Kirkwood School District Voter Survey Demonstrates Legislative Need for School Choice, November School Board Elections, Parental Gender Change Notification, and Eliminating DEI
In late June of this year, we commissioned a survey of 512 Kirkwood School District residents which revealed that the District’s policies don’t match the wishes of the people that fund the District and that legislation is needed to protect children and parents’ rights. Conducted between June 24–27, this statistically significant poll (±4.33% margin of error) confirms what many Kirkwood parents and community members have long suspected: progressive ideologies are being promoted in our schools and parental rights are being pushed aside.
The Survey is at this link. The file is in Adobe PDF format/
The Cross tabs are at this link. The file is in and Microsoft Excel format.
Who Was Surveyed?
The survey reached a broad cross-section of Kirkwood voters. About 38% identified as politically Independent, 36% as Democrats, and 24% as Republicans. This party identification lines up with the recent Presidential election. President Trump received only 38% to Kamala Harris’ 60% of Kirkwood School District voters, according to the St. Louis County Board of Elections.
Voter Participation and School Board Election Awareness
While 52.3% of respondents reported voting in the April 2025 school board election, 46.7% did not. Why? A stunning 60.2% of non-voters said they were either unaware of the election or too busy to vote in person or absentee. This underscores the importance of community awareness and involvement — and the need to move school board elections to November. Keep in mind that the actual voter turnout in the April 2025 election was lower far lower at 19.4% than that of the survey respondents.
Kirkwood School District Voters Oppose the Practice of DEI in Hiring Our Children’s Educators
On hiring policies, the opposition to identity-based quotas was overwhelming:
A staggering 78.5% said no—a strong statement in favor of merit-based hiring.
Only 16.4% said race, gender, or LGBTQ+ identity should be considered in hiring teachers or administrators.
This finding is in direct opposition to the policy of the district. Kirkwood adapted DEI in 2016. What the voters want, of course, is the best Administrators and Teachers irrespective of their race. Kirkwood is one of the highest paying jobs in the state and the region. Teachers and administrators in the Kirkwood School District are very well paid and have the most generous of benefits that do not exist in the private sector for the people that pay the taxes.
The state of Missouri provides extensive reports on education spending and other information on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website. The site houses reports for salary information for public educators by district. The average Kirkwood teacher salary is $77,441, the third highest in the state behind Clayton and Ladue. The average Administrator salary is an eye-opening $136,606 and is the sixth highest in the state.
Kirkwood School District provides health care insurance at no cost to employees. Teachers have ten-month contracts. Of that 10-month period Teachers and administrators don’t see students for 35 workdays during the school year. They get 13 days for winter recess and spring break. They can retire after 30 years of service, meaning as early as age 52. They receive retirement benefits at 80% of their last year’s salary, taxpayer paid.
Given the strong salaries and benefits, Kirkwood voters expect the District to hire top teachers and administrators. It is also easier for Administrators to do their jobs with people that have the highest pay in the field of K-12 education. Who would not want to work with the best in their field?
Unfortunately, the priority of the current administration is tied to DEI. According to an email from Roberta McWoods, a retiring Kirkwood School District Staff Member, “Our administrative team has grown more representative—over the past five years, 30% of administrative hires have been staff of color.” This is important since the percentage of Missouri’s non-white K–12 public school principals in Missouri for the 2020–21 school year, based on the National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), is less than 8%. By intentionally hiring based upon race, the Kirkwood School District is missing out on the larger pool of potentially more qualified applicants.
Not only is the practice of DEI overwhelmingly opposed by those polled, but it is not helping Kirkwood’s Black students. Please review recent articles on our site demonstrating the decrease in MAP scores for Kirkwood’s Black students. Below are the graphs for Kirkwood’s Black students in the three main MAP test areas over the last 10 tested years. Black students’ scores in the Kirkwood School District have declined in the last ten years with the trend starting before Covid. The decline started in 2016, the same year that Kirkwood’s black students MAP Test scores started to decline. You can find other results for other districts on our website.
Kirkwood School District Black Student Math MAP Scores - 2014-2024
Kirkwood School District Black Student Science MAP Scores - 2014-2024
Kirkwood School District Black Student English Language Arts MAP Scores - 2014-2024
DEI and LGBTQ+ Curriculum: A Source of Division
The most interesting piece of the survey was that voters still want Progressive politics taught to students, just not practiced. Nearly half of all respondents (48%) reported being familiar with DEI initiatives in Kirkwood schools. Among them:
50% said the more they learned about DEI, the more they supported it.
But a strong 34.5% said it made them less supportive.
15% were unsure suggesting that many still don’t know how deeply these programs have taken root.
When asked about teaching students to support social justice causes like racial reparations and LGBTQ+ rights, 57.4% agreed with this direction. However, 35.7% disagreed, including 25% who strongly opposed this kind of instruction. These numbers indicate that voters don’t want the outcomes of DEI practiced at Kirkwood Schools but they still want Kirkwood students to be taught it.
This may explain the ever-lower enrollment figures. Many parents recognized the disconnect and are leaving the district to stop their children from receiving political indoctrination and sexual grooming.
Board President Judy Moticka’s Controversial Statement on Parental Control
The survey tested reactions to a public quote from School Board President Judy Moticka, who wrote in a letter to the Editor in the Webster-Kirkwood Times that:
“If you want total control over what your child is taught, then you can homeschool or find a private or parochial school that hews to your narrow beliefs.”
52% agreed, suggesting that Kirkwood’s progressives want public schools to push their values on religious family’s children.
But 42.6% disagreed, including many who were offended by the dismissal of parental authority.
Judy Moticka’s attitude underscores the need to move school board elections to November. Her aggressive attitude shows a total disregard the minority viewpoint. Her offensive, aggressive, and confrontational statement lends legitimacy to counter demands for School Choice. Even though voters spend thousands of dollars on property tax their views are cancelled by radical progressives who refuse to moderate DEI, LGQTQ+ grooming, and political indoctrination,
Parental Notification on Gender Changes
A central issue for many parents is transparency. The survey asked whether school staff should be required to notify parents if a child at school is considering or has changed their gender, pronouns, or name. The result was a clear mandate for parental rights:
59.6% said yes, including 45.7% who strongly agreed.
Only 34.1% said no.
Most Kirkwood voters believe parents deserve to know what’s happening with their children at school. This desire to notify parents is in direct opposition to the policy. The Kirkwood School District that will not notify a parent that their child is changing their gender at Kirkwood High School. Children spend more time in school than with their parents. The danger of allowing gender dysphoria to germinate into a desire for sex reassignment drugs and surgeries will only grow as long as the Kirkwood School District grooms children by not telling the child’s parents.
LGBTQ+ Clubs
Respondents were also asked whether the school district should organize LGBTQ+ student groups:
48% opposed, with 32.8% strongly opposed.
43.4% supported the idea.
Kirkwood High School has been hosting and promoting the Gay Straight Alliance Club for decades. Voters apparently don’t even know that allows such Clubs within the Schools without parental knowledge of what their children are doing at school.
Stop The Radical Progressives: We Have to Act
While some residents embrace progressive ideologies, many others feel shut out, misrepresented, and ignored. Whether it’s DEI initiatives, lack of parental input, or political agendas in the classroom, conservative and independent parents deserve options. Public schools are supposed to reflect the values of their communities—not become tools for social engineering. OurvJune 2025 survey proves that Kirkwood is not united behind radical agendas.
What You Can Do
Stay Informed – Make sure your neighbors know what’s happening in Kirkwood schools. Be sure to sign up for our email updates
Help Lobby State Government -- Support school choice for St. Louis County students and moving board elections to November.
Vote in School Board Elections – The next School Board Election is April 7, 2026. Be sure and pay attention to who the candidates are.
Demand Transparency – Ask school officials what’s being taught, and who’s making the decisions.