WCASB Candidate Says Amazon Package Was Tampered With, Re-Taped With Flyer Inside

WEST CHESTER, PA — Laura Detre is the front runner in West Chester Area School District's Region 3 Board Director race and before even officially taking office, she's reported an incident to West Goshen Police and the Postal Inspector.

With few votes left to count on Thursday, Detre was 5 percentage points ahead of the next candidate to serve in a school district that has seen volatility in recent meetings around Critical Race Theory and equity and diversity training. In the Oct. 25 meeting of the Board, a man named Chris from East Bradford Township asked board members whether the handout he said was taken from a K-12 book called "Gender Queer" constituted pornography.

"Does this look like pornography?" Chris asked Board members who'd been provided handouts.

Before any Board member could respond, the School District's attorney interjected, advising Board members not to answer. As the speaker asked again for an answer and said he was being censored, the solicitor explained that this is a period for public comment and speakers may comment, but that the meeting's public comment period is not a question-and-answer session.

Chris continued in the Oct. 25 meeting — with no response from Board members to his question — saying that if the material he'd presented was pornographic, then those who knew it was being presented to children would be mandated to report it as child abuse. Chris did not state in the meeting that the material from the "Gender Queer" book was being used in West Chester Area School District, only that it was "being used in kindergarten through 12th-grade learning environments."

Finally, the speaker walked away from the speaker's podium as shouts arose from the audience, saying, "When? When will you answer?" The shouts repeated and became louder and Board Vice President Sue Tierney called for a recess, which was quickly seconded.

As the video was still recording, voices could be heard saying "unbelievable," and "disgusting." The meeting reconvened 15 minutes later without incident.

Board Candidate Wanted To Understand What Was In 'Gender Queer'

Detre, a historian, was in the meeting and as a candidate for the Board, she went home and ordered the book from the Amazon account she and her husband share, she told Patch. Detre said she wanted to understand what was being referenced in the meeting.

Detre said she got an alert from Amazon on Monday telling her the package had been delivered. But, when she went to retrieve it after arriving home, she said she found no package.

On Tuesday she put out messages on neighborhood social media, asking if anyone had seen the package, she said. "My guess was that someone took it from the mailbox," she added.

But things got strange on Wednesday. Detre told Patch that the package containing "Gender Queer" showed up Wednesday afternoon. She said, "It was in my mailbox but the envelope was resealed with packing tape. Inside was my book and a flyer identifying me, my address, my husband's work phone number, and email — and suggesting I read 'filth.'"

Detre said she thought the flyer looked like it was meant to be distributed to voters.

Detre said she immediately reported the incident to police and to the U.S. Postal Inspector. It had been delivered by U.S. Mail, not by Amazon, she noted.

West Goshen Township Police confirmed that an incident report has been filed on Detre's report to police.

Photos Deter took of the package, book, and flyer have her personal information blacked out.

Read the Patch report on the Oct. 25 WCSD School Board Directors meeting here. The full video of the Oct. 25 WCSD Board meeting can be found here.

Detre's Patch candidate profile can be viewed here.

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