Board of Education Regular Meeting No. 1545

001The Merck's host Board of Education meeting number 15 1545 is now called to order This is a reminder again that limerick schools currently requires face coverings for all individuals and attendance Tonight dr. Lake do we have any changes to the agenda? We do not have a motion to approve the agenda as presented Second motion by Mike second by Kathy all in favor. All right pose motion carries Now I would like to invite Anthony and Luke, I believe, to come forward and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. So all those who are able, please stand. All right. Thank you, guys. Great job. Now we'll move on to our special recognitions tonight. We have Kennerly Elementary. So, Dr. Thomas, we'll call you forward to lead us. Thank you. All right, good evening everyone. I would like

002to introduce our Teacher of the Year at Kennerly, Mrs. Ronna Allen. Mrs. Allen, can you stand up for us please? I also want to note that Mrs. Allen's birthday is today as well, so happy birthday Mrs. Allen. What a great one, right? Mrs. Allen is a dedicated teacher and assists on delivering quality instruction to her art students each and every day. She brings Kennerly students the joy of art and offers opportunities for creative outlets, learning how to pay attention to detail, honoring your craft, and appreciating the art history. Mrs. Allen goes out of her way to have a positive relationship with her staff and students and is loved and respected by all. Mrs. Allen's dedication to Kenderly is admirable and should be celebrated. Please join me in congratulating Kenderly's art teacher, Mrs. Ronna Allen. $5

003gift certificate to our spirit store. So congratulations. All right, there you go. Thank you very much. We're going to get a picture. All right, next up I want to introduce Dr. Allen Mack. She's going to talk to you about our next person for our support staff person of the year. Good evening. It is my pleasure to introduce our support staff person of the year, Mrs. Vicki Meyer. Over the past 17 years, Mrs. Meyer has gone above and beyond for Kennerly staff and students. When I think of Mrs. Meyer, the one word that comes to my mind is selfless. No matter what type of situation she is stepping into, whether it be a classroom, the office, or recess, she continuously puts others before herself. It has been an honor to work with Vicki as I have

004learned the importance of approaching each situation with an open mind and an eagerness to do what is best for everyone. Her kindness is truly contagious and encourages us all to be just a little bit more like her. Congratulations, Vicki. Vicki, congratulations. Again, we have a certificate recognizing you, and then we have a $25 gift certificate at our Spirit Store. So congratulations, Vicki. All right, we're going to get a quick picture. Can I have the family and friends of Mrs. Allen and also Mrs. Meyer please stand up as well? Let's give these guys a big round of applause. All right, we're going to move on to some students that we'd like to recognize. First and foremost, Anthony Abala. Anthony, stand up for us, please. Let's give Anthony a big round of applause as well. So I'm

005going to read some things about Anthony here. So Anthony, turn toward everyone. And little Anthony's family, please stand up for us as well. Let's give Anthony's family a big round of applause. So Anthony is a fifth grade student at Kennery who has made a tremendous progress this school year. He has become an avid reader and a strong writer. He loves to have his imagination shine through his stories. He's made strong friendships and is very reflective on his choices. The teachers and staff are very proud of Anthony and his progress this year at fifth grade. Our wish for Anthony is for him to continue to seek out opportunities to grow and share his talents with others. Let's give Anthony one more big round of applause. Anthony, we have a certificate here with your name on it

006recognizing you. So there's that for you. And then we also have some spirit wear here for you. Hopefully it'll fit you. Yeah, it'll fit you. It's good. So sometimes we get the wrong sizes. So we did good this time. So there you go, Anthony. We're going to get a quick picture. Congratulations, buddy. So if you'll turn your certificate around and hold it for... There we go. Thank you. Don't be stealing that. Next up, Dr. Mack is going to recognize our next student. All right. I have the pleasure of honoring Luke Brownfield. Luke, why don't you come on up here? And then Luke's dad, if you'd like to stand up. All right, so I have had the pleasure of knowing Luke Brownfield since first grade. When we asked Mrs. Allen who she would like to honor

007tonight, Luke, a now fourth grader, was an obvious choice. Mrs. Allen writes, when I think of Luke, so many thoughts pop into my head. I think of an inventive, out-of-the-box thinker. His creative approaches to problem solving are inspiring. I think of his big heart and how he cares for others. I think of the leader he is, always encouraging others to make the right choice in his own special way. I have been so lucky to be Luke's art teacher. I am so proud of him and excited to see what the future holds. Congratulations, Luke. Luke, before I give you this stuff, I have a pair of Hey Dudes as well, and I think I like yours better, so I may order me a pair. I really like those. Look at that. So we have a certificate

008for you as well with your name on it, recognizing you, and then we also have a shirt, and that one will fit you as well. That's good. We did good. So we're going to get a quick picture. Congratulations. All right, thank you for that and congratulations to all the honorees tonight. This is the great part of the night where we see the incredible work that's being done in the schools and the benefit that the students have and we got two great students here. So thank you guys so much. But we will also do this as a courtesy. We're going to take a short break. For all those that came for this portion of the meeting and do not choose to stick around for the business portion, we'll give you a moment to exit out and

009enjoy the rest of your night. All right, that's one of the toughest parts of the job as president of the school board is to try to stay out of every picture that's taken during that part of the meeting. We'll move to 5.0 resolutions. We do not have any resolutions, so we'll move to 6.0, which is citizen comments, those regarding agenda items. Looks like we have 10 or 11 people signed up, and just to refresh everyone's memory, you have three minutes. And if somebody's spoken on a topic that you don't have a different perspective for, please respect that and let's be courteous with one another. Everybody's passionate about things right now, but I just ask everyone else to be courteous and listen to everyone's comments like we do up here, and we appreciate them. So we'll

010start with John Struckoff. Is this okay? Thank you. I can't breathe. I'm old. Hi, my name is John Strzokoff, citizen of Limerick School District. Appreciate you all being here. You know, thinking about this, I said, what we're wrestling with is really quite simple. This is not complicated. I'm a 69-year-old guy, pretty smart, experienced. I have individual beliefs that helped up my actions towards family, friends, people I meet with just a smile. I'll not tell you what to think unless you want to know. Then you decide. We're all individuals. What I do in private with my body is my business and only shared if and when necessary to prevent harm to me or ones for which I care and love. No one else's business. Stay out of it. So, you're going to get my old man

011thoughts. Pay attention. There might be a mind nugget in here somewhere, and it's free to you. No charge. I have seven points I want to make here. The old man thinking. One, we're all individuals. A singular package, mind and soul, in a self-contained body. How cool is that? Two, you and only you control what goes on between your ears. No one can make you think anything you choose not to. When you say, I'm sad, I'm mad, you made me feel like, no, you chose to feel like that. I can't get in your head and make you think. Grow up. Others should not be allowed in your inner sanctuary of thought unless invited. Period. Three, what you do and choose to believe is your prerogative. I don't care. Really. Want to know what I think? Ask.

012Other than that, you're here regardless. But unless invited, just keep your ugliness out of my happiness. Four, think for yourself. If you do not, you have forfeited one of the greatest gifts of our being, our mind, free will, and independent choice. What a shame. I feel sorry for you. Five, we do not go along to get along. That's bull crap. Six, misery loves company. If you're not happy, you believe if you spread your misery around, it'll make you feel better. How the hell does this make any sense? Tell me. Seven. Kids, if your parents and family do not support a positive mindset, fire your parents. Find a positive influence. There's no problem with mentors and people that care and want to make good citizens. So there's a couple of quotes. I met my wife who

013was in Limerick School District when she was 14, I was 16. We've been together 53 years, married 49. Is that three minutes? Okay, I'll read this quote and I'll be done. My daughter is going to pick up the rest of my speech. You are you, I am I. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations. You're not in the world to live up to my expectations. If by chance we find each other, it's beautiful. Thank you. My daughter will pick up the rest of my talk. Next we have Kristen Gardner. In summary, my fellow Americans, is there any reason we cannot get along? A loud minority is not the majority and is salt on the majority's rights and individual beliefs. You will not change the way I think. In fact, I

014may feel sorrow for your state of mind. Be yourself. You are not someone else. You are an individual. Group thinking is not you. Find a soulmate. Five, if you are miserable with your life and want to make everyone around you miserable, seek professional help. Six, be productive and happy. Help others. What you give, you will get in tenfold. School board, my message to you. Teach what is important to educate. Eager to learn students. Encourage others to be eager. They will succeed and be happy for life. Science, reading, grammar, mathematics, world history, all much more important. I know and believe social emotional learning is false group thinking. Board, respectfully, it is my belief in my mind you are not qualified to deal with personal thinking. We are here, I believe, we representing the majority. I believe

015that in your heart you know this. You are humans just like all of us. We all want what is best for others we care about. You want a lifeline, make the right choice. Make your goal for the student goal to be in the business of education, not indoctrination. Merry Christmas. My gift to you is a nugget if you found one. Remember, it is baby Jesus' birthday. Next is Andrew Lawson. I'm Andrew Lawson. I am new to the district We just recently moved here this October. I have three children one in fourth grade one over in ECE West and One that's two and climbing the climb in the wall. So I can't wait to hand them to you guys We decided to move to this district in a really fast a really fast timeline we were

016in the Fox School District previously and weren't happy with the way the district cared for the individual and that was one of the most exciting things about coming to the Lindbergh School District is you guys see the children as the individuals that they are and you meet them where they need you to meet them and so with that in mind I want to bring up the proposals to remove certain literature from the from the libraries and from the classrooms I'm hoping that you guys will side with the committees that you put together and follow on in their footsteps and in their recommendations. There are so many different individuals, so many different people that will come through the doors of the schools in the Lindbergh School District. And each of them has their own needs, they

017have their own challenges, and they have their own capabilities. And the goal of a district like this should be to give them what they need to succeed. So, not to belabor a point any further, I just want to leave you with two quotes. John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty, If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. If we remove books because a minority doesn't like them, We're silencing an opinion. We're silencing a thought that we ought not silence. We ought to leave that up to the parents, which rolls into my second piece. The American Library Association, in their mission statement,

018says, librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents, and only parents, have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children, and only their children, to library resources. So please allow the parents to make the choice what is and isn't okay for their individual child to read. Allow the child and the parent the access to those materials to make that choice. Don't make it on their behalf. Thank you. Next we have Chrissy Wegman. Good evening. My name is Chrissy Wegman and first I would just like to express my gratitude to the board members and to our superintendent for all of your hard work and for giving your time and energy to our district. So thank you. I am speaking tonight to present a petition to the board that was circulated online in

019support of Lindbergh Libraries, librarians, and the equitable access of literature. Over 700 residents, parents, alumni, staff, and students have signed this petition in the last week. Here is the text of the petition. We, the undersigned parents, students, staff, and residents of the Lindbergh School District, wish to affirm our support for the Lindbergh School District librarians and the equitable access of literature in our district libraries. We stand against the banning of books and the deliberate targeting of literature featuring diverse perspectives from marginalized communities. Parents who do not want their children to read certain titles are free to restrict their own students' access to these books. They do not have the right to restrict access to all students. The district is working diligently on continuing to create a community of inclusion, equity, and diversity. Even considering the

020removal of diverse titles erodes this work. As one Lindbergh student so bravely pointed out at the October Board of Education meeting, books like The Ones Being Challenged helped me see that I needed to change how I looked at myself. They showed me that I can be comfortable at school or anywhere. What are we saying to students from diverse backgrounds when we form a committee to remove literature about their existence? Meg Medina Award-winning author and literary expert states, to pull books from a school library because of the discomfort they create in adults is a recipe for disaster. It erodes the trust young people have in adults in their lives and pushes them to secrecy. It undermines the studied opinion of professional librarians and educators. It supports a false idea that there is one version of life

021that is acceptable. it denigrates the work of the authors who are brave enough to name experiences that are difficult and real. We wholeheartedly agree. Thank you. Next Amy Minton. My name is Amy Minton. I have two children in the district, one at the high school and one in one of the elementary schools. I am part of the lead action group, so as you can see, we have a pretty big contingent here. I'm here, though, to discuss the proposed book banning as well. I'll have a comment of my own at the end, but I thought it was important we all thought it was important to ensure that a Recent editorial that showed up in the call newspaper is read into the record for the district That editorial was written by Aaron Achenbach for the call newspaper

022The title of the article is banning books takes away from growth and learning Lately, some Board of Education meetings are seen straight out of Fahrenheit 451. At both Lindbergh and Melville, parents are demanding that books they've deemed offensive be taken off the shelves of the school library. Just like critical race theory, library books appear to be the latest boogeyman for parents of school children to latch onto, convinced that these books will corrupt their children's minds or teach them other unsavory things. It's just another chapter in America's culture wars. It's worth noting that the books being challenged are not mandatory reading for students These are not books being assigned in a classroom or being read aloud by a teacher These are books that are available for checkout from the library. No one is forcing anyone to

023read these books It also appears that these challenges disproportionately challenge books by black authors and other people of color or authors from the LBTQ community, although I'm sure that's just a coincidence. It's certainly not my job to determine whether a book is too sexually explicit, profane, or otherwise unfit to be kept on a library shelf. But that's also not the job of culture warriors or anyone else. Good literature can sometimes make people feel uncomfortable, but censorship should not be the immediate response. Besides, once it starts, where does it end? Putting blinders on children through banning books does more harm than good. It narrows their viewpoint of the world and what it offers and can cause them to become ignorant toward people that are different than them. It also shuts down discussion on sexuality, diversity, and

024racial injustices. Books are supposed to teach or inspire. They can't harm you, and if a parent deems that book's maturity level is too high for their child, simply don't let them read it. Demanding that no one have access to literature that makes you uncomfortable harms everyone in the long run Doesn't the most learning happen when you're considering new ideas that take you out of your comfort zone Banning books is a step in the opposite direction Even if we don't agree with them books in our schools and our libraries need to be protected I'll stop there. Thank you Next we have Aaron and forgive me Seuss Sees, okay. Yeah. Naturally, yeah. Good evening. I'm also speaking on books, but I won't belabor parental control. I'm actually coming to you as an alumna. I am a Lindbergh

025parent. I have two kids at Sappington. I graduate Lindbergh 1997, and I graduate with a certificate in English from your International Baccalaureate Program. I went on to earn my degrees in English composition, both bachelor's and master's from Missouri's public universities, Truman State and UMSL. I've worked in writing and editing professionally for 20 years. I'm currently working as a writer at a Fortune 5 company, and I credit my start with Lindbergh. I do not support the banning or removing of books. I trust our educators and librarians have the skills, education, training, and sensitivities required to choose the best selection of books for Lindbergh. When I attended LHS, Ms. McCray and Mr. Weiss challenged us with the books they chose. Books like Albert Camus' The Stranger and poetry like Hemingway's I Sing the Body Electric. They dealt

026with sexuality and morality, exactly the topics that books are designed to grapple with. I became a sharper thinker and a better writer, especially because they chose books that were difficult, painful works to be wrestled with and that stayed with you, sometimes for your whole life. I want to see my kids have a diversity of books, and I think all kids need to be reflected in the books, even the unhappy ones, the ones from sad backgrounds. The theme I've seen with a lot of these challenge books that I've been reading is equity, diversity, inclusion. These books have as much of a right to be on the bookshelf as Catcher in the Rye and Great Gatsby, both books that deal with immorality and sexuality. To paraphrase the old saying, your liberty to ban books ends where my

027kid's nose begins. It is my right and my duty to protect my child from what I think is offensive, but it is not my right and my duty to choose what's right for yours. I would like that same courtesy. Removing books removes parental choice. It is censorship, and it concerns me greatly as to what precedents may be set. I thank you for the education that Lindbergh gave me, and I do believe in it, and it has made me such a strong writer. Thank you. Mayor Lee Sauer, next. The superintendent states that challenged books are evaluated based on library selection criteria, which are ALA standards that have basically no criteria and limit nothing. Relevance to school curriculum, but there is no relevance to the board approved curriculums. And the educational philosophy of the district, but the

028school website makes no mention of a district educational philosophy. Interestingly, there are these living curriculums that the school is hiding from parents. So I did an experiment. I obtained syllabi and assignments for most high school English classes and compared them to the board approved curriculums. Dessie's curriculum development guide says only minimal changes should be made between curriculum cycles, but Lindbergh has made very significant changes even to the course rationale and the course goals. Here's a few obvious changes. The goal of developing individual ideas and thoughts is removed. Literature centered on goodness of human nature, values, and common sense are removed. Also removed was vocabulary and other necessary ACT test prep. I did the same experiment for high school history and found the school removed the development of individual values and decisions from the course goals.

029The word theory comes from Greek and means views. Academics use the term lens or criticisms. The school is teaching literature and history through certain lenses or criticisms such as Marxist, feminist, gender, and other similar critical theories that reject... society, family structure, and how we treat others. And the school uses psychoanalytic theory or VIEW, which is needs, wants, emotions, and desires, including those that are sexual, like we see in these sexually explicit books that use adult sex toys and apps like Grindr. No mention of moral criticism, which allows one to see and evaluate what is good versus what is bad. And reader response criticism, designed to allow one to evaluate and develop their own ideas and values, is finally seen in 12th grade, almost like a check to ensure indoctrination. The basic purpose of studying and

030selecting literature and history is to reflect on our society, values, and culture. Based on the lenses assigned in book selected, Lindbergh, instead of goodness, values, and individual thoughts and ideas, is promoting social, moral, and cultural relativism. Relativism states there is no absolute truth, such as all men are created equal, no absolute morals, such as killing or theft or destruction of another's property is bad, and no rational thought or objectivity. Relativism is a rejection of who we are as Americans and a denial of academic excellence. Imagine stating the Pledge of Allegiance and then being required for eight hours a day to apply a lens that devalues those words. Where are the psychological studies that show what you're doing does not harm our students? Board, if you vote to allow these books, you approve this administration's radicalization

031and sexualization of our children. You knowingly limit our kids' thought development. You alienate children from what their parents teach them, and you show disdain for the Missouri constitutional purpose of public schools. Lindbergh's problems are much greater than certain books, but tonight, it starts with this book vote. Thank you. Donald Fallon Bell is next. Before you start the clock. Good evening. Thank you for letting me participate in this public comment portion of your meeting. I wanted to acknowledge that I did get the response from my oral and written remarks from the November 18th meeting and I take some pleasure and satisfaction that you characterized my remarks as thoughtful and respectful. That's a starting point. Like I said in my own response to the board is that I was hoping for something more ambitious, perhaps persuasive. Nonetheless,

032I'm going to concentrate my remarks not on diving deeply into policy and into practice, but relying again on the notions of principle. And my remarks on the 18th and kind of dovetail into my remarks in advance of tonight's meeting are centered on the notions of wisdom, self-respect, and formation. And really what we're talking about here are the children. Those who are on the other team, as it were, really, I think, have diminished the value for understanding and respecting the fact that these are children. The fact that there are discussions about changing the hours of schooling because kids need more sleep because they're immature and the kids are on insurance policies till they're 26 because they're immature and neurologists are saying children brains are not fully developed until they're 27 kind of speaks counter to what

033is being advanced in these committees. What I would like you to really think about in closing, and this is really seminal, at least from my perspective, based upon the fact that I shared with you some of my family history and what the value of books are. When you go home tonight, look at your children. Acknowledge your children. Tomorrow night at the same time, acknowledge those children and realize they're one day older and you're one day older. And then fast forward with the recognition that one day they're going to be your age. And what kind of adults are they going to be? Are they going to be capable of solving problems? Are they going to be people who have committed to hard work? Do they know how to play? And do they have a value for

034continuing learning? And I assure you, more likely than not, When they get to be my age, you're going to be absent in their lives. And what sort of relationship are they going to seek to have with you emotionally and spiritually based upon what kind of parents that you were? Because you're first parents and always parents. Thank you. Next is Leslie Rice. Good evening. My name is Leslie Weiss, and I'm a resident and a staff member of Lindbergh Schools, and I'm going to go off the topics that were covered previously and go on to something else that is a little bit more impactful to me. Tonight, I'd like to pose a couple of questions for you to consider about the timing of the mask optional learning environment, that revised green light plan upon which you'll be

035voting during this meeting. First, though, I would like to thank all of you for your volunteer service as members of the Board of Education. I truly appreciate the time, the energy, the patience, and the sacrifice each of you makes by sitting on this board and doing what's required here. As I read the revised Green Light Plan, I noticed that it doesn't have a start date published for the mask optional learning environment for K-12 students. So my questions include the following. Will the official rollout date be announced when the most current COVID data can be reviewed? Or will students K-12 begin the second semester in a mask optional environment on Wednesday, January 5, 2022? Does the January 5th start date, the start date for the mask optional learning environments increase student and staff risk of COVID

036infection? I wonder this because looking at the district's COVID dashboard, cases went up after Halloween and Thanksgiving. Or does the mask optional January 5th return to school date give us enough of a buffer from traditional holiday gathering days so that the risk of exposure is minimal? I just don't know that, so I was wondering if you guys would know that. Finally, could delaying the rollout of the mask optional learning environment until mid-January be beneficial for all involved? Thank you for listening. Next, Megan Fennell. Hopefully that's correct. I saw you chose two topics. We ask that you select one to speak on. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Megan Fennel. I'm here to share some of the comments left on a petition circulated online to district residents in support of Lindbergh libraries librarians and equitable

037access to books Just a few minutes ago. It was mentioned that the petition had over 700 signatures and actually at this moment has more than 800 But I'm going to read some feedback from the petition itself. Veer S. writes, as a black student, I am already targeted as a minority. When anything related to black history is shown or presented, my peers turn to me as if I am the representative of the Board of Blacks. By keeping a diverse portfolio of books, we can allow students the option to educate themselves. By seizing the gateways to the world books... Gateways to the World books. We're going back in history and those activists who got us here are turning in their graves. Preserve the freedoms that we boast so eagerly and let us keep our books. If you

038don't like it, don't read it. Amanda H. writes, as an educator and a parent, I firmly believe books are the gateway to children developing a love of learning. Banning books is detrimental to the mental health of children whose stories may be reflected in those books. Essentially stating that those stories don't matter. We must do better. Jesse R. writes, I'm signing because banning books is a form of censorship and a denial of First Amendment rights. Lisa H. writes, access to different ideas and experiences is the whole point of libraries. Laurel T. writes, it is crucial that all students have access to books that reflect their experiences, and it is important for students to read about diverse experiences and perspectives. Not all students can access books outside their school library. It is a disservice to students to

039restrict their access to books in their school library. Josh C. writes, parents that are brave enough to talk to their kids about important topics should at least let them read about said topics. Why take away their option to learn about things before they have to face them in the real world? Sarah W. writes, books are a large source of information and a representation for many students. We are not an elementary. We can read a book about a gay teenager. Jennifer R. writes, books are history and books are a beautiful exploration of the mind. Don't censor books. Let children learn. Wendy L. writes, I will not allow other people to censor my child's education at Lindbergh High School. Thomas R. writes, I'm an alumni who doesn't want to see the degradation of diverse perspectives and a

040manufactured view of reality at my old high school. Emmy M. writes, memoirs in particular should never be banned because they reflect the real lived experiences of the writers. Banning these types of books would be tantamount to denying another's reality and likely a Lindbergh student's shared experience. Further, fictional novels meant to be allegorical in nature have been part of the high school curricula for decades, for good reason, to teach lessons. Otherwise, why not ban classics? I notice Canterbury Tales isn't on the list, nor is The Scarlet Letter, both of which touch on sensitive yet similar themes to those books in question. But we all know why these aren't on the proposed ban list, while others focused on the marginalized are on the list, in an intentional exclusion of different perspectives and experiences. This is unacceptable for

041a district of Lindbergh's caliber. I read a quote recently that I think sums it up fairly well. A good library should have something in it to offend everyone. Last speaker on agenda items is Teresa DeBure. Hi. I just wanted to say thank you all again for letting us come up here and speak. I really appreciate it, and I appreciate everything you guys do. I'm here to express my disapproval of the mask optional policy that has been put forward. I do have children in the district. It makes me very uncomfortable. One of them is vaccinated. One is unable to be vaccinated. So one of my biggest concerns is that a breakthrough case will come home to her. I have asked for the evidence that you all have used to develop this. It did not warrant what

042I thought was enough of a threshold to enact such a policy. On the other hand, I have seen and read and heard firsthand from medical professionals and credible websites like the CDC's website and the AAP that support continued universal masking through at least this surge. I know that I probably can't stop this from happening, but I'm here to implore the superintendent and the board to set reasonable metrics when considering community spread and vaccination thresholds in the schools. We are currently a very high transmission rate in our area, and I feel like this will translate to cases in the school and put children at risk. Based on the research I've done, looking at the school districts that you recommended, that is also what I had seen. I'm also here to beg, plead, implore, pretty, pretty please

043with no COVID sprinkles on top that if this policy must go ahead, the implementation waits for several weeks to allow for the protection against COVID cases that will inevitably happen over the holidays as they have with every other holiday that's occurred and will likely translate into the schools. So that's all. Thank you. All right, thank you to everyone who came up. I'm sorry, addressed the board tonight. And we will continue now with the business portion of the meeting. So we'll go to communications, and we'll start with the calendar of events. All righty. December 23rd is Records Day for staff, but no students will be at school. That's the end of the second quarter. There is no school as well. Offices are closed December 24th through the 31st. Our candidate, Board of Education candidate filing ends

044the 28th. The office will be open from 3 to 5. No school January 3rd and 4th, professional learning, and then school will resume January 5th. Facilities Advisory Committee will be January 12th. Student Life Advisory Committee will be January 13th. There is no school and the district will be closed again on January 17th and observation of Martin Luther King Day. Teaching and Learning Advisory Committee and the Finance Advisory will meet on January 18th. And on January 20th, we are back here again for another board workshop and regular Board of Education meeting. All right, thank you. Next report of meetings, anyone who has a state meeting? Any other meeting, parent group meeting that you attended that you'd like to report on? I attended the SSD Governing Council meeting this month. Some of the larger things that were

045discussed there on the fifth year, the last year of their CSIP plan, so they're in process of like looking forward to next year's development. Also, they're in the process of developing a strategic plan, and so they kind of went over that big picture, big topics for that, as well as their budget planning process as they work through that. And all those slideshows are available on their board docs if you want more information. Anyone else? All right, we do have one announcement. Do you want me to do the announcement? Oh, no, I can do it. Filing for two seats for the Board of Education candidates for the Lever School's Board of Education. They open on December 7th at 8 a.m. And the filing, just for your information, closes at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, December 28th. And

046that's the announcement. See, I could take care of it. I could handle all that. You did good, Mike. Great, right? Just want to remind them that on the 28th, it's 3 to 5 only. Like, they can't show up between 8 and... Okay. Maybe I couldn't do it. Thank you. 7.04, that's the review of the upcoming board meetings. Okay. So in January, as I said, we're going to meet on the 20th at 4.30 for a board workshop, and then our regularly scheduled board of education meeting will be at 7 p.m. The purpose of our workshop is to update our COMPASS goals, and we're very excited to hear those. Thank you. We have no Board of Education member appointments, so we'll go to 7.06, which is the MSBA Board Report for December, and we will play that

047now. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Missouri School Boards Association's Board Report for the month of December. We thank you for the opportunity to share some news and information during a few minutes of your board meeting. We begin with a look at the 2021 MSBA Annual Conference in cooperation with the Missouri Association of School Administrators. This year's event was held in Kansas City for the first time after being held virtually last year due to the pandemic. Among the general session speakers was Gene Becker, best-selling author and the chief of staff to former President George H.W. Bush until his death in 2018. Becker is a Missouri public school graduate. She said the former president's life of public service has lessons for all of us today. He lived life with joy, with passion, but mainly he had

048a servant's heart. One of his favorite quotes was, any definition of a successful life must include service to others. And he didn't just talk the talk, he walked the walk. And, of course, that's what all of you are doing by serving on a school board. Other general session speakers included Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez and Kansas City Chiefs mascot Dan Mears. The conference featured more than 100 concurrent sessions on a wide range of topics, including a panel discussion with members of the State Board of Education and Commissioner of Education Margie Van Deven. The State Board of Education has now established the group's priorities for the upcoming legislative session. At the top of the State Board of Education's list of key legislative priorities, addressing the growing educator recruitment and retention issues affecting public education.

049Board members specifically want to see the minimum teacher salary increased from its current $25,000 per year to at least $35,000 a year by the beginning of the 24-25 school year. The board also intends to appoint a blue-ribbon commission to make recommendations on teacher recruitment and retention solutions and opportunities. Other legislative priorities include addressing the digital divide in the state, exploring alternatives that replace the traditional time-based education system with a competency-based system, and phasing in a plan to allow local education agencies to count 100% of 4- and 5-year-olds in early learning programs in their calculation of average daily attendance in the foundation formula. Meanwhile, MSBA's Delegate Assembly met in conjunction with the annual conference to establish the position statements that will guide MSBA's advocacy work during the coming session that convenes on January 5th. MSBA's Associate

050Executive Director for Advocacy, Mike Reed, tells us he expects the legislature to consider several bills related to school boards. I see recall being one of the first bills to be introduced. I'm a little afraid that school board elections moving from April to November will be pushed very hard. I think when that happens, we lose our identity. in the middle of a big general election. And the school board running as a partisan situation, Republicans or Democrats don't have a candle completely on what's best for kids is what's best for kids, not on a party line. And so I think that would be devastating to many school boards to run on a partisan situation. But I believe all of those will come up for discussion. MSBA will strongly oppose bills providing school board recall, moving school board

051elections to the November general election date, and efforts to make school board elections partisan. We'll be keeping you informed on developments during the legislative session through our weekly Legislative Voice newsletter, critical issue alerts, and immediate updates on Twitter. Information on legislative issues also can be found on MSBA's Action Center website. And mark your calendar now for MSBA's legislative forum to be held in Jefferson City on March 7th. That's it for this month's edition of the MSBA Board Report. Thanks for allowing us to have some time at your board meeting, and so long from Columbia. All right, thank you, Colin. 8.0 is special reports. We'll start with Joelle, Finance and Facilities. We did not have a facility meeting this month. We will have it in January. We have been collecting, though, requests from the buildings on

052their capital improvements for next year, which is part of that committee's process. The finance committee met on Tuesday to go over the financial-related items on the board packet. We have quite a few technology bids on there for high school, the high school project, its classroom technology and switches and all that to get the high school up and running in August. We also had our bond council there, and Jason from Gilmore Bell was in the audience this evening too, to talk about refinancing of the debt bonds that occurred, the sale, and... how that went in November. Then we also have another bond issue. Well, it's a certificate of participation or leasehold revenue bonds that are being refinanced as we speak. There's an item on the board agenda, and he talked a little bit about that. That

053refinancing will come with some additional funding for some projects to finalize the high school. And that's what happened. It was a good meeting. Thank you. Dr. McKinney. No problem. Human Resources. Human Resources Advisory did not meet in December, but we will meet in January. All right. Thank you. And Dr. Sparks, your three committees. Student Life did not meet this month. Teaching and Learning Board Advisory met. I can't speak tonight. met and reviewed library policies and procedures in terms of recommendations for what will be coming to the board in the coming months as we discussed in our workshop earlier today. And then technology board advisory we met on Monday and spent some time Delving in a little bit deeper on the co-pilot website, looked at some sample videos that are being created to help families and

054students and staff navigate some of the technology resources that we have. Really focused on this concept of how we continue to support end users and using the technology tools that we have available. So spent some time on that and how that co-pilot site could be intuitive for families who need those resources. And then started to investigate options with regard to how we use Google Chat within our schools. And that conversation I anticipate is going to continue. All right. Thank you. Now we'll move to 9.0, which is action items by consent. We have items 9.01 to 9.12. Would anyone like to remove any of these items for individual consideration? All right, hearing none, do I have a motion to approve consent items 9.01 to 9.12, noting there are none for 9.07 and 9.08? So moved. Motion

055by Jen. Second. Second by Matt. Any questions or comments on these items? All right, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? All right, motion carries. We'll move to 10.0, individual action items. We do have seven. and this evening so we'll start with the revised green light plan dr link sure so what you have before you is the revised green light plan it's basically to describe this it's like a toolbox for us that we can access these tools at different points moving forward as we continue to educate our kids in in our current pandemic in the current situation we're in With that the biggest thing to note in our revised plan is a mask optional environment We communicated last Friday that we would like to begin that starting Second semester as a k-12 mask optional environment There isn't

056a date in there because this is a plan that you approve that allows the superintendent and his or her designee to use these tools as as their discretion so for an example, we might you know go back to eating in the classroom if we had to if we had a large outbreak spread kids out so it's a tool for us but we wanted to have that mask optional in there so that's what's before you for your consideration um i have a question i think Dr. McKinney, can you just kind of highlight the quarantine procedures? And it seems like those are staying pretty similar. And then also the contact tracing. Are there any changes to that? Sure. So we have authority through several school board policies and state statutes to exclude children from school if they

057have a contagious transmissible disease. And so moving forward in this plan, we would exclude students from school who test positive for COVID. Anybody that's unvaccinated in that household of the student tested positive. We would also exclude students from school, at least temporarily, who show COVID-like symptoms. So those headaches, respiratory distress, running a fever, those kinds of things. So as far as contact tracing, contact tracing will be done and families will be notified. However, students that are contacts will not be excluded from school. Thank you. I wanted to mention that I was on the school reopening task force committee that was instrumental in providing details in this plan. And one of the things about the plan that some parents were cautious about was the mask optional. But the saving grace of that was the one and

058a half percent metric that is in there. And so, Dr. McKinney, if you could just. Off the top of your head. Do you know how many times we would have hit that one per one and a half percent? over the course of last year through this year. So we did a scenario back through this year, and this year there would have been one time one school would have gone back into wearing masks due to the 1.5%. We've had one case this year where we would have gone over that threshold to this point. Okay. So I think it's worth noting that, you know, because of that metric, we have that ability to bring masks back into the school like Dr. Lake was saying. Matt, I just also there, You know, when we looked at that data,

059we also, and I know there was a comment about Halloween and Thanksgiving and some other things. So the last two years, Halloween has been our biggest uptick. I mean, everybody gets together, trick-or-treating, whatever it is. That's been our biggest uptick. You know, other holidays, we've seen small upticks over that. When we looked at that uptick after Halloween, we had one of our elementaries that we saw some secondary transmission. And, you know, we've had kids not... wearing masks properly, you know, that were positive in our schools and kids were exposed and we've seen a little transmission, but we have not seen very much transmission, even when masks weren't worn properly if they were down and we've excluded kids from the building. So what we really looked at was that pressure point. So it was a combination

060of, you know, a very conservative number that would require us to. put masks back on to catch any kind of large outbreak. If you look around our county, as more and more districts begin to go to this model, you'll see as high as 4%. You'll see, you know, 2%. We're on the low end at 1.5%. So we feel confident that we should be able to. And again, like we've done through this entire pandemic, we will make a pivot. And if we need to adjust that to make sure that we can operate. But there was that pressure point at that school when we started to see those eight, nine. Kind of trans, you know, where kids were positive in that one elementary that we felt like, and staff members as well that we felt like. So

061that's, you know, between Jessica Franklin, our lead nurse, and Dr. McKinney doing our data analysis. And like I said, other districts, like I think Parkway last night just approved a 2% as well last night. And I think Rockwood is actually going tonight, and I think they're at a 4%. So, Parkway. So Rockwood's proposal, my understanding is it'll be right after the semester. I believe Parkway is for secondary right now. I have two Parkway employees sitting up here with me, so they can probably tell me better than me. It actually fits my question to you also right now, because what they're going to do is they're going to revisit it again. I mean, they have a plan and they have the strategies in place, but they're going to revisit again at the next board meeting. So

062I assume we'll be able to take a look at this every single board meeting. absolutely the plan for transparency and just making sure we are doing our due diligence every month we're going to bring this plan is going to be on your consent agenda and if we need to make some changes to these tools and if there needs to be an emergency meeting you know i need to call you guys in and go hey we got to do something different you know we've said that all along you know we were the only school district in the county last year in august of 2020 that started in the hybrid and i have a couple of our teachers sitting out here and we worked with them and we talked and we said you know we can't do

063what we did last March with our kids they can't be home they need to be here and so we we said let's let's see how this does it worked and then we went fourth and fifth grade and I remember a vivid conversation with Carrie Turek our NEA president in the hallway when I said we were going to bring elementary back five days a week she was it was not us it was she was not real happy with me but again we have Every one of these decisions is made with great care and lots of consideration and lots of thoughtfulness and not in a vacuum. We have so many voices that we bounce and get ideas off of. We are not sitting in there, three or four of us, making these decisions. It is a very

064well thought out, thoughtful decision every step of the way. And I'll use athletics at the high school as an example. Last year, we were told we couldn't play athletics. We pushed on that. We were able to get those kids those experiences. had to have masks on. This year we're doing athletics without masks on. We have not, knock on wood, in Lindbergh had any secondary transmissions athletically with masks off with our kids, with kids coming from other schools and other communities. So we believe this is our next step to move back to educating our kids during this time while we're continuing to see variants. And we are very aware of that variant. And we will continue to monitor it. And we're learning more and more information. I read a really good article today in the New

065York Times about it. So again, to Kathy's point, if we need to do something different, we will do that. We have the ability to call an emergency meeting 24 hours and we can do what we need to do. So we will we will be mindful. And I think we've demonstrated that this board and this administration through through the whole pandemic. So. Okay, and Dr. Lake, my question is maybe a fear or terror, whichever one, Dr. Sparks. I am a parent. I want my kid to wear a mask, but no one else in the class has it on. So how will we handle the students who might be made fun of or be bullied? Well, I think, first of all, we anticipate that... a large number of students and staff members are going to continue to

066choose to wear masks. So I think there's that level of expectation. The other reality is that we have our expectations for how we treat one another, and we would expect that same level of kindness and respect to happen if people choose to make options regarding their masks. We have not overall from districts who already have these processes in place, we've not heard that that's a problem. So just from the conversations, the research that we do, we are not anticipating that that's going to be an issue. Okay thank you. And and I would say this too you know we did a Christie to that I could see elementary teachers when they give direct instruction maybe have their mask off so the kids can clearly hear what they're saying reading lips seeing facial expressions but maybe if

067they're working one on you know in a small group in close setting I could see them putting their mask back on a good friend of mine is a counselor at least summit north high school lee summit went to this model right after thanksgiving and has had success and i was with him last weekend in kansas city the wedding and he said you know we still got probably around 40 of our kids you know wearing masks you know in our building so to tara's point we will see vaccinated people wearing masks and we'll see unvaccinated people wearing masks and you know and again we believe the mask optional gives that flexibility and choice for our families so Christy, I've thought of that as well. And I think something that I have been thinking about a lot

068is that this is a real community effort because it's a new change. It's another change where we're trying to get back to the normalcy that we had before COVID. And with change, at least I'll speak for myself, brings fear, right? And so I... Just look to our community to say that we have to do this together We we want this to work for our kids We want this to work for our community and we need to come together as a community to make sure that we are Making decisions that benefit all of us because we all do better when we all do better and I have definitely grappled with this and have brought owned my own fears in this mask optional environment and something that has brought me peace is You know to what others

069were saying is that one and a half percent threshold because it is a conservative member it makes me feel more confident that we will we have these Mitigations in place that will help us make changes if we need them and to create a safe environment and to create a healthy environment. And that's really important for all of us, especially the kids. I'm just speaking for myself, like I have a child who has been hospitalized with asthma many times. So it worries me, but I'm willing to try. And I hope that our community will see this as an opportunity to try something just as we've tried different different phases of this throughout the past almost two years and that knowing that with that trying time we have very specific things in place to keep us safe

070if it doesn't work but we don't know what we don't know we don't know if this will work we hope it does but if it doesn't then we have We have things in place that will keep everyone safe, and that has what has really grounded me in this. And so I just, I hope that looking out to our community, that we can all be in this to create a safe environment for our kids and for our staff and everyone here. And I will just say this, our parents and our community have been outstanding about not sending their kids to school sick the last two years, and we need to continue that. And I implore parents and those that are watching online, that is a really important thing. And I know sometimes that's inconvenience, but don't

071assume it's a cold. You know, we need to think that it could be something different and really make sure that we continue to do that. We've had very few times where parents have sent their kids, you know, to school that way. So just again. Megan's point I just think we we really need to make sure that we continue to to be mindful of that so and again districts that have lots some districts and places have gone mask optional and they don't have a metric to put the mask back on we have a metric to put the mask back on that we believe is very conservative any other comments questions but I just want to give some credit to Dr. Lake and the entire administration for the time and effort that they put into this Over

072the last couple years and this plan and building the right metrics and getting the right information and bringing perspective from the right people So thank you for that I personally think it's a good plan that will be effective. And I just want to make one other comment because there has been, when we announced this, there's been some impressions that this was based on some information our Attorney General had put out recently. We were talking about this in early November. I started conversations with our NEA back at the end of October, early November, other superintendents in the county as well. We knew that this was the next iteration that we needed to be working towards for our students and our families. Again, I want to make sure that people and parents don't think that we're caving

073to a certain political pressure or somebody that's put out some information to us demanding certain things. This was conversations that were happening well before that ever came out. So that court ruling in Cole County and the cease and desist letter that we received. Which that's exactly where I was going. Okay. Sorry. They're not gonna let me have motions anymore That's why they let them do it because all you guys give me this mic. I will start talking right? Right? So can we turn this one off again? No, but thank you. That's that's a very good point there. So I do I have a motion to approve the revised green light plan as presented motion by Mike second second by Christine all in favor Opposed all right motion carries Thank you, everybody. 10.02 is the Certificates

074of Participation and Refinancing Board Resolution and Parameters. Joelle? Yes, you have the information in your packet, and we also have our Gilmore Bell attorney here who helped us draft all the documents and keep us legal on these refinancings. This is a certificate of participation. It can also be considered a leasehold revenue bond. Seeking a resolution from you guys to move forward with a sale on these bonds the bonds amount will be $19,000 part of that again will be refinancing 2016 Fonds that built this building I will say I mean our interest rate market is very good on the bonds that we sold in November We were at a 1.1 percent rate for 40 million dollars in bonds and saved over four four million dollars for the district So, you know not we're not earning a

075lot of interest where it's on the debt side. It's a good picture. So If you have any questions that you want to ask about the details, we'd be glad to answer them or Jason's here as well any questions So I got to start back here. Do I have a motion to approve the resolution authorizing Lindbergh schools to enter in a lease purchase transaction and procedure for use to finance projects at a high school and refund outstanding lease obligations to the district to approve the execution of certain documents? So moved. Second. Motion by Matt. Or flip-flop. Motion by Megan. Second. Second. Second by Matt. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Alright motion carries. Thank you guys 10.03 is the construction management at risk well again Yes, the information is in the packet again, and I don't think

076I need to over explain this because you guys were all involved in the interviews with our construction management at risk finalist. We spent four hours here together going over this process. It is a new process to Missouri schools. Our policy changed in 2018 to allow us to drive this construction method. We are looking to use this construction method on the gifted center, which will be on the high school property in the old library. So this is really the first step to get a contractor on board who will sit with us to finalize the design of the improvement and then work on construction documents. The goal of this process is to have the gifted center open at the same time the high school is finalized, which will be in August 2023. So we're ready to move

077on it. You guys have any questions? I just wanted to say thank you for all your hard work on this. I think that the gifted center is going to be really impressive, and I'm excited to have that for our district. So thanks for everything you're doing. Agree. I'm excited to see how this construction management at risk goes for us, and then also super excited to see what the library know the new gifted center will look like. I'm just excited the Gifted Center has its own home eventually. Yes, yes. Well, and I'm going to give Christy a shout out because it was her idea in a brainstorming that came up with the idea of how do we repurpose that library on the high school campus. So, Christy, maybe we'll put a little something in there for

078you, Christy. Thank you. That was very kind of you. All right. Any other questions for Joelle? Alright, do I have a motion to approve the selection of BSI constructions incorporated for the construction management at-risk gifted center project and authorized administration to negotiate a contract as presented? So moved. Motion by Jen. Second. Second by Kathy. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. 10.04, summary of revisions of the LHS Navigator. So it's that time of the year that we are planning actively for the 22-23 school year. And so this is one of those early steps. Once our students come back from winter break, we run into registration processes for high school course enrollment. And our navigator serves as that document to outline all the course offerings for our high school students and the description. So what I'm

079excited to share with you tonight are some of the... Changes to the navigator going into the 22-23 school year. You'll see some really exciting content here. The fact that we are now starting the aviation course, which is a semester course moving us towards drone pilot programming at Lindbergh High School. So some really amazing opportunities for our students that are going to lead them to have some certification options. You can also see the early development of the AP Capstone program, another program that will help to give students enriching, rigorous opportunities to prepare for life beyond high school. So the seminar course is being added for our sophomores through 12th graders. And then something that I'm really excited about is the revision to the English 4 curriculum. Typically what you see in an English 4 class is

080students sign up for English 4 and they get what they get. But this offers an opportunity for students to have a more personalized experience where they can identify, for instance, career and technical communication. If students really want to focus in on technical communication, technical writing, this is an opportunity for them to really delve in. We talk a lot about personalization of learning for our students, and the way that this course is being redesigned is a great example of that. And then you can also see just some clarifying components of courses that are removed when that happens. And it's typically because that program is either no longer viable, students aren't really selecting those courses, or something is replacing it in order to move forward. And then some adjustments to language specifically. Any questions? Just comments. I

081mean, this is phenomenal when you talk about all the college credit and things that you're adding here, even like in child development, too. That's excellent. I really love the AP capstone switch right there, which is wonderful. And again, thank you for the English courses. It's great. Any other? It just feels like we've talked about this for a while and COVID kind of paused it for us. And so now we actually get to see some of these exciting options or choices for the students. A lot of credit to our teachers as they're working to design these. Great. All right. Motion to approve the summary of revisions to the LHS Navigator for the 2022-2023 school year as presented. So moved. Second by Kathy. Second by Matt. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? All right, motion carries. So now

082we move to 10.05, which is the request for reconsideration for Handmaid's Tale for classroom use. Dr. Sparks? We have three requests for reconsideration of texts. I'm going to, before we go into each individual one, because I know they're individual action items, I just want to give an overview of the process, because I think the process is a really important element in terms of the context here. You see referenced in the description that whenever there is a request to reconsider a text, or sometimes we use the word challenge, we have a procedure that we institute that allows us to determine what is appropriate next step. And that is that procedure KLB AP1 is what's designated here. So ultimately what happens is a committee is designed that committee is comprised of parents, students, staff members who read

083the book in its entirety, look at it as an entire text, literary text, look at the selection criteria, and then weigh the strengths and weaknesses against district curriculum, student development. educational philosophy, relevance to student experiences in order to make a recommendation. So that process has occurred for each of these three reconsiderations. Although we have two texts, we have one that was being reconsidered for classroom use and then two for the library specifically. So when we are talking about this first one, Handmaid's Tale, the Handmaid's Tale is a text that is used in our... Honors English 2 class. It is a choice novel. It's one of a few, actually I believe there are four choice novels for students within that course. And after review and reading the text and having full committee conversations, the recommendation from

084the review committee was to retain the text with clarification to families in the syllabus in a timely manner about any... any concerns that may exist for parents so that they could help to work with their children to make a choice as to whether this book is an appropriate option or not. Again, that goes back to the fact that this is not a class-required read. It is a class-optional read. Any questions for Dr. Sparks? Yeah, Tara. So when the challenge was made, I'm looking at some information here. So I see what looks like... Ten parents who made this challenge. I don't either it's on a That's on the memorandum. I think that's attached in our board Docs. There were some that oh, are you talking about the appeal? Specifically, yeah. Well, that's a good that's a

085good point and I should have shared that So what is included here in the docs specifically is a summary from the committee and then it is for your reconsideration Because an appeal has been made to reconsider what the committee's recommendation was. Thank you. I apologize. I should have shared that Just to clarify, so if there is no appeal, then it does not come to the board? Correct. If there is no appeal, the committee's review stands as to what their outcome is. My question is about the classroom. I can wait until we get... After there's a motion. Is that what you're waiting on? Mine is not about the process. Mine is about the specific. So, yeah. So I think that that's where we are right now is the review committee has recommended to retain the Handmaid's

086Tale for classroom use with the expectation that there's clear communication to families. Okay. All right, my questions are, how are books chosen for the classroom, whether they be mandatory or optional? Are they considered part of the curriculum? How does that apply? So curriculum is always written first with a focus on learning standards, and then we identify what are the priority, I'm sorry, yes, learning standards, and then we focus on what are those priority standards, and then you unpack from their learning targets, so specific skill sets you want to see. occur for students. Resources are then selected at a later time in order to provide the instruction. For instance, if you look at our math curriculum, one of the things you'll see with the math curriculum is there aren't any resources even in the math curriculum

087because you select the text after the curriculum has already been board approved. So resources are intended to support the curriculum and the learning standards specifically. So when our teachers are selecting texts, they are looking at those learning standards. In this particular case, as an English 2 honors class, they are also looking heavily at those AP strategies and helping students to understand how diction and imagery affects writing and then to apply that within their own writing. So you're getting into some really higher level thinking skills, so you need to have text that has a lot of depth and quality of writing. This particular text was selected because the teachers were using only one text to teach a dystopian genre, which is a viable genre within any of our literature classes, and because there was the need

088to personalize more. And especially as our teachers analyzed the gamut of texts that are available for students, one of the things that our teachers found with this particular course is that over the course of two years, if students were taking honors English classes, they weren't reading books with female protagonists. So that was a really important priority for them in trying to expand the choice novels for this particular unit is that they would find more diverse characters that students would relate to in different ways. So this text is unique in that it is a text by a living author, which is not something we often get to experience within our more rigorous coursework. And it was used and decided on because it was a good pairing with 1984, which was the original text that was selected

089for all students to read in that particular unit, and then wanting to have an additional companion piece that aligned really well with the same standards that could be taught. And then you said it was a choice novel. I'm curious if a family does not like any of the choices for that particular unit, what happens? If that happens, we will always work with the family to try to select another choice novel. The fact that they are choice novels, no student is really excluded because you're not talking about it from a whole class perspective. But the preference would be that we have enough diversity within the choice novels that something would be appropriately selected for a family or a choice that they feel comfortable with. I know that the teachers for this particular unit have been very

090intentional about finding diverse options that they feel like if parents are concerned about 1984 Handmaid's Tale specifically, that they've added more enriching topics that don't cover the same content that families could select from. Thanks. You're welcome. All right. Do we have a motion to approve the recommendation of the review committee to retain Handmaid's Tale for the classroom instruction? So moved. Motion by Megan. Second? Second. Second by Matt. Any other additional questions? Tara, I just wanted to ask, this honors English as preparation for college-level reading. Is that correct? It is in that sequence, yes. The type of student taking this class is one who, once their thinking's stretched, who are preparing them for that college-level class. Correct. And they are using very specific advanced placement strategies that help to build on that skill set to help

091students be successful in the next layers of coursework as well. Okay. And I want to thank the committee because I just found out the other day that volunteered all of their time to do this. Not only read it, but sit in the meetings and analyze it. So I want to thank them. I know Dr. Cochran's in here. Thank you all. And thank the students, parents, teachers, everybody. My last question is, in this committee, was it talked about the emotional piece of this? If a student reads the pages that are outlined and they become upset or not sure how to unpack that, was that discussed in your committee? So I am not in the committee, so I can't, I'm not privy to all of the conversations that have been had, but I can tell you that

092we've had conversations with our own licensed clinical social workers and our school counselors. about how to ensure that when students have experienced trauma that they might be reintroduced to in a piece of literature, what are the options there. And they feel very strongly that as long as students are well informed about the content that they may come into contact with and there's clear levels of choice. There is the reality that students respond differently to being reintroduced to traumatic events that they've experienced. Some students find it empowering that they see that they're not isolated in a situation that only happened to them. They see that they're not alone. And then for other students, it can be very challenging. So being able to differentiate that is really a key point to that choice level aspect. You're welcome.

093I wanted to ask when you got down to that, point that you just made, Tara, about the narrative. And, you know, obviously there's a lot of trauma in this book. I'm sorry. I hire him to do this. Five dollars an hour. But, yeah, I wanted to ask about this because when we talk about, you know, trauma and what we or what students read, okay, we talk about You know, how that's something they may connect with, maybe it's something they've never experienced. And then perhaps, though, if they have experienced similar trauma in some way, I mean, violent trauma, sexual trauma, and so forth, abuse. And that's all kind of present here. I mean, you know, Margaret Atwood's a great writer. I don't think anybody would deny that. But because this narrative does focus on something that,

094for instance, if a student, unfortunately, was experiencing something like what that student's reading here. In their lives could that not just I mean, you know bring upon a lot of emotional pain a lot of issues We talked about being trauma-informed as school districts today. We have to be watchful of that and so I would say is dirt like there's that side to it So has that been in consideration with the discussions? I did not sit in that committee. I sat in on one last night on a different book and And as I've said to my fellow board members when we held our workshop, I strongly encourage them if they get an opportunity to do so because it's very enlightening to hear the conversations that go on there. I was just an observer. But I guess

095another issue that, well, we're faced with, some of us may be faced with here, is we had a report from this committee. and Eric that came from Dr. Cochran and the report basically broke it out. So, you know, it had two recommendations out of the one report and we're voting on those recommendations as individual items even though it came from one committee that met and it was later split out, I guess, for procedural purposes and for voting. But I brought this up during our workshop and I would encourage anybody if you weren't here for the workshop we had earlier, go online and view it. It's very interesting about library policy and what we're thinking about, what we're talking about in terms of potentially changing it. But the thing is, we came out of this with

096two decisions. One with, you know, in class, okay, I know I'm jumping ahead because we're, you know, but one that's an in-class decision to flag it for parents in the syllabus and so forth if they feel as though this might not be something appropriate for their child to read or have some option. But yet it's to be retained. circulation with no restriction and if you look at the meeting if you go back and you see the meeting again I encourage you we were talking about what we might do down the road with this I'd almost say we're almost kind of premature in doing what we're doing tonight because we're doing we're dealing with the dualism where we have books available in one setting and books that are given a flag to parents and another that

097would You know pull those books from students. I mean at parental discretion. I would be interested in knowing How did we come to that where we had such a split? Decision and I know Eric you wrote a bit about that in the report But I think it's worth again Specifically saying because we're doing two votes here and I gotta be honest. I don't really feel comfortable with this Because we're two two votes on one source material one book and for different purposes and conflicting So with that on that's the only comment I have I'll pass that along I do want to comment on that. I think that it's important to note, you know, when you talk about the discrepancy between retained in the library and then retained in the classroom with the note to families,

098there's that difference in to what degree it's being offered. So the fact that it is part of a syllabus and offered as an instructional option directly to students puts a different lens on it than if it is in the library and a completely choice option for students with no direction. So I think that is, again, I wasn't in the committee, but I would infer that that is a layer of that conversation. Yeah, it just seems like a contradiction. And it really makes me, I'm having a lot of trouble with this. Because on the one hand, we're providing parents with some level of oversight. And then on the other hand, well, you know, the book is available to any student, again, any time. And again, we were talking earlier about how we may address that down

099the road. But I just wanted to make note of that. And thanks. I think it's also important to remember that our library media specialist stated that if a parent does have an issue with a book that is in the library, that they can state that specific title to say that they don't want their child to have it. So if that helps with that discrepancy as well, if there is an... understanding of Handmaid's Tale, then a parent can go to the librarian and say, I don't want my child to check out this book from the library. And that will be on their record. And that would be on their record. So they'd have the ability to do that, but yet the student can still browse for it and just pull it off. So in other words,

100they won't be able to check it out, correct? Because it's been flagged by the parents. Parents are given that level of oversight. And we're talking here, I think, about minors, right? About younger students. Not 18, or not adults, certainly. But it seems like, again, it's a duality to me, where parents are given oversight on the one hand, but then it's sort of removed from them in another way. So that seems kind of, that needs to be ironed out somehow, and I don't know how it can be. All right, all in favor of the motion as presented? Aye. Opposed? Nay. Motion carries. Let's refrain a little bit and just stick to the business. The business at hand. 10.06 is the request for reconsideration, the handmaid's tale for library use. Correct. So we have the same book,

101and then this really has to do with setting in this case. So the recommendation is to retain the handmaid's tale in the library. Questions? Question so the motion is to prove the recommendation to the view the committee to retain the handman's tale in the high school library I have a motion to approve so moved by Kathy second second by Megan any further questions all in favor Opposed all right motion does carry 10 10.07 is the request for reconsideration for the book genderqueer And similar process is what was outlined with The Handmaid's Tale. So the committee thoroughly discussed the merits of the book as well as the content that was identified as concerning and recommended to retain genderqueer in the high school library. So the recommendation is to follow the committee's recommendation. So do I have

102a motion to approve the recommendation of the review committee to retain genderqueer in the high school library? So moved. Motion by Megan. Second? Second. Second by Christy. Any questions? I just want to say this was a tough one because of the graphics. And I really wish the author hadn't done that. But after reading the book... the overall premise of it, I could see some students valuing this because they might be in that position, in those shoes. And can we talk about that related piece or the inclusive piece? And so I could see that. But it was tough with the graphics in there. I agree with you, Christy. And not only does this story have value to our students, it shows that the students that do relate to this book deserve a place in our schools.

103And I think that's what the most important thing is, is that students who might be struggling with this topic, will Find a place in our schools and they deserve that they deserve to to be seen in their books So I'm proud of our committee for this. Yeah, the inclusion piece is what we're talking about here I'm so sorry. I couldn't hear some of your comments from before but I'll try to rewatch the videotape and see that but thank you or we finish with comments or do we have comments? Oh No, I just I just wanted to say to that You know with this particular work there are as as Christy mentioned some very difficult images in here and you know and as somebody Who has you know extended family member a young person? Who has

104struggled with these issues recently and and our family has? Obviously, you know, you know embraced him, you know, I mean we don't we don't turn people away. We're being welcoming The issue, though, with this particular work are the explicitness of the images. Now, I don't know how many... Wait a minute. I don't know how many here have actually read the book, and there could be some who would say yes or some value some way to this if kids are struggling with certain issues. but when you you know let's just say let's just give it that but when you get to these specific images i mean these are very very very explicit and for me i was actually a bit surprised and i couldn't sit i didn't sit on this committee i wish i would have

105just heard some of the back and forth uh you know to me i was surprised it didn't come out with at least a flag for parents um you know, there are a lot of difficult issues we're dealing with. But when you have images of this type that were so explicit, and there are others, of course, that are explicit in different ways, it has to give you pause. And it has to, we just have to empower parents by providing that flag just to say, well, this contains content here that you might not approve of. And I just didn't see that coming out of this committee. So that's my concern. Thank you. What I'm not hearing, though, is that, yes, those images are graphic, but if you're looking at it in the context of the book, there

106is actually very healthy conversation. And so I just don't I don't want it. I just want to make sure that people understand that there is there is content and context with the images that still is valuable. That other that larger story is indeed there in that larger narrative. But again, I mean if you if you look specifically at you know at those images you cannot come away with any other you know thought that that is extremely explicit to the point that you know I would have to I would likely find that an adult bookstore and I'm not in a and on the school library pardon I don't know you know I'm just trying to make a point so given that and I understand the concerns you know there are some very very not so much

107even the subject but these are images that are just out there Parents have to be given some Some sense of you know a flag on that and I just didn't see that here point taken Mike All in favor of the motion as presented Opposed motion does carry we'll move to 11.0 which is reports there are no for the record or other reports So we'll skip to 11.0 3 which is the review of board policies So there was a first reading for policy BBB. We brought back to our next meeting seeking approval, and you can ask Dr. McKinney any questions you might have on that particular board policy. Now we'll move to 12.0, which is citizen comments regarding non-agenda items. So at this time, we will hear any comments regarding those items. So reminder, it's three

108minutes. We only have two folks signed up. So we'll start with Carrie Turk. first a parent of three one elementary and two high school a fifth grade teacher of 22 years limburg alum and limburg's nea president i'm here tonight to make a statement of gratitude as the past 21 months have been nothing short of a challenge we have navigated through this pandemic with your consistent support As times were difficult and the stress of our job brought challenges and presently challenges us, you trusted us and listened to the teachers so we could serve our students better mentally, academically, and socially. Lindbergh has the best of the best teachers who continue day in and day out to put our students first. Anyone can come into a classroom and deliver curriculum, read from a scripted text, and assign

109work. However, Lindbergh teachers make those connections and look to enhance their lessons to have the magic of learning come alive. Shifting the mindset of students having to go to school to wanting to because of who is delivering the curriculum. Thank you to the community for trusting us with your most precious treasure. And thank you to the board for trusting us as professionals. Our curriculum is our passion, but our students are our heart and soul. They are the reason we do what we do and your leadership has continued to make this possible. Thank you to our board and our admin, your team for your leadership, support, and guidance. We work together to make Lindbergh excel. We look forward to our continued partnership. Thank you. Thank you. Final speaker is John Robey. John's here, so okay. Thank

110you for the comment and we will move to... 13.0, which is recess. We already conducted our executive session, so there's no need. So we'll move to 15.0, which is adjournment. Do I have a motion to adjourn Board Meeting 1545? So moved. Second. Motion by Matt, second by Christy and Kathy. So we'll go with Christy on that one. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? All right. Board Meeting 1545 is adjourned.