October 24, 2024 KLSD BOE Meeting

001for just in time e up it's been it's been a w good evening everyone thank you very much for being here we're always very grateful when the community joins us for our meetings um tonight is Thursday October 24th can I get a motion to come back into public session motion by Barbara seconded by John all those in favor hi I uh 60 excellent so welcome we're very happy to have everyone here this evening this evening we have a brief discussion about our um Le Shady Lane evaluation committee charge um and so just to give you a sense of the order of events we will um hear a student trustee report we will have our presentation and then we'll have public comment so it'll just be a few minutes before public comment um and then everyone

002can participate in that um but before we begin we're going to start with the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all so we're going to start with any board announcements um I look to my colleagues first if anyone has any announcements that they wanted to make just a quick thank you to the board and to the district for allowing Barbara and I to have a lovely day at the nisba convention on Monday uh we were able to attend a variety of really interesting and diverse sessions and we were able to enjoy lunch together and it was a well attended conference and we both took extensive notes which we will share with you

003soon so thank you thank you for going we appreciate it we know it's trip into the City and time and we appreciate you being there on our behalf thank you just good luck to all of our athletes as playoffs are beginning so good luck teams are teams are doing well and we hope for the best so I think we're going to turn to item 7.01 so Ian would you like to present your report sure so as we round out our second month of school it feels like we've barely been here for a week but so much has already happened we've welcomed new students and returning ones alike coming together over homecoming and are now gearing up for the rest of the year ahead of us though our homecoming game itself might not have gone the

004way we wanted it to we more than made up for it with our performances from the dance team in route 121 as long as all the spirit that we had in our student section all schools have had their picture days but if photos didn't come out how students or parents wanted them to or if students weren't able to make it we do have makeup day scheduled fire prevention week at the elementary schools happened the week of the 6th in which students enjoyed visits from their local fire departments where they were talked to about what to do in case of a fire as well as getting used to seeing firefighters in their gear a highlight for Meadow Pond's fifth grader specifically was being able to enter a smoke filled room non hat asard is of course

005and crawling to the window and climbing out um across our district we also had our early dismiss drill on the 11th which went well and gave students a taste of what it was like to have an emergency evacuation both meow ponds and increased Miller students are enjoying their revamped Wings space with adjustable seating Bean back chairs and improved lighting now onto metopon specifically a new tradition of forest Fridays have started with kindergarteners that includes Garden visits and nature walks on October 2nd they celebrated custodian appreciation day in which they took time out of their days to show the custodians how much they appreciated them October 10th saw um meop Pond's Harvest in which students went to the Garden picked vegetables and even started preparing them for October 11th soup day in which students got to

006enjoy soup made with the vegetables from their own garden um October 25th tomorrow they're looking towards a community meeting Spirit day and then later in the day they're pasta night next Friday they're going to have Max's Fright Fest an annual Halloween celebration put on by the PTO moving on to increase Miller they celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with a visit from the Phyllis Rose Dance Company performed a variety of dances from Puerto Rico Brazil and Spain it's one of six cultural celebration events planned for the school year and we can't wait to see what they have in store for the next of these events October 18th was their pasta night which also went very well and saw students serving pasta to parents and other community members and on the 14th of November they're looking to have

007their PTO fifth grade bingo moving on to Katona Elementary they're having their PTO Halloween fair on the 26th November 8th is going to see their PTO Hol day uh food drive begin November 14th through 18th we'll have PTO Book Fairs moving on to the middle school now September 10th saw JN J Middle School be recognized as an apple distinguished School meaning that we're using technology in an Innovative and effective way to teach students and encourage them to pursue their passions September 20th was our homecoming pep rally in which students all gathered around to celebrate Athletics and school spirit in general September 26th saw sixth graders Bond at bosies over a challenge course in which they were taken out into the woods to do a variety of team building activities and on November 23rd through the

00821st our fall drama of aliceon Wonderland will be uh put on moving on lastly to the high school we also had a homecoming pep rally on the 20th as well as our club Fair which gave students a taste of all the clubs that jnj had to offer and brought us together for our homecoming day the next day through a pep rally and inductions to the athletic Hall of Fame November 14th through 16th we'll have our fall drama the dining room showing and November 14th will also be the opening night for our John J High School Arts show November 25th we'll kick off our thanks and giving week in which we give thanks for what we have and try to give back to those less fortunate through food drives or other clothing drives lastly in terms

009of student government Lee John J had their conference on the 13th which helped plan the club Fair as well as establishing a good connection with freshman through freshman orientation the club Fair went as planned went great as well as again the pep rally and athletic Hall of Fame induction lastly for campus Congress we've broken up into five committees those being curriculum Athletics food special events and volunteer committees on top of holding elections for freshman and sophomore Representatives with this year's freshman representative being Owen denl lch and our sophomore representative this year being Samuel Katz thank you thanks thank you so much Ian it's always so great to hear about the schools we appreciate your enthusiasm and um it's nice to hear about all the different events that are happening in our school so thank you

010very much thanks for being here so item 8.01 is um just a report out from the Lees Shady Lane evaluation committee um which will be followed by um item 8.02 which is just a resolution regarding the charge of that committee so um I don't know if no just get so uh really in here tonight we we're just asking for some more time as we met initially with our committee there and looking at providing some committee information to the team regarding um some of the related costs that may be involved with uh uh either adjusting where we're at right now with facility needs Roofing and those elements and so we just need some more time so if we can extend the the timeline for the report back hopefully come back to that point in time with

011a with a solid piece again working on what was in there last year but what are the possibilities we can work within the the constraints of the space as well as the constraints of a fiscal operating budget we have as well too so we're trying to look at those two components I think we had a really good discussion with the committee at our last meeting and the community members who are there are really helpful in that discussion as well and we have a great group we have a great group of people and the community has been really helpful I just think we have questions that we need more information to answer so we hope to be able to bring a recommendation to the board this fall um but I think the time we really need

012to get accurate and um the appropriate amount of information really is going to require us to push um later in the year I don't know if anyone has any other questions oh great okay so um so resolution 8.02 uh is a recommendation that the committee extend our charge to April we'll report to the board in April of 2025 um so if someone wants to make a motion to Move Motion by line Second by Bill all those in favor 60 excellent great so for those of you here for public comment you're lucky tonight we have we have a short uh presentation so we can get to public comment right away we're at item 9.01 I just want to we have a lot of people here speaking tonight um which is terrific There are 16 people currently

013signed up to speak if you're here and wanted to speak and you didn't do so there's an iPad as you enter um the library on your left please make sure that you do sign up there so that we can keep track of who's speaking um we do ask that everyone speak for 3 minutes uh cam has a timer on her desk there's some beeping that's going to happen to for her to set it back but it's a visual timer so it will start out green when you have 30 seconds left so at two minutes and 30 seconds it will go to yellow and then when three minutes are up it will beep and also turn red so you have both a visual and auditory notice that the 3 minutes are up um we do have

014some students speaking so I would love to try to just be respectful of the 3 minutes because they have to get up for school tomorrow so I want to make sure that um you know we get through some of them are signed up towards the end of the list and um so I want to be respectful of them making sure that they get adequate sleep for school tomorrow and um as is our practice the board listens at public comment we will have discussion at a subsequent meeting potentially um you know this evening we'll discuss what we heard at our last board meeting um so we won't be responding or having a back and forth um but we're here to listen and and we're happy to hear your perspectives I will try as hard as I

015can to pronounce everyone's names properly I apologize in advance if I get it wrong uh so our first speaker is cage SCH my name is Kate schwar my pronouns are he him and I am a senior at John J but most importantly I am a trans man who went to Katona Elementary School I didn't like it very much I never could fit into any one group and I felt like an outcast there weren't any books that had trans or gay characters and it certainly wasn't talked about in class even during our sex talk in fifth grade mind you sexuality and gender are not the same thing I am you to research more about this sixth grade was when I had my first suicidal thought I was confused and I knew that I was different but

016I didn't know how in seventh grade I got the vocabulary I needed I experimented with names and pronouns and I was already starting to feel happier at the end of quarantine I had it my name is Cade and I'm a trans man I didn't decide to be trans I certainly didn't become trans because of a book I read in school the very hungry caterpillar didn't turn me into a caterpillar and an of Green Gables didn't turn me into an orphan I get that parents want their children to be safe I get that parents are afraid of schools having difficult conversations with their kids but let me ask you this why do you view this as a difficult conversation I understand that if the child themsel is trans and that may be difficult for the child

017and family to navigate but is the mere existence and discussion of transgender people difficult we are people made of the same compressed Stardust and carbon just like you so why do you see us as difficult children have a sense of their gender at just the age of three or four according to the National Library of Medicine most children start Elementary School at 4 or 5 most children aren't confused by the topic of someone changing their gender when I came out to my younger cousins their response was okay want to color with me when my neighbor a kindergartener at KES asked if I was a boy or girl I told him I was a boy all he said was okay so do you have a girlfriend as a transgender person I see the issue here being

018the fear the parents have of difference and Divergence not the confusion of the children I'd like you all to look inside yourself and think what about me makes you so fearful what about my existence threatens you and why is your worst nightmare your child turning out like me fear-mongering with the word transgender has real world effects on my community incidents like these have rapidly increased around the country you want to know what else has increased suicide rates for transgender youth at least one transgender youth commits suicide every 45 seconds that is four children by the time I am done with this speech I can attest that this whole situation has made me feel isolated and shunned I love this community I volunteered at several community events you want to save children well I'm a child

019too and you're not saving me by hiding who I am thank you thank you Rachel FCO FCO hi everyone my name is Rachel Fusco and I have two children enrolled in increase Miller I'm also a child therapist and a professor where I teach graduate level courses on Child Development and treating suicidal youth when I lived in California I was a school counselor for all grades from kindergarten to 12th grade listen listening to the recording from last board meeting I can empathize with the parents who are uncomfortable with conversations about gender diversity happening at school gender diversity is not a par a topic that most parents were ever formly taught about in school but let's not disguise the discomfort about gender diversity and say that this is about transparency this is about transparency regarding trans and

020gender non-binary literature I want to know that my kids are attending a school district where administrators are educating families and not families regulating Educators years ago sex education was seen as an overstep for schools a topic that should be left to parents parents were not comfortable with schools teaching anything beyond abstinence but just like sex ed doesn't make kids go have sex books that challenge gender Norms do not turn kids trans for years queer and gendere expansive youth have reported higher rates of suicidal ideation in the 2024 National survey of lgbtq Youth the Trevor Project highlights that affirming communities correlate with lower rates of suicide ideation and attempts previous surveys show that when schools use pronouns respectfully gender expansive kids report significantly lower suicide ideation rates the survey also highlights that this discussion about opting

021out of books featuring gender diversity make queer youth in our community feel unsafe as a therapist the number one question parents ask me is how how do I have these conversations with my kids and that's where I see an opportunity and an obligation for the board to partner with parents just like the kindergarten family math events teach Families how math is taught now because it's different I would love to see andal and Dei family events and workshops help parents opt in help parents lean in so that we can build an affirming Community just like the gender identity Continuum is diverse there are so many different books that can be read that normalize gender transitions for families that are worried about confusing kids remember that 56 and seven is a time of imagination the the Tooth

022Fairy doesn't confuse kids books about gender and gender Crossing should not confuse kids either and it won't if we don't expect that kids adapt to the rules we set for the World Books don't confuse kids rigid beliefs confuse kids I want books about boys girls and kiddos to be read to my kindergartner and to my fifth grader this is a choice that can save lives and it builds a school climate that normalizes what my kid might experience one one day or their friends will thank you thank you David Hartman [Music] hi everyone thank you so much for listening to us for seeing us all really appreciate that as a parent as a resident of South Salem parent of second grader and a kindergar at Meadow Pond uh I just want to say that I really

023applaud the teachers who include more diverse books in their curriculum on their libraries and I urge the board to support those teachers in that in addition to being a parent I'm also a veteran English teacher myself I've taught for 12 years in Manhattan at a public school middle school I currently teach my third year as a high school in Westchester as well I know what it means to have the backing of a school board and an Administration um and I worry about what happens when that backing disappears um especially when parents start to demand that they can review the curriculum that the teachers choose it has a chilling effect we know this it has a chilling effect on teachers willingness to tackle controversial topics in the classroom um we need to remember that teachers are

024professionals that they've dedicated their lives to working with and for students to nurturing students to taking care of them they know their craft they know what they're doing they know how to have difficult conversations with students to support them to make sure that they have a better worldview a more open worldview um they know how to tackle these um and they know how to do this with uh without judgment in a way that can help them um as I see it embracing and acknowledging the reality of lgbtq plus uh transgendered individuals other marginalized groups um that's just acknowledging the existence of people in the community in the larger World um and more importantly in the lives of our kids in the lives that they already have including our kindergarteners um there are elementary schools and

025even kindergarteners who interact with trans people on a regular basis that they older siblings there are people in the community they're Folks at the library they are fellow students increasingly so and that's that's their normal that is normal um it would be a grave Injustice to erase these people from the curriculum because some section of the population doesn't feel comfortable with that or doesn't have that immediate connection right there uh we also do need to acknowledge that um that talking about this stuff uh with teacher with a guide in the room that that is what leads to better understanding kids are talking about this already they're already having these conversations they're having these conversations on the playground they're kids to usee each other they use sometimes homophobic slurs they use the word gay to be

026in insults right they're having these conversations that's happening no matter what so I guess my question is to you is would you rather that they have this conversation that they learn about that with an educator with a guide with somebody who is dedicated to this or do you rather that they come home having been called a nasty slur and that's their first experience with this um as I said ear to earlier I had two kids in the district um and they love learning about different groups of people they find it empowering they learn about themselves in relation to other people in the larger world and that for them is really really impactful when kids read books with different characters they don't lose sight of who they are as a person um one last thing English

027teachers we talk about mirrors and windows mirrors are stories that allows us to see ourselves reflected in them and windows are stories that remind us or let us know about people who are different than us it's all about a combination if we start to chip away at the mirror side of things we actually take away from our students education we take away from their ability to relate to other people in the larger world and to be able to just understand their place in it so for that reason I urge you to continue to support those teachers to trust our kids Susie gansler hi I'm Susie gansler and I'm actually going to read excerpts from a letter that a group of 106 parents um signed and sent to all of you today um and I just

028want to make sure that it's on the record that these excerpts um are shared with you so we are a group of 106 and I keep getting emails to put them on the list um up until this minute Katona lewisboro School District parents and Community me Members writing to express our strong support for the district's diverse and inclusive Elementary School curriculum that reflects the lgbtq plus Community as parents and Educators we share a common goal to provide our children with an educational environment that promotes understanding empathy and respect for all individuals regardless of their backgrounds or identities it is essential that students are exposed to a wide range of perspectives and experiences starting at a young age this includes the representation of lgbtq plus individuals and families in the books and material matal used in

029our classrooms starting as early as kindergarten for several reasons one promoting inclusivity and empathy children are naturally curious and open to learning about others by exposing them to stories that reflect the rich diversity of our world we teach them early on to Value differences from their own lived experiences when children see characters in books who come from different family structures who identify in ways that may different from their own it Fosters empathy and it in turn reduces Prejudice two reflecting the real world many students come from families or communities where diversity is the norm for some having lgbtq plus characters in books will reflect their own lived experiences or that of their peers or others it will introduce them to people they might not encounter in their immediate environment three supporting mental and emotional well-being

030Studies have shown that lgbtq plus youth or those from lgbtq plus families often feel isolated or misunderstood particularly when they do not see themselves reflected in their surroundings when classroom materials reflect a wide range of identities it can be empowering and affirming for those children moreover it can help prevent bullying and discrimination by promoting acceptance from an early age meeting educational standards is number four including lgbtq Plus perspective aligns with broader goals of fostering equity and cultural competence within our education system it is important to note that promoting inclusion does not mean promoting any specific lifestyle or belief system instead it is about ensuring that all students feel seen respected and valued for who they are in conclusion we respectfully urge the Board of Education to continue supporting the inclusion of diverse perspectives including lgbtq

031plus representation in the age appropriate books and educational materials provided in our classroom starting in kindergarten thank you Joe TOMCO exuse me good evening uh my name is Joe and me and my wife Susie have two daughters in the school district a second grader at meop pond and a sixth grader at Johan J I was present at the last board meeting and I regret not standing up to speak following the prepared speakers when they was asked if anyone else had anything to say I needed time to process for those who could not make it that night I wanted to share that there was no unilateral Applause for that audience to the speakers that night I don't believe they speak for a majority of parents in our community shown by it the output tonight the strength

032of public education is that in its best form it welcomes and represents the diverse makeup of its Community does not recede in the face of criticism or censorship but stands with the whole Community it represents and gives a voice to all in its greatest moments it moves our community our society forward by moving our children forward Ward teaching them that fostering understanding and inclusion of others is not a moral quandry topped out of it's necessary to raise us all up the natural acceptance empathy and car caring inherent in our children is something we can learn from from as parents we have the opportunity through an inclusive School curriculum to Build a Better World for all children and their families not confine it by curating an exclusionary viewpoint but showing them an inclusive world that celebrates

033their uniqueness while uniting us into a strong Society I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our teachers and School faculty elementary middle school high school for all they do to help our kids succeed in the classroom and help prepare them for the broader world that lies before them thank you thank you Angela bagetta hello I'm a parent in the school district with one student at John J high school and another at Katona Elementary I'm also a lifelong reader the daughter of two Public School teachers and have worked in the book publishing industry for over two decades and I'm here to speak in support of books featuring gay or transgender characters being in our classrooms and our curriculum if you have a young person in your life you've probably heard at

034some point the idea that books serve as mirrors and windows books are a window into the lives of other people we each only have one life to live as ourselves a critical way to build empathy and understanding for people whose lives are different from ours is to read books about them books about gay and transgender characters help all children understand that people with these characteristics exist in our world it brings different lives into their still quite narrow realm of experience it helps make them better friends better classmates and better citizens these books also serve as mirrors a Gallup poll released earlier this year found that between 6 and 7% of the US population identifies themselves as being somewhere on the lgbtq plus spectrum and research released earlier this month by the CDC quantifies that about

0353% of teenagers identify as transgender or non-gender conforming according to Social Science research some transgender or non-binary people know as early as age three or four that they do not feel aligned with their assigned gender this all means that in each of our elementary schools there are probably or I would say definitely children who are questioning this part of their Identity or feel like they might be different from their peers reading books starting characters who also have these identities is so important to help these students feel like they are okay and in some cases will help them find language to talk to trusted adults about what they are feeling there are also plenty of students in our school who have lgbtq Plus parents family members or family friends these loved ones deserve to be seen

036and accepted through books as they are in our real lives age appropriate books that feature gay and transgender characters chosen by the teachers Librarians and other educational experts that work for our school district can only make our students more tolerant empathetic and well balanced humans these books also make students who belong to these groups feel more accepted and less alone these should be among our goals when sending our children to public school with within our community in the first place there's certainly some of mine and I fully support these books being in our students and teachers hands thank you thank you Michelle plka good evening my name is Michelle plka and I'm the parent of two KES students like so many here tonight I'm here to advocate for the inclusion of books that support and

037enhance a comprehensive education for our students at the last Board of Ed meeting one parent asked why books with trans character should be included in the curriculum for the one potential trans child when the other 99 children are likely cisgendered however I believe this question misses the point of a robust Dei education entirely of course representation matters however Dei education exists to confront and overcome the inherent biases we all have from living in our society racism does not result from Black it is the result of so society's animous towards Blackness and the weaponized falsities that are espoused against people of color similarly transphobia does not exist because trans people exist it exists because certain people are saying to trans people I don't understand you and I don't seek to understand you I would also like

038to challenge the notion that lessons including the lgbtq plus Community don't belong in an elementary school setting because they somehow strip away the innocence of our children none of this education has anything to do with sexuality or Anatomy but has everything to do with holding empathy within us as we meet people who walk a different path than our own and yes children can be kind and sweet and innocent but they can also be cruel both intentionally and unintentionally so they can be creatures of ID and impulse acting out verbally or physically when emotions get too big that is why we have social emotional learning in our schools our job isn't done when our children Master the alphabet or their Tim tables they must learn to navigate and coexist in a world with people who do

039not look like them and do not have the same values or interests as them in fact the New York state seal K through2 benchmarks for students include that they quote recognize that others may experience situations differently them from them excuse me and that they quote Express respectful curiosity about the history and lived experiences of others if in the furtherance of these goals a kindergarten teacher chooses to read a book about a trans boy cutting his hair or a book about a loving family with two dads I support that Educator's approach to these lessons it is inappropriate for any one parent or group of parents to think that their particular values should impact how this learning is best approached finally as an aside I find concerns about the emotional impact of this learning grossly misdirected when

040our 5-year-olds our kindergarteners are also being taught to hide from Rogue gunmen because of America's unwan epidemic of gun violence what of their innocence when children across our nation have watched their friends and family sorry friends and teachers die in front of them or as they are forced to play dead to stay alive or as they frantically text or scribble down goodbye notes to their parents when their schools are on lockdown perhaps we as a community can focus on these real threats to our children rather than creating false Boogeyman in the name of family values thank you [Applause] [Music] thank you Katie case good evening I'm Katie case and I have children at John J middle school and Meadow Pond Elementary I spoke two weeks ago at the board meeting urging the board to create

041more transparency and an option to opt out ofal curriculum that parents prefer to teach in their own way with their own timing I need to clear one thing up nobody and I mean nobody mentioned Banning a book which is all over social media right now I strongly agree disagree with that the book mentioned was purely the impetus to several of us deciding to approach the board to ask for more transparency after parents went to a principal and a teacher we did not find the book developmentally appropriate for our own children it was even mentioned as being a great resource for a family to go going through a child transitioning I see the school district statement that this book is not a part of curriculum and that is correct it was a supplemental classroom library book

042chosen by a teacher to be read in support of a particular child in a given year I love Meadow Pond and I have respect and love for the teachers and the administration there I love they have such a big heart to make every child feel seen I also think it's okay to love them and not agree with the way that everything's done I am 100% in favor of every child feeling special included appreciated and celebrated but I also think it's my choice as a parent how and when I want to introduce more complex social issues to me ideal transparency would be a list ofal curriculum books provided by the district and also for the teachers to communicate with the class as supplemental books are going to be read I realized that many of the supplemental

043books may be used as topics or situations occur in class but I'd like to know ahead of time and be given the opportunity to opt out if I feel like it's something I'd prefer to discuss alone with my child in my opinion an example of an ideal conversation between a teacher and a parent would be a child in our class has recently lost a grandparent and we would like to read a book to help them feel loved through this difficult time I'm attaching a list of resources in case you'd like to discuss this with your child if you worry that this reading will upset your child please feel free to opt out and use any of our resources to foster a discussion with them I see that as a positive dialogue and discussion between educator

044and parent on many different subjects a partnership I certainly don't have all the answers and I've talked to friends to open my eyes to some different different thoughts and I don't want any child and any child to feel sad or left out or unseen there has to be a way that we can sit down and discuss some solutions Because deep down we all want what's best for our children there doesn't need to be a right or a wrong way of doing things or looking at things merely a different way how can we as adults ever hope to truly teach inclusiveness to our children until we are until we are able to respectfully have conversations with those that have different ideas on our own thank you thank you Tatiana Roso good evening everyone I want to

045start by saying that I'm not a politician do nor do I believe in politics in a small town like ours my goal here is not to divide our community Through labeling sensationalist or misinformation unfortunately I have seen too much of this in our local social media in recent days for contest I have three children in klsd people saying I'm not but I do one in elementary middle and one in high school I have attended the last board meeting and I'm here again today to ask for transparency regarding our curriculum I have encountered instances where the district has not been transparent leading to sensitive conversations with my children that I believe it should be handled at home while our district promotes inclusivity I often find that focus is on topics affecting only a portion of our

046children my hope is for my children to learn to accept tolerate and be kind to all people none of us have a perfect formula for parenting but we always sty to instill these values daily without need for labels in respect the right for parents who believe it is right to engage their children in discussions about gender identity in a school at an at a J age um I respect that but I also believe in my right to opt out and make decisions I feel are best for my kids it's crucial that we create an environment we where differing views can coexist without judgment if we are discussing Torrance and respect kindness should be extended to everyone regardless of different viewpoints regarding the book we raised concerns about let's consider where is is appropriate for Kindergartens

047it could be confusing for them while we are all have our opin iions is important to acknowledge that all not everybody will agree and that's part of the tolerance we strive for lastly who is making decisions for our children parents including myself are simply requesting the option to out out and for the district communicate effect effectively and allowing us to make informed decisions in closing I believe is vital to embrace difference and Foster an environment where diverse opinions are welcome the divisions we see in our societ often stem from inability to accept different viewpoints I sincerely hope our children can break down these barriers and create a future filled with acceptance and understanding thank you Julia devage hi um I have two kids in the school district in elementary school and middle school um I'm

048here to speak about bullying that few of the parents who spoke at the last Borg meeting encountered several wonderful parents came here two weeks ago and spoke about lack of transparency from the school regarding books and that are part of social emotional program not they didn't speak against Dei or those programs in general those parents then were bullied on social media by our ex School Board member who flipped the topic of transparency into book Banning and censorship and many times s attacked our parents in comment calling them moms for Liberty radical group it's unacceptable we all have different opinions about books but that that is not the point the point is that parent has a right to make choice for their own family with regards to their religion culture or parenting style we all deserve

049to be informed about materials used so we can opt our children out not decide for the whole District not to bend books not to change the curriculum just opt our own children from the materials we consider inappropriate and the issue doesn't just concern religious or conservative parents my family is none of that but we would be alarmed if religious books would be brought up or politics discussed at the elementary school transparency just gives us a chance to decide what is best for our family as my mom friend mentioned the other day there is a false liberal agenda happening in the T schools apparently not everyone belongs and I could not agree more of witnessing the attacks on parents who spoke out by the very person who was elected to represent them thank you thank you

050Karen puffenberger hi when those who have the power to name and socially construct reality choose not to see or hear you when someone with the authority of a teacher say describes the world and you're not in it there is a moment of psychic disequilibrium as if you looked in the mirror and saw nothing it takes some strength of Soul not just individual strength but Collective understanding to resist this void this num being into which you are thrust and to stand up demanding to be seen and to be heard a quote that resonates with me from feminist from poet Adrian Rich classrooms our children inhabit are microcosms of the world we live in they are filled with students who identify in a variety of ways such diversity enriches the learning environment and creates exposure to a

051range of perspectives and this happens we know that children develop critical thinking skills and a deeper understanding and awareness of of the world around them this is vital for the success of our students as we prepare them for a world that is increasingly interconnected and diverse since joining the Katona Community a few short years ago I have come to understand that the work of diversity Equity inclusion and belonging is a fundamental pillar of the school district's educational Mission and is informed by the New York State education department in May 2021 they adopted a robust Dei policy that articulated its expectation quote that all school districts and institutions of higher education develop and Implement policies and practices that Advance diversity equity and inclusion with Fidelity and urgency representation matters imagine if you grow up never seeing

052yourself in books content language or visuals in your school environment you're effectively rendered invisible if you've never experienced not seeing yourself you have the luxury to remain blissfully unaware because you align with what Society considers to be normal when students learn it's okay to see name and celebrate differences they become more empathetic compassionate individuals to embed inclusive values and practices into the very fabric of our schools is to create an educational environment that not only reflects the richness of our world but also empowers every student to reach their full potential I commend the klsd schools for keeping the work of deib is Central to their identity if books about a transgender boy age appropriate for prek through third grade and books about a same-sex marriage also age appropriate for prek through third grade are not

053read until the older grades for Fe of upsetting those closely aligned with the norm I pose these questions is KSD actively seeking to create communities of belonging or is belonging simply a more palatable word for those who find work of Dei to cause discomfort for how long do those who live outside the norm have to remain invisible how much damage will have been caused to their sense of self by the time the schools decide it's safe enough for folks in the margins to see themselves reflected back in their school Community thank [Music] [Applause] you thank you Ian witzman hi my name is uh Ian witzman my husband and I have two children at Katona Elementary I want to start off by commending meop pal principal ashin field for encouraging the curation of a diverse collection

054of literature and supporting her staff to have informed discussions with students I also want to commend the teacher that that wanted to read when Aiden became a brother in their classroom they should serve as a model for all k L SD teachers and administrators when I moved here 3 years ago I never thought debates about books in our schools would come to our district mandating book lists of any kind is not transparency as those on the other side like to call it it's censorship as author uh mallerie Blackman said reading is an exercise in empathy an exercise in walking in someone else's shoes for a while for our elementary students books are one way to provide visibility beyond our very small homogeneous Community visibility is not promotion if so wouldn't reading about Christmas be considered

055promoting Christmas or anything for that matter we read about many different religions cultures foreign lands ideologies and history we don't agree with all we read but that does not mean we remove those parts should reading about Nazi Germany be removed the difference between reading about Nazi Germany in same-sex families or transgender children is that lgbtq visibility is vital for the mental health of the human members of that Community not having representation through books culture and policies is directly harmful to the human be uh to to the system uh sorry um to the community um oops sorry um it's not promotion of a belief system it's a basic human right if one chooses to opt out of having their children learn about the LBGTQ plus experience I would ask those people to consider one would you

056want someone to tell you that all literature about Christians and Jesus should be removed from a library and two if your own children end up being part of the lgbtq Plus commun commun wouldn't you want to provide your own child with all the possible proven support for them as they grow you may believe it can wait until middle or high school but that is simply false research shows that children begin to show implicit bias as early as 5 to 7 years old diverse perspectives in our books are critical but they are also the bare minimum we could be doing as a district Dei work needs to be intentional and proactively Infused into the fabric of the curriculum and the school environment in KSD I ask you to double down on the resources and support for

057our teachers administrators and families so that we are consistently cultivating moments that open the minds and unite our children thank you Jess matato Hi how are you and you said my last name right um so thank you um I'm J Miato I'm a parent of a fourth grader at KES um I'm also a therapist a mom uh you know I said Mom wife um daughter um and I have friends um and clients and loved ones who are trans um who are uh various parts of the lgbtq community um and the idea that we would pull anybody out of our books just doesn't make a lot of sense to me um you know gender is already in the books you have relationships all types of relationships usually you know you have a husband and a wife

058in how many books in you know in the library um I think to pick and select which families people get to see just doesn't make a lot of sense we're in a public school we're in a community with all different kinds of people um so why are some represented and not other others um and I think it matters not just for the students who um May one day identify to be part of the lgbtq community but it's really for all of our kids I mean I think about when I was growing up as a kid um how often gay was used as a slur and I'm sad to know that it still is frequently but it was a way to control boy's Behavior you know you're not supposed to feel you're not supposed to cry

059you're not supposed to be kind luckily there's a lot of social social emotional learning now that I think is encouraging boys to be kind and I think there's a lot more room for you know how boys can express themselves their identities um but for me I want to see all kinds of people reflected in these books for my son so that he can develop the empathy and he can also learn who he is and he can um connect to the parts of himself that make him human um and not have the experience of well I can't feel or I can't express because that's not what boys are allowed to do here I think um the more books we have the more representations of how we can be human the better for all of our kids

060not just for the kids who really need to see themselves represented thank you thank you thank you Nate Walton hi my name's Nate I've got a daughter at increas Miller and we have a son there next year too uh I'm here to Advocate strongly for the district's Dei programs andal programs I'm somebody with pretty severe ADHD so I know what it feels like to feel out of place at school I wish that feeling on no one but I've seen with my own eyes and the science shows that Dei andal helps kids feel included um the reason I'm here is uh last board meeting there were a lot of concerned noises uh about books that teach kids how to feel at home in the world uh people were asking foral reading lists and just to be

061in the know and that happened again tonight and I want to be really clear that I think that this is part of a national pattern and I think we have to recognize that National pattern tonight it's very reasonable and well-meaning in the beginning but it does not stay that way um they claim that they're not going to want to ban books but that is where this goes um we're we're not going to say it tonight they're not going to say it tonight but if we give them some leeway they will say it in a month so how do we know about about banning books it's because all these concerned noises are straight from some very literal talking points you can Google them uh you can Google the phrases you've been hearing uh there is a

062representative group with very National claims called moms for Liberty uh and they love to ban books I think it's very very important we understand who this group is and how these talking points progress the splc is a nationally renowned group for tracking these types of organizations and they say this moms for Liberty is a nationwide has Nationwide chapters that combat what they consider the quote woke indoctrination of children by advocating for book bands in school libraries and endorsing candidates for public office that align with the group's views they also use their multiple social media platforms to Target teachers and school officials advocate for the abolition of the Department of Education Advance conspiracy propaganda and spread hateful imagery and rhetoric against the lgbtq community so I ask you what would a group like this or advocates

063for groups uh for principles like this suggest in exchange for when Aiden became a brother moms for Liberty recommends using the making America great to teach history this is a book by a conspiracy theorist that portrays slave owners as the worst victims of slavery and claim that although the founders wanted to free slaves most slaves were unprepared for lives of Freedom that's what we would get instead this isn't about just asking questions there is no real concern about how to talk about these issues because for anybody who still wants to give the benefit of the doubt I'd ask why are they trying to ban books whose literal purpose is helping children and adults talk about these same issues thank you thank you Sophia Chang hi and thank you for taking the time to hear me

064tonight my name is Sophia Chang and I am a junior at John J High School I here not only as a student but as a queer person and a trans Ally as a child I was scared of a lot of things mainly the dark and clowns today I remain scared of the dark and clowns but I have never been scared of a book I am here tonight because there are people who are scared of a book I want to start by saying this children are impressionable they take note of how you act what you say and how you say it but children are not stupid kids don't read a book about koalas and come home saying guess what I'm a koala now instead they say guess what I learned about koalas today this is true

065of all things including books about trans people the goal is not to influence the goal is to educate I understand people have different opinions about topics such as queer identity but I want to State a fact queer people are not something to fear we are not something to protect your children from taking a book out of a classroom does not remove trans people from your child's life it is inevitable for them to meet people different than them which includes trans people all you do when you remove a book from a classroom is fail to educate your children on the world they live in this book not only educates kids but it provides representation for children who are trans representation can be the difference between life and death a 2023 study done by the Trevor Project

066tells us that roughly half the population of transgender youths attempted suicide in 2022 imagine all the children feeling alienated alone and hopeless because of fear hate and lack of representation there was a trans person in my Elementary School who was trans at the time no one knew how to deal with it or what to say and this person was bullied mercilessly by classmates and misunderstood by teachers we didn't have books about being Trans in our classrooms and I often think maybe if we did we could have been better to her I could have been better to her I still think of this person with guilt and regret had I known about trans people then I could have been a friend instead of a distant stranger trans people don't want to turn your children trans they

067want to live teachers don't want to turn your children trans they want to teach children want to read not because they want to be told how to live their lives but because they want to learn and broaden their Horizons don't stop children from Reading don't stop teachers from teaching and don't stop trans people from living thank you thank you beo saano uh thank you to the board for allowing me time to voice some of my concerns about uh some things that been have been happening at meop Pond like many other parents I've been extremely concerned about the types of books being read and discussed specifically the one sexual in nature it has been going on for some time now and over the years I and many other parents have voiced our displeasure about this and

068have been told very politely too bad meal Pond is using its mission of prioritizing diversity equity and inclusion to also promote the teaching of sexuality to elementary school children in the most recent case a book worm loves worm a book that udes to gender fluidity was read to my fifth graders class now to be clear I completely support the school fostering a sense of belonging for all students and teaching them to accept all types of people but in an age appropriate matter I would call into question the idea that an educator cannot teach Equity inclusion cannot teach about acceptance and belonging without Crossing into discussions about sexuality it's absolutely possible because we do it in our home every day in the end it's not my intention to persuade the school or this board to change

069their opinions about what is appropriate it is my right to demand that I as a parent decide when and how to discuss these matters with my children I have request Ed along with many other parents who are not here tonight to be notified advance of these types of lessons so we can choose to have these discussions with our children or have them excluded from such discussions in class these requests have been ignored and they've been marginalized there is legal precedence to support our request recently a federal court granted a sudden summary judgment against the Mount Lebanon school district for teaching precisely these types of topics and not allowing parents to opt out the judge stated in elementary school it is constitutionally impermissible for a school to provide teachers the unbridled discreption to determine to teach

070about non-curricular topic transgender identity and not to provide notice and opt out rights based on parents moral and religious beliefs about transgender instruction while providing notice and opt out rights for other sensitive secular and religious topics the judge judge found the school had violated the parents 14th and First Amendment rights so let's be clear the district did not have the right to decide when in how these complex subjects are taught the moral compass of our children come from their homes and the school should focus on preparing them academically I moved to this area largely because the school district was held to such a high regard in the four years that we have been part of this community I have watched several families leave the district because of issues like this I have serious reservations about

071sending my youngest to meop Pond when she comes of age and due to the fact that the teachers and administrators have display such disregard for so many parents opinions I ask the board to allow parents the right to decide when and how their children navigate these very complex social issues and restore faith in what is supposed to be one of the Premier school districts in Westchester County thank you thank you Glenda favor good evening I can't speak good evening board I was here last week and I was one of those people that was vilified on social media by a former colleague of yours and a failed politician to assume that anybody discussed Banning books is a lie and it's a pattern of a political agenda to hit hot button words ban books earn books where

072does it go after that nobody is looking to take any book out of the classroom the only thing people are asking for are parents to decide what a kindergartener could read I have four grandchildren one in kindergarten one in second grade I'm sorry third grade fourth grade and sixth grade I had four children that went here one taught here I have two sisters who are teachers so this disinformation that we're trying to ban anything and then tying it with some group that I've never heard of is outrage rageous and it's disgusting let's deal with the matter at hand nobody asked to ban books just ask for parents to decide you know you keep hearing my body my choice why not my child my choice it goes hand in hand that's all we ask transparency is

073the simplest thing to do but it always seems the more people ask the more things get hidden so do yourself a favor be transparent and you won't have these problems and I want to thank Dr Blanch for stating that this book will not be written be not be read but if it is to be read just tell the parents when it's read it's that simple have a good evening thank you Jessica pillo take your time hello my wonderful neighborhood that I grew to love for over 8 years so um I'm someone that I believe with my little Constantine he 7 years old he's in metal Pond Elementary School he loves everyone he will be running for mayor by the way I know this my oldest is 24 my middle son is 20 both graduated from

074John J high school now it hurts me because again like everyone says here we are a community that we should love each other care for each other and everything that has to do with reading and research is always in books and growing up in Brooklyn uh it was very difficult diffult for me so to hear this here is very shocking because I believe that we take out the value of Ling kindness with our children and compassion for one another when you do not allow differences to come together now everyone here um you know promoting the books and everything to me for me to choose for my children to read something should be something that everyone should feel the same to do for their children because if I would like them who understand where they come

075from and they read it from a book it would be so painful for them because it's not their home it starts from us the love and compassion and kindness that we are missing in all of these discussions is shocking to me it's it's like as if this book is going to open our eyes it's something that leads towards something but again just like in religion everyone it's open to your own perspective your own perception and to me the loving kindness that's lacking in that directive is what's making this discussion so so like needs to be heard now my son um loves hugging everyone I have to stop that I have to constantly remind him he's told in school do not hug everyone but that's his love that's his way of expressing his kindness to one

076another children they talk about them bullying my oldest was bullied I mean living here was very difficult for us in the beginning I didn't go to he didn't go to anyone else in school because he was told that's what happens but when he came home I said you want to know something let's go let's talk to the child let's go and see what's going on with him that child had a difficult time with someone else and saw my son quiet and thought he could do it to him but the thing is my son instead of going to anyone in school cuz he didn't have anyone to come to that is the most important part the book is not going to instill anything in the child it's that love and compassion as a community that we

077have that we have to continue celebrating the books please educate everyone I I get sad just missing books that I grew up in to now learn that these books were something of a myth because now they're removed and that was me growing up I'm like I'm older so to me I feel like we can Embrace each other a lot better with having these open forums without being adults that are you know acting a certain way towards each other that feels like we cannot be inclusive so to me which I wrote this really quick because everyone had their points I believe love is amongst all of us I believe we can all express it I believe we can all be a part of it the compassion for anyone no one has to judge or look at

078anyone as anything other then hello how are you what is your name good morning sharing that with one another is what opens that that dialogue you know Mom I my son always tells me mommy I love the rainbow flag I'm like okay baby mommy I love the color pink let's go W wear it that's what we do at home it starts at home whatever it is that the child feels I believe is a school to learn together to love each other with compassion and embracing the inclusivity starts from us as adults allowing them to be free and talking amongst themselves children actually do better than adults half the time they know how to play together because here we are having this discussion and you know it should never be one against the other it should

079be okay I understand you feel like this about a book let's go ahead and talk about it first as adult before my child comes to me and says Mommy I don't understand this and feels like he's alienated because he didn't know about it or I I you know chose not to tell him about it which to me and my family they call us United Nations I have everyone in my family and we love each other equally and we make fun of each other equally because we include each other and we love each other so thank you let me just finish this up so when you share in humanity it's love and kindness and it recognizes that to share in humanity in all people transcending divisions and encouraging the celebration of diversity as part of The

080Human Experience means that you break down barriers at home and you with compassion accept the nature and of loveing kindness between each other social and cultural and psychological be barriers that can lead to exclusion and discrimination so when you accept all together this way it starts with compassion it starts with love it starts with kindness you know like I said you can have the book to me I feel like it's something that if I want to sit down with my son I should have the option to and I feel like when I sit down with my son I will have my friends my family members to do the same thank you thank you thank [Music] you Angie Restrepo good evening everyone I just St this really quickly and it's really mostly a response to some

081of the parents that spoke today um providing their perspectiv so I'm here as a mom to a kindergartener and a fourth grader at increas Miller I'm a Catholic Hispanic cisgender woman who happens to work in Corporate America and who spends the majority of her TR time trying to fix the biases adults in the workplace struggle with every day because of the lack of diversity education they grew up with as I listen to parents requests to opt out of literature that might not align directly with their beliefs or might not be de developmentally appropriate for a 5-year-old I am horrified at the thought that someone will see was still need to do my job 30 de 30 years from now let's think about this in a tactical way how many school days can a child Miss

082in a school year I believe the board is better suited to answer the question but my research says it's about 25 days are you saying my children's diversity and inclusion education is only limited to 25 days a year or are you willing to sacrifice your own child's learning experience because your fear of them learning about a girl who became a boy is that overpowering I don't think either one of our children sh on the opportunity to learn thank you thank you I don't have anyone else on the list who had signed up to speak but certainly if you didn't have a chance to sign up you can and if not I'll close the public session would you like to speak sure if you can just introduce yourself since I'm not able to read your name

083yeah yeah okay yeah hello my name is Joselyn lton um I'm a parent of three in the district and I'm a licensed clinical psychologist um I run a a child and an adult um group practice in Manhattan um and I do um along with reviewing the data I have the vantage point to observe anecdotally the significant Improvement in mental health and prognosis of um for lgbtq uh children whose schools are proactively affirming um I'd like to dispel the myth that teaching about lgbtq issues will produce lgbtq children first of all what in the world is wrong with being an lgbtq child uh surely nobody in this room would tell anybody who has spoken today that that includes would tell an lgbtq child in our district that there is anything wrong with them moreover we know

084that the data shows that teaching about gender makes children more comfortable expressing themselves in whatever way they identify but it does not cause them to question their G identity weaving gender acceptance into our children's education protects the mental health of those needing protection that includes the children of us of those of us who are embracing this work as well as those of us who are more reticent about it we also know that unless we begin these discussions early and I do mean kindergarten we miss the developmental window of children's construction of themselves and others and thereby critical opportunity to develop empathy for individuals who may present differently from themselves I would like most of all to thank the teachers who have courageously taken it upon themselves to uh by um and and to be the

085Front Runners in this District by risking the criticism in order to protect and encourage and grow all all of our children into happy healthy and responsible citizens of this world thank you and we support you to the board I politely but strongly implore you to take it upon yourselves to take a stance to back our teachers and more importantly to insist on this education as the New York State guidelines dictate I would like to reference um a a a report from the attorney general in um August of 2023 um that specified um the the need for this um finally I would like to encourage those parents who who are concerned to absolutely have their own conversations with their own children just as as I plan as a Jewish person to prot to provide my own

086narrative and education around the Holocaust at the time that it's taught to our children as they move through the system those parents with religious or political opinions about these topics should absolutely feel free to have those conversations thank you [Music] thank you I'm going to close the public forum and we're going to move to the consent agenda and then we'll have some board discussion thank you very much for everyone who's speaking please leave whenever you feel comfortable we don't think it's rude if you leave while we're talking okay I don't believe we have anything to pull out of the consent agenda so would someone like to move it move by Barbara seconded by Lorraine all those in favor great so we're at um item 15.01 which is an opportunity for board discussion um and I

087just wanted to give us an opportunity if anyone wanted to reflect on what we heard at last week's meeting I think um I I feel it's it's important to note that um the board uh has supported budgets to enhance both our classroom and school libraries to ensure oh need a new laptop sounds blue screen that's not good good dear so um the we for several years and we do mention it during budget season have supported budgets that have um ensured that our School classrooms uh libraries as well as our school libraries uh contain literature that give students opportunities to engage with literature and texts that reflect their identity um there is research that demonstrates that belonging uncertainty may result in disengagement and poor academic performance and in contrast a sense of belonging is associated with

088academic achievement and well-being so this work we believe is an important precursor and a foundation to our Student Success so I think you know that's something that we continue to support Barbara yeah thanks Julia I also prepared some thoughts and Reflections that I wanted to share on the public comments that we received at our last board meeting I think in our role as trustees it's really important that we listen and thoughtfully consider different perspectives from the community and regardless of whether we agree or disagree all parents want what they believe is best for their children so parents expressed concern about the book when Aiden became a brother by Kyle lukoff I read it and I highly encourage encourage every parent to read it it's available on YouTube as a read aloud parents noted that the

089book introduces Concepts that are complex and confusing for a young child for those not familiar the story depicts a child that is born and raised as a girl but does not identify as a girl the child rejects their own name their own clothes their own bedroom in time the child tells his parents that he's a boy his parents accept him and love him for who he is and then he becomes a big brother the book is about the simple concept that kids can be accepted and loved as they are transgender people exist and transgender gender children exist and they too are innocent and leave notes for the truth fairy and wait for the elf on the shelf and the experience reflected in the book is one lived by real families the CDC just published the

090first survey with nationally representative data about transgender students it found that 3.3% of high school students identified as transgender and 2.2% is questioning their gender identity it also found that these students and I quote experience a higher prevalence of violence poor mental health suicidal thoughts and behaviors unstable housing and a lower prevalence of school connectedness than their cisgender peers alarmingly one in four reported attempting suicide in the past year the study concluded that when schools take steps to implement inclusive policies and practices the mental health of all students improves this is why it's so important that our books reflect the various races ethnicities cultures gender identities and abilities in our community so that every student can have books where they see themselves and their peers as a board of education we're accountable for every child

091regardless of whether they fall within a 3% or 97% of any category we choose to see them through at the end of the day children are children I also want to address the misperception that there's a lack of transparency about social emotional learning in metal Pond and that diversity equity and inclusion efforts focus disproportionately on LGBT issues at the expense of other topics such as teaching kindness the school's monthly Mage newsletter describes in detail what's happening at school every month for example in September September the schoolwide focus was on expectations be responsible be respectful be safe be kind and on belonging the book of the month was the circles all around us and the newsletter explained that we and I quote chose this book because it's a perfect way to start a conversation about how

092to expand our worlds with kindness and inclusivity even if it seems scary or uncomfortable from September through mid- October the school celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with a beautiful mural enrichment programs and an episode of the new we belong Wednesday segment in the metal Pond morning report in total the school honors 10 different Heritage months Black History Month women's History Month International Day of persons with disabilities Autism Awareness Month military appreciation month National adoption month and pride month the school has also done a great job encouraging and rewarding positive behavior through the musmula program and monthly schoolwide assemblies and in helping kids to learn to identify and communicate their feelings through the zones of Regulation framework and these are just a few examples I want to take a moment to express my support for our teachers

093Librarians support staff and administrators these are dedicated public servants many with long tenures having educated generations of people in this community I implore our parents to please be thoughtful before suggesting as happened last week that our teachers are pushing an agenda or pushing ideologies our teachers are well trained and fully capable of determining if books or other materials are age appropriate and suitable for their class I worry that if these sentiments persist teachers might begin to self- censor to avoid altercations with parents and worse that it might affect our ability to continue to hire and retain excellent staff in our community families come in many shapes and with various racial ethnic cultural and religious backgrounds and everyone is welcome at klsd parents have and will always play a primary rolling raising their children and sharing

094their family's values and beliefs and those conversations are likely different from home to home and that's okay but we cannot reject books that represent trans children because we as a public school system welcome accept and support all children it's my sincere hope that as adults we too can find common ground in our share of humanity and take a page from metal Pond September book of the month the circles all around us the circles represent our relationships from our family to friends and the broader community and the book says and I quote there are still so many outside the circle who are different in all they do though it feels slightly uncomfortable we draw a bigger Circle for them too it doesn't mean the circle is easy it can get harder the more we share but

095wonderful things can happen when love is known and felt everywhere [Applause] yeah I think I would just like to take a step back and think a little bit about what happened at the last board meeting and what we've experienced tonight and share a perspective that when an issue of this nature arises I think it is an opportunity for us to reaffirm as you did which I really appreciate in your remarks tonight and as Barbara did as well our commitment not only to Dasa but to all that has changed in the past few years with the culturally responsive sustaining framework and New York State itself providing an imprimatur to public school districts to adopt policies Board of Education policies that support the work of diversity equity and inclusion so I think it's an opportunity to remind

096our community and to remind our students that we are proud of our policy which was adopted in 2022 and to ask ourselves whether you know has anything changed right I think there's a sense in our community what has changed and I'm uncertain that anything has changed with a lot has changed since 20122 don't get me wrong but I'm un certain that anything has changed with respect to what has been happening in our school district in the past let's say year to 18 months and what has just happened in the past couple of weeks and I think it's safe to say we have new leadership in our school district right and I think this is an opportunity to reassure the community that we have a superintendent who not only supports Kon lebo's commit and our board

097policy dedicated to diversity equity and inclusion but I can't help but just be reminded because it's a segue from Barbara's comments that our superintendent himself shared the very book you just cited about circles with our Board of educ ation during his conversation with the Board of Education shortly before his arrival in the district and so my sense is that in between the last meeting and this meeting there was a a newspaper article that perhaps created a feeling of fear rightfully so within our community that something is changing and so from my perspective as just one board member tonight's an opportunity to share that nothing is changing and that in fact we are as dedicated always in an ongoing manner to all of the underlying work and principles that motivated this board to adopt this policy

098in 2022 and I hope that that's just you know a little bit of helpful clarification in what feels like a very confusing moment between you know comments we heard last time and this time and the last thing I'll say is that I think that what our community needs needs you know more than what I'm about to say I can't pretend to know everything the community needs but needs to feel that we care about all of our children we care about all of our families and if some families are feeling that they have a perspective that is somehow um being dismissed by by a building then you know that's something we can work on we can work to ensure that everybody feels heard and I think it's very important for us as a board to think

099about how to unify our community at a time like this I sense that you know parent against parent and that's not good for any of our kids and we all I know agree on that and and so that's something for us to think about you know how we as a board can serve as a unifying governance body in this moment when you we don't want to devolve into parent against parent thank you I just want to one thing I do think was interesting tonight and I think we are trying to help our children decide how to navigate social media and so I I don't go on social media so I don't know what was happening on social media but I think it's really important to remember that talking to people in person and listening is

100going to always be much richer and more valuable than exchanges in social media world and so I I hope that we can help our our parents can help Mom model that um for our students and especially our younger students who maybe are just initially engaging in social media like it is um it's just not a place to have productive uh conversations or dialogue so yeah I just want to say how proud I am of our Administration and our Educators that we have entrusted our children to with how they deal with difficult topics um and how we added belonging to the Dei initiative a few years ago and I think belonging is such an important topic um I'm my third child's about to graduate hopefully I not got with this year um and I think there

101have been many adults in this District that have helped them navigate many different difficult topics and discussions and I think my children are definitely more empathetic towards their classmates than I saw when I was growing up so I I think the district is in in the right place and and our educators are really helping our children and I just want to applaud them for everything that they deal with on a daily basis I think you know we're very fortunate to have some great great Educators here working with our kids thank you I want to talk about making sure sure that the words we use don't become negative for the students and that's what we're here for we're here for the kids and when we have these conversations and I want to stress the word conversation

102not debate when we have these conversations not using words such as that I've heard over the last couple weeks complex or unique because these kids aren't complex they aren't unique they're one of many but you're making them feel alone when we use these words and we'll never be normalized it will never be normalized if they're put into a box such as complex or unique it's not and my own personal pet peeve is the word tolerance because I can tolerate hot I can tolerate cold I can tolerate a long meeting I don't ever want to tolerate who somebody is because that's who they are so I just want to make sure as these dialogues continue that we're very conscious of the words we use to make this normalized as it should be thank you just thank

103you oh thank you and and I I appreciate everyone taking some time to think about our discussion last week and certainly in board dialogue in the future we can talk about things we you've heard tonight um and but I'm going to move on to Future meetings there's a long list very ready so tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. our policy committee will be meeting in the district office conference room next Friday November 1st the sustainability committee will be meeting at 8:15 in the district office conference room the Thursday after that November 7th is our next Board of Education meeting at 7:30 here in the high school and following that on Wednesday November 20th there'll be a finance committee meeting at 700 p.m. in the district office conference room on Thursday November 21st we have our uh

104Board of Education meeting uh here in the library at 7:30 and the Friday after that there's a policy committee meeting at 9:00 a.m. in the district office conference room um and Ray I know you wanted to make some comments oh sure thank you um just wanted to start with kind of the topic tonight and I thought it'd be best um mind if I started with our meeting at the last board meeting where there's some discussion here and then as a superintendent schools there was a query that came from the uh paper and asked me to kind of provide some feedback there so um I know that I have received some Communications from from our community members and some of our faculty teams so if you had a moment to read that paper um I provided

105a direct quote in there for me with the intent that I would not be uh misunderstood um if you go back and read that you will see elements of my quote were pulled out and put up top one of the things that you if you look in you realize and maybe from our own experience is that uh an Institute on um study of Journalism recently identified that approximately 51% of people actually finish an article and so it's kind of important and so that's why I've always uh proceeded to do that anytime something has come to me been doing this for almost 20 years as superintendent it's the first time that that has taken place to me so I just wanted to take that piece back to you and say the part that was taken out

106of the my full quote uh kind of spoke about one element that um uh is identified here is that the idea that um we appreciate I'm going to actually that's a full piece let me go back to the top here I don't want to misquote um so blanch said in the statement there's not and never was a plan to read the book as part of an elementary school unit he called the book age appropriate for students in prek through second grade you may be F Garrison Keeler kind of a public radio person his quote was always the rest of the story so let me read to you the bottom of the full quote here is the full quote we appreciate that parents take the time to share their views with the Board of Education and

107school administrators our goal as a district is to foster a partnership with families and share relevance reliable information it is important to note that there was not and never was a plan to read when Aiden became a brother as part of an ometry School unit the book considered age appropriate for students in prek through second grade by the school library Journal is one of many in a classroom Li that is used to respond to and support the particular children in a teacher's classroom in a given year these age appropriate books are used to provide windows and mirrors into lives of students and those of their classmates to Foster understanding of and appreciation for our unique situation I think that describes quite a bit different story and disappointed that if we're on the average readership only

108half of our parents got to read the top part so I want to make it very clear that this team our leadership here is in support of all of our children and in relationship to that one of the things as I've been doing the visioning work is that a clear statement that continues across all of the conversations with parents and with kids and The Faculty is all this isn't some it's all but one it's all doesn't matter what the content is it may be how to support students academically and socially emotionally supportive but the idea is about all and so when we think about our faculty we've heard that many times tonight I absolutely entrust we entrust and Empower our faculty to make those determinations to how to best support all children that are in

109front of them every single day we have an extremely veteran and Powerful staff this board described before we have provided those resources to those teachers so they can make those decisions those are the people that are on every day every morning greeting our children and so just in closing with that kind of conversation at all all means all and part of belonging this that you spoke about is is that the number one thing is do you see me do you see me I see see you and every kid matters in the school district everyone and we will make sure that we will never back off of that thank you B thank you thank you all right and with that would someone like to make a motion to adjourn motion by John second by Barbara all

110those in favor I 60 thank you [Music]