Documented Record
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The Influential Conservative Group Making it Harder for Idaho Districts to Fix Their Schools
ProPublica / Idaho Statesman · April 2024 (archive)
- Durst, a former Idaho Freedom Foundation analyst, was appointed West Bonner School District superintendent despite lacking the classroom experience required by the State Board of Education.
- The board's decision to hire him and scrap the existing curriculum triggered a community recall that removed two trustees; Durst then resigned.
- The case was cited as an example of IFF using a rural district as a test case for dismantling public education in Idaho.
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Herndon sitting at the dais during a West Bonner School Board meeting, documentation of Herndon's arrival with Durst
hypocriteherndon.com · 2024 (citizen-compiled public record documentation) (archive)
- Photographic documentation shows state Senator Scott Herndon arriving at school board meetings with Durst.
- A sitting state senator was actively involved in a local superintendent hiring.
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Extreme right-wing radicals tend to stick together
Bonner County Daily Bee · September 2023 (archive)
- The community recalled the school board that hired Durst, so he resigned.
- An Idaho Supreme Court Justice said the Idaho Freedom Foundation was using the district to dismantle public education.
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Dist. 1 Sen. Scott Herndon continues with dirty tricks as BCRCC chairman
Sandpoint Reader · May 2023 (archive)
- A state senator personally drove Durst to his job interview and spent party money fighting the community recall.
- His hiring was described as a test case for dismantling public education in Idaho.
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Hate makes a comeback in Idaho, this time with political support
Idaho Capital Sun · August 2022 (archive)
- He and Scott Herndon are part of the same Idaho Freedom Foundation network.
- That network has documented ties to white supremacists and Christian nationalists.