001uh with that we are going to resume our public hearing so thank you folks for bearing with us while we complete our business uh business of the board as always remind people that speakers get three minutes that's it uh please be respectful as we talked about before be civil with each other uh try to refrain from large applause so that we can move on and hear from everybody um all right so we're gonna take this back up same rules apply all right so the next speaker is lindy urso followed by a katarina lobunets oh i'm sorry erica smith yes sorry that's where we stopped that so erica smith if you're with us uh in the room or online if you're online please raise your hand i'm not seeing any hands peter okay all right erica
002one last one last chance all right now erica um next up lindy urso lindy if you're online if you could raise your hand i'm not seeing or so online okay thank you uh next up at katarina labunets katarina if you're with us or online if you could raise your hand not seeing that name online okay uh next bing yang i don't know if you're seeing bing yang online not seeing that name online all right next speaker would be shriya prabhu if you're online there you go michael if you could uh allow speaking speaking has been permitted hello can you hear me yes we can oh okay so yeah okay good evening teachers administrators board members and students my name is shreya prabhu i'm an eighth grader at eastern middle school in march of this year
003i wrote an article that was published by the hartford current calling out microaggressions or subtle discrimination i faced in school being one of the few students of color in my class i've been told that i'm good at math simply because i'm of asian descent my school was very supportive of my intention to combat racism and even gave nicole maidu and i a platform to share our voices on stand against racism day i'm here today to share my experience being a person of color in the greenwich public school system and how i believe the school district can do a better job promoting inclusivity in classrooms like many students of color my name is different and often mispronounced i sometimes wonder wouldn't it be nice if people ask me how my name is pronounced instead of saying
004it wrong and not caring pronouncing someone's name right does make them feel better it makes me feel included and heard to solve small but hurtful issues like this i believe that education is essential to removing stereotypes part of becoming a well-informed citizen and caring for self and others one of our district norms is being able to understand other cultures and respect them for social emotional learning or sel lessons it would be good to see the district implement some lessons about different cultures each month or even have a district-wide cultural awareness week if we also diversify the texts we read and read more literature by people of color living outside our nation it'll give students a better understanding of the world around them i often think about how nice it would be if there were staff
005and teachers at our schools who are representative of other cultures in all three years i've been at eastern i've only had one teacher of color only one representation is vital for students so that they can be exposed to minority cultures and traditions as a voice for the next generation i hope you will take a step step forward to make our grade school district even more inclusive 30 seconds here are three solutions i'd like to see in gps schools seo lessons on cultural awareness once a month diversify the texts we read as well as diversifying the school fell the school faculty thank you thank you very much we always enjoy hearing from students we appreciate you staying up late all right the next speaker is yan yang and if you're with us please raise your hand
006i'm not seeing anyone online by that name okay the next speaker then is nicole nadew she is here i'm going to allow her to speak okay i think i can be i okay thank you for allowing me to speak my name is nicole naidu i am 14 years old and i am an 8th grader currently attending central middle school i am going to discuss why we need more awareness regarding racial equality in our school district i see that there is stigma around any discussion of race in particular from my experience there is not enough discussion of racial diversity equality and inclusivity throughout history people of color are often the ones that are left out of the narrative for this reason policies procedures and standards are set for a specific group of people and invariably excludes
007the needs of people color i am asking that the board of education take the time and effort to carefully consider the positive effects on teaching children more about race and its subtleties it is my observation that when students work with people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds they are able to gain a better understanding of each other this ability to communicate also teaches important social skills on how to successfully work in a diverse world we as people want to believe that schools are diverse and are not segregated but in some ways if we are not taught to be aware or made aware and encouraged to discuss then the problems of segregation will remain in our society subtle as they may be and disastrous with its effects no matter how much we want to say that
008there is progress with all the work done across the nation in regards to racial equality and diversity in schools it is simply not enough what we need to do is to provide a way to facilitate open dialogue with the encouragement of adults within a curriculum administered by a school system as the subject of diversity is often stigmatized in silence and discussions i cannot know for sure but clearly adults within the school system i.e teachers will not teach the sensitive subjects of racial justice and inequalities unless it is mandated by the administration we need to provide a more accurate version of history and what it entails furthermore teaching children in a manner that is safe and respectful empathy is often taught but it is not shown on how to implement that in the lives of students
009from an early age we as people need to consider the future and progress of individuals rather than just for what the past may hold if we do not encourage this open dialogue then we cannot solve the problem 30 seconds at us thank you very much again we appreciate hearing from students it's always good to get a student voice uh next up christopher burdick mr burdick you should be able to speak thank you very much can you hear me yes perfect thank you uh good evening my name is christopher burdick my family has lived in riverside for 10 years we have three boys at isd our twins are in third grade and we have a fifth grader who will be heading to eastern middle school in the fall like many boys my my boy like many
010kids my boys had a very difficult time during remote school last spring but much to my delight this year they have been able to be in person with their teachers since the beginning of the school year in september now maybe some people don't know how lucky we are to have that schools in other parts of connecticut have spent much more time in remote learning as an example of what could have been i have two nephews who live in oregon their elementary school was closed for almost the entire year and they've only recently returned to in-person learning one of the reasons we were able to keep kids in school was the minimal amount of covert transmission inside the classroom the simple truth is that social distancing and masks prevent the transmission of the covid virus even
011though covid cases have declined the new delta variant appears to be more transmissible and more dangerous than other coveted strains the good news is the vaccines that are available to us now provide protection from this new variant however those who are not able to be vaccinated right now like elementary school children are at the risk of contracting the new variant which is potentially more dangerous to them thankfully the state of connecticut recognizes this is not the time to let our guard down and has mandated that students continue to wear masks throughout the end of the year hopefully we'll be able to get our younger children vaccinate against covid this summer so they can return to school in september without all the precautions that have been in place this year lastly thank you to the board
012of education the staff of greenwich public schools and dr tony jones for keeping our kids in school i'm especially thankful for the teachers administrative support and custodial staff who did their jobs during the school year there's been a lot of talk about how medical professionals and essential workers are heroic i would put teachers in that group as well your commitment to our children is nothing short of heroic thank you very much thank you very much next speaker is varmal nobe rommel if you're here could you raise your hand i see francis snow bay i'm not sure if um that's the same person i know it's not the same person but if it's all right well are they logged on together i mean they may be watching together they may be but uh unless unless they
013raise their hand we're going to move on all right then the next speaker is sonia tembeck not seeing 10 back soon if you're logged on or in the room raise your hand okay maybe not uh next up chelsea rose i do see a rose i will make uh a loud miss rose you should be able to talk you can unmute yourself mr rose if you are there you should be able to unmute yourself hello hi hi we can hear you hi uh my name is chelsea rose um so i'm here today on behalf of many people [Music] and people like myself and grant have felt left out and invalidated especially when it comes to education specifically our history is not being taught like everyone else's we have african americans asian americans and latin americans in
014this town and in connecticut our ancestors especially in this community have done impactful and historical things in america why is this not being taught i once had my former white history teacher name a few black historical figures and then asked me how do you guys not know about these people and i said i was never taught which is also why i've had to read up on my own history outside of school we have grown up in greenwich for most and for some all of our lives and we have barely heard our teachers utter a word about any great accomplishments our ancestors have had like our white counterparts why are we only being taught about martin luther king and jim crow laws once in a month of an entire school year why do we speak only
015about the times we are oppressed and of the same people mind you and not about other prominent figures such as w.e.b dubois billie holiday james baldwin cesar chavez roberto clemente but better yet how about teaching students the impact that racism has had on society why don't we talk about redlining why are churches so uh segregated to this day how about we talk about why i'm more likely to die from childbirth let's talk about the whole truth us courting corners like this with people of color's history is making us more subject to stereotypes and racial undertones it is also making all of us including your own kids narrow-minded and it's pretending preventing them from having respect and empathy towards people of different experiences this is directly making black latin americans asian americans and natives more subject
016to stereotypes racism and disrespect this narrow-mindedness and staying in your bubble gives kids fuel to bully others because they're too ignorant to understand and respect everyone's differences and cultures and backgrounds this is why i believe that ethnic studies should be taught in schools around america we live here too and we have a history there is no excuse for every american to not have their history be taught thoroughly and accurately thank you very much all right the next speaker is courtney legane sorry if i've mispronounced your name correctly not seeing that name online she's she's here even better good evening thank you for allowing me to speak tonight i'm here to voice my opposition of critical race theory if you look at some of the proponents of critical race theory you will see that they are
017behind the 1619 agenda this agenda holds the belief that america began in 1619 when the first slaves arrived on our soil america began in philadelphia in 1776 with the writing of the constitution so if you look at the foundation of critical race theory you can see it as a lie and no truth can come from a foundation that is a lie critical race theory is the false belief that racism rather than liberty were the founding values that guide the creation of america crt is a false idea that the united states is a fundamentally racist country and that all of our nation's institutions the law culture business economy and education are designed to maintain white supremacy it promotes the belief that white people are the permanent oppressors and black people are permanently oppressed the goal of
018crt is not for all people to play by the same rules regardless of race but rather crt theorists want equity which is a use euphemism for race-based outcomes just as it is ludicrous to say white people are inherently racist it is highly insulting to the intelligence of a black person to be given a favorable outcome in situations simply because of the color of their skin crt in actuality promotes racism division segregation and hatefulness between races it erases decades of progress that have been made pits children against one another teaching them to hate one another and if this is not enough we must look even deeper into critical race theory to discover the hidden danger which is a threat to our nation if you study the teachings of karl marx you will see the direct correlation
019between marxism and crt marx taught that if you can pit one group of society against the other continually talking about their plate constantly feeding the fires of division you can start a revolution so now think about what crt states according to them every institution in america is systemically racist so then what is the ultimate answer start a revolution dismantle the system perhaps critical race theory is nothing more than a fancy word for marxism with a communistic agenda of wealth redistribution the ending of private property loss of individual rights replaced with group rights with focus being placed on the state so you see critical race theory has nothing to do with race it is communism and cannot be allowed to be taught in our schools instead let's teach our children the country's true history although not
020perfect it is one founded under god with the ideals of freedom liberty and equality on a final note please unmask our children it is time enough is enough thank you thank you all right the next speaker is kelsey krantz hello my name is kelsey krantz um i'm here tonight to oppose the lawn signs that have been posted around town i firstly want to thank the board of ed for your hard work this past year keeping our schools safe while i strongly disagree with the statements made on masks and vaccinations on the signs i'm not too worried about them having an effect on your actions however their attacks on critical race theory deeply concern me our community desperately needs a curriculum that highlights diverse stories portrays an accurate history of our country and reckons with the
021realities of racism in our modern day communities those ideas of anti-racism need to be present throughout every aspect of our children's educations it's easy to get caught up in the national rhetoric painting any curriculum that focuses on race and diversity as evil but i encourage the board to look past that and recognize that these kinds of educating are essential for the growth of our community and our children sorry i'm a little nervous um thank you i'm not a part of the group activists for anti-racist greenwich but activists for anti-racist greenwich schools but they asked me to relay some of the research that they've done on their behalf they gave out a survey this year to current and former ghs alumni um and the results some here's some of the results 60 of respondents said that
022they did not feel their school made an effort to incorporate racial diversity into their education 45 percent of respondents said their education did not include the history of in literature by non-white people 48 percent of respondents said they did not feel said they felt non-white students did not receive an education equal to that of white students and 58 of respondents said they witnessed or experienced racism while attending greenwich public schools for all of these stats an additional 15 to 25 percent responded that they were neutral leaving only a small percentage of students who felt that the greenwich public schools are effectively handling topics of race in the curriculum and creating a safe environment for non-white students this report which the group did attempt to send to the board of ed and the superintendent does not
023speak for all students and it only surveyed a small population but it definitely definitively indicates that more research needs to be done they strongly encourage the board to look into not just facts and numbers about how the school system is running but also to engage with students on how they feel and give them the opportunity to relay their personal experiences because who knows better about the environment in our schools than the students themselves thank you thank you very much all right the next speaker is janet mcmahon janet if you're online if you could raise your hand mr mcmahon hello can you hear me yes go ahead good evening chairman bernstein members of the board of board of education dr jones and guests thank you very much for the opportunity to speak tonight as a greenwich
024public school parent who is heavily invested and actively engaged in my children's schooling i can assure everyone that critical race theory is not being taught in the classrooms and for the record dei or diversity equity and inclusion is not the same as critical race theory any attempts to complete the two are misguided and inaccurate what is being taught in the classrooms are positive messages of diversity equity and inclusion of all people across racial ethnic cultural religious and gender lines our children are also learning social emotional learning empathy and critical thinking all of which are important tools for success in our increasingly global society our educators should be thanked for this not criticized demoralized and terminated for this the anti-crt and dei residents you heard from have once again let national politics invade our local board
025of ed but let's not get distracted from our mission providing a top-notch public education and continuing continuing to let science guide us out of the pandemic i have full faith that you will continue to keep our children safe and thriving during these post-pandemic times as you have done during the pandemic in short please continue the great work you've been doing and thank you for your excellent leadership thank you thank you all right the next speaker is jessica spitzer jessica if you're online if you could raise your hand i'm not seeing that name online all right one last call jessica if you're online all right not seeing her uh the next speaker is laura costen laura if you're online raise your hand this constant if you want you should be able to speak thank you so
026much uh to members of the board of education and dr jones there is certainly a lot to unpack here tonight after all that has transpired at this meeting um i wear many hats in this town but tonight i'm speaking as a gps parent and member of the community first i want to thank dr jones for her email to families on june 10th advising them that the greenwich public schools is unwavering in its commitment to dei diversity equity and inclusion it was enormously comforting that she took the time to assure parents that our students are being taught to be both critical thinkers and listeners because even here in our beloved town racial ethnic and socio-socioeconomic disparities exist and they are everywhere including access to basic needs like food and health care thankfully gps has been providing
027free breakfast and lunches to anyone who wants or needs them now about those masks starting from the time our students walk through the doors of our schools they begin to learn are school norms two of which are be safe and care for self in others when i think about what masks represent to my younger children they understand they wear them to keep themselves and others safe it is not often obvious when a child is immune compromised or whether they have asthma or a heart condition or any other condition for that matter it is not is it not necessary to wear a mask to protect them it's what our doctors and nurses do to protect their patients masks work best when they are used by all present in a confined space like a classroom and speaking
028of access to health care not everyone in this town can afford to get sick or have their children get sick either i want to thank our teachers and staff for all they do and have done for our children in this particularly challenging year i want and lastly i want to address our fields at western middle school board members have heard me speak for years at meetings about our fields and the contamination of them including a petition in 2016 related to soil testing at town parks and schools i'm delighted that there may be light at the end of the tunnel for the students at western my oldest child was in elementary school at glendale when those fields closed and he's now a sophomore in high school so thank you to the board the administration and the
029superintendent superintendent for their leadership on the health safety and education of our students thank you all right thank you the next speaker is mariana begonia all right she's here live michael hi somebody on a big social emotional learning scl is on the district website and the intent is to radicalize public schools it is the vehicle for critical race theory indoctrination and it is woven into the curriculum the board needs to address this it is a behavioral modification program that teaches children how to respond decides what are proper emotional skills and implements government dictated values and beliefs it suppresses individual expression and creates group thought not critical thinkers it's the re-engineering of our children's minds so that they don't think or self-express in any way that is not in line with the sel standards it uses
030questionnaires and surveys to collect private information of school-aged children without the consent or knowledge of the parents which is illegal the last survey that was sent did give us the opportunity to opt our children out and that needs to be the new norm a condition to the district receiving funding from the american rescue plan was that 20 percent of the funds is to go towards expanding upon this curriculum sel has mandated videos that express express hyper racialist views controversial political and religious positions and attacks traditional sexual morality and biological sex how will these funds be used to implement implement more of this sport approved material we need access to classroom literature videos and surveys we need to be given the opportunity to opt out if we so choose encouraging the mass distribution of an experimental
031non-fda approved vaccine is a reckless abandonment of all rational thought and scientific data vaccines should never be mandated politicized or incentivized and should always remain free from government influence and pressure it was disheartening to hear that the superintendent was scrutinized for not holding vaccine clinics on school grounds earlier i thought we were showing great leadership by not holding these clinics also sel has created a teacher guide to help children work through vaccine hesitancy did the board approve this the data on mask shows that there is absolutely zero correlation between mask mandates and slowing the spread of the virus with a 99.9 survival rate our kids conquer viruses colds and flus like superheroes the science agrees and the truth can't be denied out of existence i so appreciate our administration and teachers working together to get
032our kids back in school full time please follow the truth and work together to get the masks off our children school board members are elected to serve as our presidents of the community and advocates for our students communication with the community even with those whom you disagree is imperative to the success of our schools we need our questions and concerns addressed by the board not cancelled and moving forward we need curriculum transparency thank you thank you all right the next speaker is esme merrell if you're online if you could raise your hand ask me if you're with us if you could raise your hand oh you're here yeah i thought you weren't here yet okay great go i first want to thank dr jones and the board of education for all of their work to
033keep students safe and engaged during this tumultuous time as a student i really appreciate you all keeping this year as normal as possible my name is esme merrell and i'm a junior at greenwich high school over the past few weeks i have heard conversations watched arguments and read articles concerning the teaching of past and modern social justice issues to me this conversation is being controlled by the limited population of parents and administrators rather than the actual subjects of the conversation which is us the students i'm not arguing in favor of a curriculum that includes critical race theory regardless of my own moral attitude towards the subject because it has been repeatedly vocalized that this framework is not within the curriculum in greenwich public schools i am rather arguing for a style of teaching that expresses
034the reality of social justice sphere in our country in a way that demands deep critical thinking from students through my 12 years in the greenwich public school system i've been challenged to study both historical and current events through an analytical lens and one that acknowledges and assesses the presence of social justice concerns in modern society this learning method has equipped me with the ability to understand evaluate and respond to the things that are happening around me it is because of these tools that i felt so inclined to assert myself and the student body into the conversation today i truly believe that without the inclusion of current events and social justice issues in my learning experience i would not have had the wherewithal to be speaking with you today this group of greenwich patriots who are
035arguing against a learning environment that discusses inequalities and social justice concerns in our lives are really wishing for an educational experience that shelters children ignores uncomfortable subjects and rejects the reality of life in the united states their agenda is a threat to the ability of greenwich public school students to be educated and active members in their community and society overall the town of greenwich is a bubble of privilege ignoring what is happening in the world around us and in our own country would be a great detriment not only to the current and coming generations of students but to our country and to our world it is our responsibility as parents as administrators and as students to ensure that our community is aptly educated and given the resources necessary to be an active citizen this can
036only be achieved through an open dialogue in the classroom that addresses current events and threats to social justice in their entirety thank you thank you very much i'm happy to have students come and talk to us uh next up is jessica maloney good evening my specific request tonight is that regardless of the connecticut department of health's recommendation you make masks optional for all student faculty and staff in the greenwich public school system to the during the 2021-2022 school year what do we know about children in covid pretty early on in the spring of 2020 we knew that children and teenagers were at an extremely low risk of developing the symptoms of instead of celebrating our children's amazing innate immune system which quickly silences this virus and empowering them with this knowledge we convinced them that
037they were dangerous asymptomatic vectors of this disease and would need to wear masks isolate at home and when seeing other people stay six feet away the talk of asymptomatic spread became a hot button topic in the sars kobe 2 pandemic we have known in the past that a person is infectious with some viruses prior to developing symptoms and this is also true with cobia 19. one day prior to symptom development people are infectious but what about people who test positive but never develop symptoms we have a study out of wuhan china which included close to 10 million people which found no evidence of asymptomatic spread these were positive cases whose antibody tests indicated they were infected with cobit 19 but absolutely no transmission on the cdc website you will find an article about a study
038performed in germany which also found no transmission from asymptomatic cases of covid19 a meta-analysis of 54 studies showed the same results according to published research from this pandemic asymptomatic spread is not a concern what do we know about children and teenagers we'll have some positive cases but most of these cases are asymptomatic this notion of asymptomatic transmission is why we mandated mass for our students so what do we know about mass the national academies of sciences told the cdc that cloth masks may block the transmission of large respiratory droplets but there is little evidence regarding their effectiveness in blocking small aerosolized viral particles another systemic review of past studies on face mask effectiveness states our review found no significant effect of no significant effect of medical masks on transmission of laboratory confirmed influenza we also
039have a randomized control trial performed in the spring of 2020 in denmark which found no difference in the coveted infection rate of a mass group versus an unmask grouped so medical and cloth masks are terrible preventing the transmission of viruses but studies of surgeons show that they are good at trapping bacteria on the inside of the masks and also lower blood oxygen oxygen levels if worn for prolonged periods of time since the brain is one of the most oxygen hungry organs in the body really do we really want our children's blood oxygen levels dropping throughout the school day and do we want them re-breathing the bacteria that they are exhaling i would choose no for my children and i feel that this is a choice that every parent student teacher and member of this faculty
040should have we have heard that greenwich schools faced fared well this past year due to our adherence to covet protocol time greenwich schools thank you very much thank you all right the next speaker is kara mendelson tara mendelson if you're with us online if you could raise your hand i'm not sitting here online all right thank you michael uh the next speaker then is mary mccooy all right uh michael we have her live so just hold on a second hello first of all i would like to thank everyone here for their extreme amount of patience i know it's been a long night and i also want to thank the board of education for the terrific job that you guys have done in navigating covid and all the challenges that i've brought i know it couldn't
041have been easy but i have no notes you guys did fantastically um just a little bit about me i am a greenwich lifer i've been here since kindergarten and i can honestly say that i think that my greenwich education looking back i graduated last year has changed my life for the better um what i can't say is that i've ever experienced critical race theory in the way that's being described tonight i've done my research and critical race theory is defined as uh by it's a scholarly like college level um topic that usually talks about how racism intersects with political and legal structures as opposed to social structures and infiltrates all areas of life on the political and legal structure so it's not necessarily saying all white people are bad that was never a part of
042any sort of like uh argument that was made but more that like the um systems that are in place have elements of racial bias and the reason i think it's important to say this is because i talked to my friends and none of them knew what critical race theory meant none of the people that i surveyed on my instagram then the people that i talked to know what critical race theory is because it's not being taught and i actually argue that if it was being taught if we had more of a discussion about race in the classroom i think discussions like this would be a lot more productive because i think what people who are afraid of politicizing the classroom don't realize is that everything is political we all come together because we are brought
043by the issue of race and we are brought by the political topics that exist and to try to deny that to try to shield ourselves from the political conversations at a young age actually prevents us from having helpful and constructive conversations when we move to become adults and we move to become voters and we move to become citizens of the world not only is it important to have these conversations for that issue but also when i look at the ap curriculums and when i look at the high level thinking that is being expected from college-level students and expected from students who go on and live productive lives executives are now expected to say the right things and know how to talk and not 30 seconds if we want to raise children that will go on
044to change the world we have to raise children that will understand the world and the world is political and the world is racialized and i'm very sorry for those that may offend but it is the world that we live in and we cannot shy away from that fact in order to protect people's feelings thank you all right thank you very much uh the next speaker is seth bacon seth if you're on line if you could just raise your hand thank you good evening can you hear me yes go ahead okay thank you my name is seth bacon i'm an rtm member in district 9 and an alternate on the rtm education committee but tonight i'm expressing my views as a concerned citizen and a parent of children in the greenwich school system i'm speaking tonight
045to ensure one more voice is added to the record that stands for an open and inclusive greenwich many of the speakers we've heard from tonight have talked about how parts of the curriculum could affect their children and how offended they are their language is indicative of the problem we're discussing there is no outward view true discourse is about empathy and understanding other's point of view educating our children about the different viewpoints of the participants and key moments in the history of our country is ultimately in the best interest of our kids our town and our society we must teach our kids that the world is made up of many different people different points of view and different cultures exploring and discussing how others may have experienced or felt the impact of events in u.s history
046is not shame-based education it is teaching compassion and is teaching what true patriotism is all about it is very likely that this conversation will extend well beyond tonight's meeting but the good news and we've heard this from many of the students that have spoken tonight the good news is the vast majority of young people they don't want to hear it they know the world is becoming more accepting more inclusive and more tolerant and there's nothing we can do nothing we can say and no adjustment to our curriculum that is going to stop this change these kids are smart and they're not going to be told what to think but they will be able to consider how past present and future actions impact their lives and the people around them in the end our kids won't
047question whether or not we should recognize different viewpoints and celebrate diversity our kids will however question whether the adults in their lives acknowledged and embraced these changes or whether whether they fought it every step of the way and if it's the latter it is very unlikely the view will be one of patriotism but rather a view of those who were on the outside looking in when the world was changing for the better in summary i urge the board of education and our teachers to ignore the noise and misinformation and continue to facilitate discussion foster creativity support diversity equity and inclusion and continue to drive a curriculum that maintains our excellent schools and creates the future leaders of tomorrow thank you thank you very much all right the next speaker is camille aruga we have her
048live michael okay hello okay so as a student of greenwich public schools for all of my life i can firmly say critical race theory has never been taught i can say however the history has been taught and we as students and members of society deserve to know the history of our country in its most uncensored form we deserve to know the history of the country we pledge allegiance to every morning crt is an academic concept and a way of understanding how american racism has shaped current public policy and law buzzwords to scare us like marxism will not change that fact at greenwich high school i have never been taught crt i'm a student so i know i have heard however of moments in our history that have reflected racist policy as a reaction to time
049period and classes dedicated to studying history for example signs being erected in america's 19th century refugee crisis saying irish need not apply or dozens of other phrases often ignored positively no beer soul to indians christians only jews not we serve whites only no spanish or mexicans no irish no blacks no dogs we cannot teach racist history as simply a martin luther king jr quote and stories of black success for one week of february we will not have our education censored some parents in this district have told us students that we have become illiterate and ineffective speakers us students have led countless community bonding opportunities such as fundraising beach cleanups black lives matter protests look at the students recognized today for their ability you are telling me that you care for us so much that you
050would belittle us to push your agenda i refuse to stand by the idea that censorship and complacency is being pushed onto our education so that discomfort is avoided we need this discomfort so that we can develop critical thinking skills and so that when we are faced with uncomfortable situations in our adult lives we will be able to respond with healthy coping mechanisms to the board i would suggest providing opportunities for students to learn about each other and foster empathy through hosting panels or discussions in our classrooms particularly in health social studies and english classes the easiest way to incorporate works of poc and other minority groups is through these departments where experiences and cultures can be identified most easily in school we often do not have the chance to learn or talk about the school
051issues that interest us um sorry got a text unless we join clubs or take classes to learn more about them these classes are not always accessible due to the limitation of classes a student can take having these open discussions is essential in order to destigmatize the ideas around race talk this is only the start of a myriad of things we can do to improve our town and i truly hope that the education rights of me and my peers are taken into consideration also may i add that sel has rarely been used for anything has been accused of we often use sel to go home and do homework thank you all right the next speaker is caroline learum miss liram if you unmute you should be able to talk she's actually live michael no she's also
052online somebody in your house has logged in on your computer don't you want to get in don't know me all right good evening members of the board dr jones in the community um my name is caroline larum i'm going to go a bit off topic but i'm super impressed by all these young people who came out here tonight uh to no surprise i'm speaking about special education i have a few questions and concerns regarding the special education review that i'm hoping to receive clarification on number one many parents and i understand that a special meeting will be held on june 23rd to discuss the report but this meeting will not allow for public comment we are concerned that parents and community members will not be allowed to comment on the findings of the report parents
053and community members have been very much invested in the process and it was parents and community members who diligently lobbied for this review if parents and community members want to weigh in or ask questions about the report specifically to pcg consultants when will they have the opportunity to do so number two we understand that an executive summary will be released prior to the june 23rd meeting but not a full report what is an executive summary it's certainly not the full report we're concerned that pcg will only be presenting on some of the report and not the entire report a big factor of this review was that it was comprehensive so we questioned why a comprehensive report won't be released prior to the june 23rd meeting how can pcg present on a report that no one
054has seen how is this transparent if there are questions outside of the executive summary when will pcg be able to answer those questions if parents and community members want to read the full report along with the executive summary prior to the meeting they should absolutely have that opportunity why the full report is being withheld is a huge red flag and needs a much better explanation that was given tonight after hearing tonight's explanation i had many parents immediately call and text they are upset in questioning the process please listen to this community as you know we care and we want what's best for our children in this district number three communication regarding this entire process has been scarce what are the details of the follow-up meetings you spoke of tonight will pcg be there we are
055at a disadvantage with summer upon us especially considering the outreach becomes more difficult communication and transparency is key and as of now that is lacking number four this study is not being treated like other studies that have been conducted for gps other studies are presented in their entirety and give parents and community members the opportunity to comment neither of these things are happening and that's concerning if the district or pcg has a rationale for why this is being conducted in a different manner then please communicate that information to all parents again i'm not sure i understand tonight's rationale and would appreciate a more formal announcement an explanation of why something is being done so differently this is a huge opportunity for the district to partner with parents and start a new beginning with special education
056families there was a great deal of time and money that thank you very much thank you and it's important you can trust this process you can send your comments to the board thank you all right with that i'm going to close the public hearing and mr kelly i'm not going to let you make the motion to adjourn tonight miss olson would you like to put yourself out of a job yeah i'd like to make a motion to adjourn mr kelly in a second all right goodbye megan that's my vote uh bernstein is a yes sto yes hirsch yes downey yes kelly no kowalski yes olsen yes cher yes mr kelly would you like to change your vote just uh yes yes okay thank you we're eight zero on uh on the journey thank you everybody
057and goodbye megan