It hadn’t been in the family plans, but it was something they could do and make a success of, Kelsey said. The move to a new place proved bumpy for the Waits’ oldest child, Abby, who struggled so much in classes that Kelsey decided to home-school her. “I do feel really betrayed by this community,” Kelsey told CNN. ”Not because I lost but because not only did people attack a child, but so many of them sat by and allowed it to happen.” The ugliness that followed in Kelsey’s unsuccessful race to be re-elected to the board now has the Waits packing up their dream home to move - and their love for Hastings likely tainted forever. Kelsey Waits was the face and voice of that school board as its chair. Stressed by school closures and debate over wearing masks, some neighbors started taking aim at the school board. All around are nice houses, nice cars, nice shopping.īut when the pandemic put pressure on the community, cracks began to appear. The historic downtown is in great shape, with a spiffy park along the Mississippi. The city of about 22,000 people is close enough to Minneapolis to be a distant suburb but just far enough away to be surrounded by green Midwest farmland. This town is great, this town is perfect, this is what I want,'” Chris recalled his wife telling him. “Kelsey said, ‘Well, I hope the interview went well because we’re moving here. Chris had a promising job opportunity when he left the Navy but it was the neighborhood that drew them in.