Matt Audette, a conservative Anoka-Hennepin school board member, threatened a budget showdown over the north metro district’s diversity efforts and curriculum.

An Anoka-Hennepin school board member backed by a conservative parents rights group says he plans to force a budget showdown if the district does not scrap programs aimed at racial and gender equity.

Matt Audette wrote in an April 12 Facebook post that he would not vote for any budget that included the “spreading of divisive, one-sided views.”

But officials at the north metro school district say many of these programs are required by law, and eliminating them could imperil the district’s funding and students’ ability to graduate.