Kristin Grubbs is a mother of four who lives in Lee’s Summit with her husband, who served in the Navy and is now pursuing his master’s degree.
Grubbs grew up in the area and for the last 10 years she has had at least one child in the Lee’s Summit district. The district is a sizable one, with 29 schools in total.
Like many parents, Grubbs became more interested in the dealings of her local school once the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Eventually, she became more active in meetings. According to her, she had attended pretty much every school board meeting possible. If she had missed any in the past two years, they were very few and far between.
After she was unsatisfied with some of the school board’s decisions in the beginning of this year, she decided to look into even more of the schools’ policies as well as the curriculum and take a dive into the deep end.
This interest in her school district was the genesis for her book, “Deep End of Public Education.” This led to even more research into the facets of the school district as a whole.
The book chronicles her journey of dealing with her children’s school district. In it, Grubbs takes a closer look at the policies implemented and their potential impact on students and the community alike, as well as where those policies came from. She also looks at some of the curriculum in the district as well. She even read one of books assigned to teachers for professional development.
But the book serves another purpose. According to Grubbs, it is supposed to teach other parents, or anyone for that matter, to analyze things themselves and think critically.
Grubbs also talked about how the book not only helps others but herself as well. Writing the book was a journey itself.
“What I found to be happening in my district was so disconcerting that I knew it had to be shared. It’s disappointing to learn that such things are going on in the district in which I grew up. In the end, organizing my research and creating this book to encourage parents and guide them in their research was therapeutic. I feel less like a bystander and more like an advocate now,” Grubbs said.
Grubb’s self published the book through Amazon, and it can be found here.
