The board met for their April Work Session last Thursday.
Live Stream - 2:50:18
And their regular voting meeting last night.
Live Stream - 2:04:30
All board members were present for both meetings except Margie Johnson - she was absent from both.
The following is a summary of both meetings.
Science Textbook Adoption
K-8 STEMscopes
Last month, the board adopted STEMscopes as the textbooks for K-8 science classes, eschewing the recommendations of our science teachers. This month, nine parents and educators showed up to voice their displeasure during public comment. Dozens more wore stickers, saying "We Trust Teachers" and applauded for those who spoke.
One speaker praised the board for adopting STEMscopes.
Any of the board members who voted to adopt STEMscopes could have added a reconsideration to the agenda for this month, but none of them did.
AP Psychology
Two public speakers asked the board to adopt the Myers AP Psychology textbook, as the committee recommended. One of them was an AP Psych teacher in WCS.
Last month, this vote was postponed in order to give the board more time to analyze the selection.
The board unanimously approved the Myers textbook that the committee recommended.
Library Materials Policy
The board voted on a few changes to this policy.
New TN Laws regarding age-appropriate materials
Counsel suggested changes to the library materials policy, to bring the district in line with new TN state laws. If I understood correctly, the law in question has been challenged in court and found to be unconstitutional. So this policy change basically says that we, as a district, will align with state law unless it is overturned in the courts. If it is overturned, we will revert to the standard that is found to be constitutional. This was a complex legal conversation, and you can hear it laid out at the 1:38:28 mark.
"Williamson County resident"
This change also removes "Williamson County resident" from the list of persons who can file an official complaint. Instead, it would only allow "any current WCS employee, student, and parent/guardian" to raise a complaint.
Mature Materials List
It also requires librarians to develop a "Mature Materials List" in order to comply with TN state law, as mentioned above. There was some concern about the label "Mature" as it might imply that there are inappropriate materials, specifically in elementary schools. The policy's intent is to identify materials that might not be age-appropriate.
Vote
Dan Cash seemed confused about why these changes were necessary. Dana Ausbrooks and Jay Galbreath tried to explain the reasons, but he was apparently unconvinced, asking "do we implement policies, anticipating that laws will change?"
Jason Golden recommended the approval of these changes and they passed 8-3, with Melissa Wyatt, Eric Welch, and Mr. Cash voting against it.
Last month, some folks in the community who were pleased with the adoption of STEMscopes said that the board should not always "rubber stamp" the superintendent's recommendations. Notably, Mr. Welch and Ms. Wyatt voted against Mr. Golden's recommendation on this vote.
Special Education
At the work session, there was a long discussion about the Individual Education Program process. Tony Bostic seemed displeased with the way the district interacts with parents of students with an IEP. At the work session, he proposed instituting a program where educators would be required to maintain service delivery logs to ensure that they were complying with IEPs. Front office personnel and Eric Welch resisted this idea, saying it would add an unnecessary burden on our educators. Dana Ausbrooks further explained that this type of a system would not enhance our protection against IEP complaints. Compliance with an IEP is driven by results, not by process. If the required services are rendered and the student does not make progress, the education system has still failed. The SDL system would not protect the district in such a case.
So, Mr. Bostic's proposed changes were excluded from the vote this month.
Screen Time
The board will be forming a committee to evaluate how much screen time students are getting in school. Each board member will recommend one parent to this committee. They will start meeting in May and continue for one year. The goal will be to bring recommendations to the board regarding policies for screen time and use of devices like cell phones in school. This is modeled after a similar effort in Bentonville, AR.
Action Plan
Join the party! We had a great turnout this month. Thanks for showing up! The next board meeting will be Monday, May 19 at 6:30. See you there!
Cory, these updates are incredible. Thank you. I know you put so much time and effort into making these available to us.