answer the following question: Sexual education should include these topics (list all that apply and add your own, if needed) -- Physical and emotional health outcomes; contraceptive methods; consent; abstinence; sexual orientation and gender identity; human anatomy/the reproductive system; abortion methods and side effects; stages of pregnancy and fetal development; sex acts and pleasures of sex
Abstinence, consent, human anatomy/the reproductive system, stages of pregnancy and fetal development, physical and emotional health outcomes, contraceptive methods
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality that is necessary for our system of limited government.
Strongly Agree
The history is clear on this.
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Strongly Disagree
Voting is a precious freedom and it is worth protecting the integrity of the process. We protect the things that we cherish and the ability to choose representation to be our voice within limited government is certainly a right to cherish.
