001e e e okay um all right well it is uh officially 6 o' so I don't know I'm it eching too I don't know cuz you're watching it on YouTube you you need to turn your speaker off on your tablet how turn my speaker off we'll we'll figure it out all right so 6 o'clock and we're going to get our uh our work session called to order sort of we're we're still all better look we got the volume turned down now um so uh briefly before we get to 1.2 um uh Alysa donaho with the Oregon Library Association um um uh we have our board member organizational time uh directors and Katie is Katie with us yet okay Katie welcome uh via Zoom here okay fantastic thank you um and we appreciate you joining us
002um so uh board members anything for our organizational time anything to bring up to to the rest of us no good and I guess the other question is do we have Alyssa with us is she I'm assuming Alyssa's via Zoom right she's is not here okay okay she's on Zoom so um and is she listening to me now okay Alyssa welcome thank you for uh for setting aside your evening to um to give us your little training here uh we appreciate your time and and uh being able to coordinate on short notice seeing as I requested the superintendent reach out to you just last week um so thank you for that uh just a quick um heads up that our regular board meeting starts uh promptly at 6:30 so uh the time is yours but
003we need to keep it under that 30 minutes if you if you can please yes absolutely thank you so much for inviting me um I'm always happy to provide training and I do have a short slideshow prepared um is there a way for you all to view that if not I can just use it for my own guidance um I can share the screen if that's possible uh I'm getting a head nod that yes that's possible but I don't know how to walk you through it Amanda the Sandy G the superintendent RT director is gonna set you up here in a second sounds good yeah if you can if you can just uh uh share your screen I think we'll be able to see it is what I'm overhearing yep okay yep you're coming up
004you're starting your screen share you're good there it is all right excellent all right so first thank you so much for inviting me this is wonderful um we're always happy to do training and help in other ways which I'll talk a little bit more about um so I know we're on a short timeline uh usually our intellectual ual Freedom trainings are um anywhere from an hour to two hours long so this is really getting it down just to the basics um and uh there there will be times I'll pause um if you do have questions that pop up um and then I have a little bit of time at the end and there will be some things that will just be on the screen for you all to to read um because you might already
005be familiar with them um so we'll go through introductions first then we'll talk a little bit about Basics and then the thing that I think is really important when considering intellectual freedom is how you're applying that um in a day-to-day setting um so we'll start with first who is Oregan Library Association intellectual Freedom committee um it is a standing committee sorry is this covering um here we go can you see the full screen now the full slide yes yes it looks like it okay okay cool I wanted to make sure I wasn't cutting off some of the words for you um so the Oregon Library Association intellectual Freedom committee is a standing committee empowered by the OA board to educate and support the value of intellectual freedom and help provide public oversight of any potential
006violations of the first amendment in Oregon libraries oifc is usually what we call it or IFC also provides support during challenges helps review policies and offers training for librarians boards and staff at any library and organ I do want to offer a disclaimer though we are not lawyers um we encourage you to consult your District's legal council if there is a legal matter that comes up regarding intellectual Freedom um I will say a big chunk of this training um is put together originally by our law for librarians trainer I am not that person um but I have been on the intellect ual Freedom committee and offering trainings for a couple of years now um before we move on I wanted to tell you a little bit about myself um my name is Alyssa Dono I
007am the co-chair of the IFC there's another chair helps us get a lot more done um I've been on the committee for uh a couple of years now and I um have about 5 years experience working in public libraries and a couple years working in schools and I am currently um uh student going to school to be a uh certified District librarian so this is all dovetailing very nicely so uh what is intellectual Freedom so intellectual Freedom encompasses the freedom to hold receive and circulate ideas without restriction viewed as an integral component of a Democratic Society intellectual Freedom protects an individual's right to access explore con consider and express ideas and information as the basis for a self-governing well-informed citizenry and it is uh protected by the first amendment in the Constitution I often say
008it's rooted in the first amendment in the Constitution um because that's where all of this comes from any thoughts or questions so far looks like we got a bunch of headon so uh keep keep on rolling cool all right so you may be familiar with the Miller test um it is I think uh the core of a lot of what needs to be considered when you are looking at um materials that are in school library specifically what we've been seeing um Statewide and even Nationwide is um concern and um the the Miller test really is important because it talks about what obscenity is um and how it's defined by law um so I'm not going to read all of these but I will emphasize that it in order for something to be considered obscene it
009needs to meet all of the following three criteria and so even if it ticks one box in your opinion or you know two boxes that's not enough it has to apply all three of them um objectively considering whatever material or book um that is being reviewed and then another really important thing to be aware of is for the Miller test this is applied to the oldest of miners so a 17-year-old um and that is called the harmful to minor test is that familiar to you all do you feel pretty comfortable with that yeah yeah we're good and and uh yes okay awesome so something that I often um remind folks of is that um while there are concerns and I want to acknowledge that you know there's a lot of really good intention behind behind
010the concerns um something that comes up time and again for intellectual freedom is someone says hey I don't want my kid to read that I don't think any kids should read that um and I want to remind everyone that um parents do have that right to say hey I don't think this should be in a in a school library I don't think this should be in a library um and have the right to fill out a request for reconsideration or whatever you all call it in your District different school districts call it different things um and OD does affirm that um parents um can let opt their children out from instructional activities specifically that involve uh content on the basis of their child's religious beliefs or disabilities um and it's important to to remember that
011and then um when you are looking at materials to be reviewed um consider also that parents have the right to decide for their own child what is Right to Read for them and also they don't have the right to say because I don't like this that means no one gets to read that um and it's a very important distinction um because what censorship is a slippery slope and um it it can start with something that it seems like well everyone will agree with this but it can it can really slide down that slope and um end up inadvertently taking away rights of parents and of students and that is something that you want to consider and really try and keep in a balance um for any reconsideration processes that you all have in progress or
012um if they're coming in I will say I have not been the person on the IFC primarily working with your school district on anything going on so I don't have the details this is more of a broad um what we've been seeing throughout the state and if you are encountering um requests for reconsideration concerns from families know that you're not alone like this happen s a lot and it's totally valid and normal and it's just something that you all have to work through together um as a district and a community and then I did want to point to the fact that um because we know this is going on and it is a concern for lots of folks um the intellectual Freedom committee actually uh worked with the Oregon School Board Association to help update
013sample policy policies um I don't know where you all are at with your policy updates of things or if you're updating any Library related policies in the future um but if you are I do want to make folks aware that if you're a member of osba those sample policies are available to you um and they are pretty Broad and there are some things that are in there and some that we chose not to include in there because that should be you know maybe not a board level policy but um an administrative rule or something so just as an additional resource for you if you're thinking about updating policies or if you find that you need to update policies um that's a good place to start if you're looking for something like that um want to
014check in again any thoughts concerns questions at this point before we move on I think we're good and we we are a member of osba so we we can use that as a resource uh if and when the time comes that is great we had um a couple of members of the IFC on the team writing that and they took honestly I think it was about two years so it was a very thorough overview and there's a couple of um members of the IFC that work for the State Library who were also involved in updating these so um definitely recommend it as a good resource for you all that way you don't have to reinvent the wheel okay okay so something that I wanted to bring up is when you're applying the idea of intellectual
015freedom because I think that might be where you all are at is applying the ideas of intellectual Freedom you might be real familiar with the um the the court cases supporting it and kind of like the legal precedent um but sometimes it's hard to take that from okay I know the ideas of this how do I apply it in like actual real life that's not a court casee um so I want to share that Librarians are trained to remove their own personal bias when they're purchasing materials um and I can totally share that when I worked in a public library um for several years I was the person that purchased materials for all of the youth collections in my community and it is something that you do have to actually think about and be like
016okay I'm going to turn that part of my my brain with my own personal judgments off um and I will say it is a hard thing to do it takes practice and work um but it is important because you want to make sure your own bias isn't affecting the students or I worked with the public so affecting the public um I wanted to make sure that everyone in the Community could see themselves in the library regardless of what I had in common with them if I agreed with certain things um and so on and so that's something to to be thinking about if you're you know applying the principles of intellectual freedom in real life I also want to say that this applies to helping students find reading materials not just purchasing them so when
017Librarians are helping guide students to their next book that they're going to like or that they're hopefully that they're excited about reading um it's it's important to also kind of turn that personal bias off because um you might find yourself saying hey this looks like a really good book for you um even though you personally didn't read it or didn't like it it might be just the perfect fit for that student to help encourage them to you know find that love of reading um the other thing to take into account is really centering the reader in what their needs are this is something that Librarians are trained on also and um I don't know if you all are familiar with the idea of Windows mirrors and sliding glass doors um the idea is that books
018specifically can act as Windows to view a different world to to see someone else's perspective to to see someone else's different lived experience um to explore that from the comfort of you know home reading a book or you know wherever you might be reading there's also the importance of books acting as mirrors and that is you know people readers students specifically being able to see themselves and their their own life experiences maybe things that they're learning about encountering in their lives books should reflect that like a mirror and then the idea of sliding glass doors is that you should be able to slide open that glass door and step into another world another place similar to Windows but a bit more immersive um and that is something that gets talked about all the time in
019libraries and book places um whether that's a bookstore a library a school something like that um there are three really key functions that books should offer to their readers and it's one of those three things they should be able to you know see into another world step into another world or see their own experiences reflected um and then a quote that I really love that I think I picked up in a training somewhere along the way um over the years is not every book will be right for everyone but every book is right for someone and it's something to keep in mind when you're considering you know what materials should be in the school library um and something else along those lines to think about is books in the school library are optional it's not
020the same as you know required reading or curriculum and that's something else to take into account when you're looking at books or materials that might have been challenged or hearing concerns from folks just knowing that you know students can walk in um to a library and I'm not sure how large your libraries are there but ideally there are going to be hundreds thousands perhaps of options for students um and the goal really is to make sure that somewhere in that big collection you've got Windows mirrors and sliding class doors for each and every single one of the students and all the people in your community and something I wanted to include is um some steps to kind of avoid or try and turn off your own personal bias because as I mentioned earlier it's really
021hard to just be like nope we're not we're not viewing things through my own lens um we are objectively viewing this to see you know um if it's right for the library collection so these are things that I personally have found helpful and hopefully they can help you also first acknowledging that a book or a material may not be something that you personally like or agree with every aspect of just taking a moment and saying okay I may not love this book I may not think this is a well-written book I may not think XYZ taking all of that and kind of just being like okay I'm going to take it I'm going to put it behind me we're not thinking that right now and then moving into acknowledge that a book or material has
022value to others even if it may not have value to you um that's something that I would frequently remind myself of when I was purchasing materials is hey this isn't a book that I would read but I think people in our community would read it and get something out of it and again that ties back into the windows mirrors and sliding glass doors of it's not for me but it might be for others and then the third thing to take into account is books and materials really must be taken as a whole not a small passage not a single page not a picture um we see that time and again with challenges to books um folks have you know taken one paragraph out of a 500 page book and said this whole book shouldn't be
023here because of this paragraph but when you're reading the book in its entirety then you almost don't notice some of those passages or or maybe you know yes there was a a a phrase I didn't like there was a word here there something like that um but it needs to be taken as a whole not just small parts of it um and that actually ties back into um some of the legal precedent also is making sure um that materials are reviewed as a whole and that's to be considered at all points in a review process if you're going through a challenge you're reviewing it but it's also something to take into account um when Librarians are purchasing books and things like that so I also wanted to in include a few questions um because sometimes
024it's hard to say okay I'm not going to I'm not going to let my personal bias you know affect this but then it there's it's helpful to have some questions um to ask yourself as you're thinking about a book or reviewing a book or something like that um so one is who could this book benefit maybe it's not beneficial to you but it could benefit someone else our lived experiences depicted that could be helpful for students um again this could be someone experiencing something themselves and needing to be affirmed by reading about someone a book that has had a similar experience and knowing that you know I can make it through because this person did especially when it's a memoir or something like that um or a biography and autobiography sometimes just knowing that other
025people have survived an experience that you also survived is is really helpful um another question is do students see themselves in in this book and that would tie into the one above um again having experiences and being able to relate to them um sometimes if it's a book that I was like ooh I don't know I don't know if this is the right fit for our library for you know wherever we are for the community trying to reframe it and say are there some positives about this book is there something that I'm just thinking about it negatively and it would be helpful to reframe it and think about it a little more positively um that can sometimes be really helpful and then asking yourself can others learn from this book maybe not someone that's had
026the same experience but someone that has um that needs to be able to see that experience even though it's not theirs to help them relate to someone to help them empathize with someone something along those lines um so so I wanted to include this because sometimes it's hard to take the um ideals of intellectual freedom and apply them and I think these are some um quick and easy ways for folks to to apply those ideas this is my last time I'm gonna ask you all if you have questions I promise directors any questions okay and we we have about three minutes three and a half minutes so so wrap it up for us bring Bring It On home aist well that was my last slide actually I did want to include my contact information in
027case you have questions later if nothing came up you know right now but in two weeks you're like hey actually I've got a question this is my information um your superintendent also has contact information and so I'm sure anything that you're wondering about or concerned about can be funneled through him um or you can email us directly that's the co-chair email so it'll go to my myself in the other chair but we welcome questions um and we're happy to provide more training or answer them via email or whatever you all need to support you excellent well thank you and that uh well done putting your two hours into a nutshell for us we appreciate that happy to do it thanks for inv very much uh going back to your last slide directors seeing as that
028was the last slide are there any questions nope we good to go okay I think uh Katie I I can't look at you to see a head knot are you uh you have any questions for Alyssa no questions thank you okay thank you um Alysa all right well thank you you uh you you encapsulated all that very well and we appreciate your time this evening all right well thank you so much for having me have a great rest of your evening hey thanks you too all right well directors uh um I don't know if you saw the emails that was something that uh per our agenda planning meeting I requested that Andy um get lined up for us and and they were able to make it happen in short order so so I appreciate that
029and any other board business for the work session otherwise we'll adjourn and then um pick it up at 6:30 for the regular session so uh work session adjourned e e e okay like to welcome everybody to the uh uh opening and the the the beginning of our of our regular board meeting um this evening uh March 12th 2025 uh for the SAA School District 97 J um welcome to all the press and patrons of the district uh anticipating a larger crowd this evening we moved over here to the Middle School um so uh we'll call the meeting to order and our mission statement is motivating and preparing all students to reach their greatest potential and uh we will proceed with first the attendance Mrs free chair lacur present Vice chair Milton Berger present director Barnett
030present director Cole present director hly present director snedden pres director pylot pres student representative M Lade present student representative Sheamus Burke present thank you and for all of you keeping score that's 100% okay uh 2.4 the pledge pled of Allegiance uh this will be by gunar durgen uh presented by I'm assuming Mike harkle Road Mr harle Road sort of by me I'm actually going to be uh turning this one over a minute partly due to a very poor speaking voice tonight but also um when I put the bat signal out for this one asking for a student it came back in seconds and Miss Jon's the one who nominated Gunner durgen and over the next half day or so a number of other teachers chimed in with their students and when I said we we've
031we've got Gunner doing it just about every person went oh yeah that that makes sense that's a good one so I'm very happy to introduce Miss Kelly Jocelyn who's going to tell you a little more about why she picked gunar durgen gunar come on up fantastic Gunner is joined here by his mother Haley who was filing as well positive attitude welcoming presence friendly to everyone dedicated to Excellence pursues academic success my personal favorite very kind Works to save money for his future participates in community service passionate about volleyball would love a boys team hint hint these are just a few of the words that describe this amazing young man Gunner durgen so it's my pleasure for him to do the Pledge of Allegiance for our meeting tonight thank you Governor all right and can I
032have everyone stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and gentlemen can you remove your hats well done all right begin I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you gunar if you would bring you and whoever else is with you up here to get this certificate and take a picture for our for the website and as you're making your way up when I was in elementary school one of my best friends was named gunar and that was up until he beat me in an art contest and then he wasn't my friend anymore so so it's a good name right over here [Applause] and also for the record he cheated in that art
033contest if you can do such a thing okay but I'm not still upset about it I am um 2.5 uh is is Claire with us already Claire are you here Claire's here Claire uh there's the the podium right over there and you're up and thanks for thanks for joining us looks like you're straight from practice so thank you sorry uh good evening everyone I hope you're having a great night spring break is just two weeks away and students and staff are working hard as we approach that final stretch um for some academics and Leadership this week all the freshmen Juniors and sophomores were completing their forecasting for their courses next year and it's really cool to see all the students planning ahead for their futures um Macy mcneel um put on a blood drive on
034February 17th it was super successful and then another one is going to be going on on May 5th so if you have some blood to donate you should check that out um and then yearbook the deadlines for senior quotes and photo submissions are quickly approaching or have already approached and then on to seniors they wrapped up their scholarship applications Friday so we're all feeling a little bit more relaxed this week um prom the junior class is working hard to prepare prom on April 19th it's the day before Easter and the theme is red carpet and it sounds really cool they have the Elk's LOD Elk's Lodge reserved for us um on to Spring sports baseball and softball have their first game Tuesday at home versus Pleasant Hill Golf has their first match on Monday and
035track and field has their first meet on Thursday March 20th State wrestling results had some outstanding performances at the state wrestling tournament including Mai Lade who's here right now first place state champion and then we had Jacob man placing second Dan lacor and Leo Robertson placing third and Abby rigs placing fourth and it's always such a cool thing to see those athletes go to state they work so hard all year um onto clubs and activities Ina Club had the rotary auction this last Saturday the RO Court was also there it was a great success and it's just really cool to see how much the community comes together to build those scholarships for us um the Easter egg hunt is scheduled on April 19th at 10: a.m. for any kiddos in your life and the junior
036interact members are also helping us out this year which is awesome National Honors Society held their induction ceremony about two weeks ago and we inducted 15 new members and it's a really big congratulations to these students for their dedication to their academics and service um choir and arts choir is heading to North Bend on April 19 or not on April 19th it's next Wednesday um for a festival which is really cool and the art Department Pottery students are preparing for an upcoming Gallery showcase and the local second graders just received those projects I told you about a few months ago and got to meet their high school students and it was a wonderful opportunity for the kids to connect with the high school art program a few other highlights project grad had the most fish
037fry fundraiser and it was a great way to support the graduating class I didn't participate myself but I went afterwards and it seemed like it was a really good turnout podcasting Mr Bean's podcasting Studio continues to be active and students are still producing Viking hour every Monday to show updates with at what's happening with sayla so if you ever want more active updates I would check out Viking hour rock your socks Day is coming up and our school's participating in that to raise awareness for Down syndrome and so show our support and I look forward to seeing all the students and staff participating with that and then our c classes have a showcase happening tomorrow with visitors from Eugene coming to check out our programs and it's a great opportunity to highlight the work being
038done in our career in technical education courses at the high school our health occupations classes are partnering with the hospital to observe different Medical Careers and this experience is going to help them prepare for those CNA classes coming up and obab is going to State thanks s and then a you up coming events we have the job fair on April 16th at the Floren event Florence Event Center we have the Easter egg hunt like I said April 19th 10:00 a.m. prom April 19th and then another blood drive April 5th just to recap all those um it's a busy time of year for our students and staff but we appreciate all the hard work going into these events and activities and as always thank you for your time and support thank you appreciate that Claire thank
039you um and as expected there's all sorts of things happening and we uh we appreciate that update um moving on to 2.6 directors we have a proclamation uh by the superintendent superintendent so uh I see music education sitting out in the audience and again March is music in our schools month so whereas for more than 30 years March has been officially designated by the National Association for music education as music in our schools month encouraging communities Across the Nation to focus on music music education and whereas music education is part of a well-rounded education for every student as outlined in the every student succeeds act and whereas the purpose of this celebration is to raise awareness of the lasting positive impact of music education on the academic personal and professional growth of our students and
040whereas music education shapes the way our students understand themselves and the world around them allowing for deep engagement with learning and whereas music in our schools months reminds us that schools where all children should have access to music and whereas music educators students and communities throughout Oregon demonstrate the importance of quality music education programs to the lives of young people whereas the state of Oregon joins our music students Educators and communities in celebrating the power of music education now therefore be it resolved the ca School District 97j does hereby proclaim the month of March as music in our schools month as we celebrate and acknowledge every day but especially in March that music education is an essential part of every student's well-rounded education would our music teachers please stand up and take a bow Mrs
041starles M Mr Johnson and Mr rivo excellent thank you um okay um moving on uh 2.7 uh the approval of the agenda superintendent all right uh item uh 03225 2.7 approval of the agenda uh board chair Vice chair and superintendent meet to prepare the agenda one week prior to the board meeting items of business may be suggested by any uh board member staff member student or citizen of the district by notifying the superintendent at least five working days prior to the meeting any changes to the agenda must be approved by majority vote Administration recommends approval of the agenda as presented directors any discussion on the item if not a motion would be proper or chair be it resolved that the ca School District Board of Directors approve the agenda as presented resolution 031 225-2712 25-2
0422.7 approve agenda uh motion made by director Barnett seconded by director milberger uh any discussion on the motion those in favor I any opposed all the uh Katie I'll just assume that you're you're chiming in um but I only I'm only hearing what's happening in the room so um chime in loud if you oppose any of these um I will okay thank you all right directors moving on uh 3.0 uh when I when I came in way early for this meeting because I was not paying attention to what time it actually started um uh Debbie uh well Miss Debbie free our executive secretary she informed me that we have about 17 um did we get did we gain more so I just wanted to see if there is anybody that has not checked in that
043would like to speak okay so if you if you are in attendance in the gallery and you have not filled out your form and dropped it to um Miss free uh please do so now and uh just a couple of things out of our public comment policy here to highlight um a person speaking during the and to review this in its entirety there's there's uh copies of it on that table over there behind the screen I'm pointing in a general direction because I can't see the table myself and over here uh as we enter but a couple of things to highlight um a person speaking during the public comment portion of the meeting May comment on agenda items or activities Rel relevant to the student body topics topics of public comment should be within the
044purview of the authority of the district a person providing public comment will be allowed three minutes that one we're going to be kind of strict on tonight um seeing as we have that many because if I'm doing my math right 17 puts us pretty close to an hour um what what uh I don't know directors if you have a better suggestion for me I'm going to at about two minutes and 45 seconds I'll because I don't I don't have a bell I'm just going to tap the table that uh that's a gentle request to to wrap up your comments um so so that's how that's how we'll try to manage that um and then lastly um well another to highlight from from our public comment policies is a person speaking during the designated portion of
045the agenda for public comment may offer objective criticism of District Operations and programs the board will not hear comments regarding any any individual District staff member um so uh one other thing that I would request because this is going um I'll treat it like a wrestling tournament SL track meet um and I happen to see there's a couple of empty chairs behind the podium um I'll read who's up who's on deck and who's in the hole or on hold depending if you're on a wrestling meet or track meet okay so um we'll go uh first here uh this is Megan Spencer is up up and as she is there and let's also try to come up to these two Empty Chairs relatively reverently to not disrupt the the speaker um so uh Megan Spencer is
046up Angela DeSaro is on deck and Kathleen Kendall is in the hole shall I go ahead yeah you're up thank you awesome uh hi everyone um my name is Mega Spencer I am the director of the sisa Public Library District and I am here in that role tonight and also as um a pretty proud member of this community um the thing I want to tell you most about what Librarians do both in public and school libraries is connect people to information Librarians buy books of all kinds so we can serve all kinds of readers when I working with someone who comes to library with a book request or wants an answer what I try to do is give them the book that will serve them and the idea that will matter to them a librarian's
047job my job is serving the person in front of me the tool I have to do that is a wide and varied collection of books computers movies albums a wide and varied collection overseen by a professional librarian who can teach readers to discover the books and ideas that matter to them is what we need in school libraries if we're going to prepare students to live in the world a world where they're going to be tasked with making decisions we haven't even considered yet here's the thing I trust students to put down a book they don't want to read I trust parents to help those children in their care make decisions I trust everyone in this room that they're here for the right reasons and I hope that you trust me because I'll tell you what
048if you come to me and ask me to help you I will put my own feelings aside I will do the best I can to get to the information that you need in the quarter of a century I have been lucky enough to connect books and readers I have been asked to take books off the shelf and it seems easy to guess what's going to be controversial but here are some of the things I've been asked to remove books that present guns in a positive light books that describe tarot or astrology because they're unchristian I have been asked to remove the Bible cat Warriors generally those requests have resulted in good conversations if you want me to take away all the books about guns do you want me to take the books away that have
049to do with gun safety if you don't think that terot or astrology is Christian what about the student who agrees with you and needs a book so they can write a book report and try to convince others of the same thing the problem with choosing books based on partisan objections or personal preference is you end up with a library that's useful to nobody you end up with a library that changes every time there is an election good Librarians and good Library policies ensure that readers get to make their own choices quite simply no parent should make that choice for another child we can trust our neighbors to make those decisions for themselves I think you have a chance to listen to the community I I think you have a chance to keep politics out of
050policy I really appreciate that that work is hard because I've done it and I trust you thank you thank [Applause] you Angela Doo is up Kathleen Kendall on deck and Kathy Skelly in the hole Angela good evening my name is Angela Doo and I am honored to serve as a teacher at the elementary school for the last six years I'm here to address the proposed supplemental care culum policy as it relates to differentiation in the classroom I think the best way for me to do this for you is to give you a snapshot of one of the grade levels at our school and I will do fourth grade in this case right now we have 82 fourth graders our latest latest Star data showed that our reading ranges from 0.6 to 12.8 so that's kindergarten
051through 12th grade our math math ranges in fourth grade from 1.3 to greater than seventh grade 56 out of the 82 fourth graders are reading one or more years below grade level that's 68% of our fourth graders the Gap with our students is wider than ever we are teaching our curriculum with Fidelity while at the same time differentiating across multiple grade levels additionally we we are required to meet the students needs who are by law on IEPs 504 plans tag plans and our elll students current curriculums do not differentiate high enough or low enough to meet the needs of all of our students making supplement supplemental materials necessary Elementary School teachers teach multiple curriculums that include math reading language arts science social studies Health sources of strength all in one day one of our fourth
052grade teachers has 21 students six of whom are on IEP plans four who are on fib4 plans two elll four tag students every lesson that she prepares needs to be differentiated and modified to meet the needs of all 21 students some examples of differentiation include having four different spelling lists to meet all leveled Learners having three math groups where you teach the curriculum at F with Fidelity at the middle there but then you have to stretch for your tag students who tested at an eighth grade level or stretch for your IEP students who tested at a first grade level and that makes supplemental materials important for us in our classroom to be able to Pivot that way or simply the lesson just didn't hit it just didn't hit that day and so for me using
053a supplemental worksheet or a supplemental video off of YouTube helps bring the point home for the fourth graders right long division is a tough thing for them to grasp at times and um I can say that the number rocks videos on YouTube have been a great resource for teaching kids simple songs that help them remember the order of operations one might think differentiating at so many levels is complicated or a hassle for teachers differentiation is one of the ways teachers get to meet their students where they are at and frankly this is my favorite part of being a teacher it is with differentiation that I get to be creative and insightful and even have some fun differentiation is a gift for our students it is our opportunity to say I see you and I'm going
054to meet you right where you need me right now differentiation is just another way to tell our students all of our students that you belong here and I got you thank you so much for your time please don't in implement this policy change and take that gift away from our students I appreciate your time thank you so much thank [Applause] you Cath Kathleen Kendall is up Kathy Skelly on uh in on deck and uh I can't tell if this is Sharon or Shannon hunt I think it's Shannon um Shannon or Sharon I hope you know who you are um Kathleen good evening my name is Kathleen Kendall I'm a retired special education resource specialist currently I'm an employee of our local public library and I serve on the board of P flag Florence P flag
055is a National Organization of families and allies of the lgbtq plus Community we are fortunate to have an active chapter here in Florence when I heard of a book challenge at the high school I bought the awardwinning book and read it I assumed it was being challenged because of lgbtq plus themes but I found that was just a very small part of the story the main character struggles with his religion his race dysfunction at home and his identity the most important takeaway from the story was the realization for the main character character that he is enough his life has value this is a book that could save the life of a student here in Florence books help students connect with characters whose stories reflect their own lives they also widen their view of a changing
056world that Embraces diversity all libraries offer students the opportunity to encounter books and material that they might otherwise never see and the freedom to make their own choices about what to read we know that once one book is banned from a library a slew of other complaints about other books can be Unleashed is that the best use of our teachers administrators and the board's time and taxpayer dollars or should the focus be on developing critically thoughtful students the district has appropriately trained profession Professionals in place who choose and review materials objectively considering the educational academic literary and artistic values of each item the needs of all students are considered some 60% of the residents in this town are retired when a school bond measure shows up on a ballot my hope is that it is
057supported that and that voters are not negatively impacted by all the time resource ources and taxpayer dollars spent because of one book to be clear I applaud the student for speaking up and using their voice to share a concern I appreciate the efforts of the panel that sat and reviewed the book and unanimously decided it should remain on the Shelf I appreciate the board members agreeing to read the book in its entirety before making a decision denying young people the the freedom to explore books often because of a single controversial passage taken out of context will limit not only what they can learn but who they can become thank you thank you okay um reset my timer here the uh Kathy Skelly is up uh Shannon Hunt is on deck and Kath Grove is in
058the hole hello I would like to thank the saus school board for allowing members of the community to speak at this meeting but I'd also like to take the time to recognize the fabulous teachers library and classroom AIDS support staff and our wonderful District librarian Jennifer McKenzie I am proud to be associated with the cers LA School District my name is Kathy Skelly and I'm a retired teacher who taught in the public school system for 36 years I'm currently a substitute teacher in the district but most important importantly and the reason I'm here tonight is I'm a lifelong reader I discovered the joy of reading as a child found comfort in books reading broaden my horizons took me on literary adventures and helped me learn about the world it angers me that the possibility of
059censorship has made its way to Florence children deserve the freedom to read and explore their world through books when I looked at some of the books throughout our country that have been banned and I was shocked at some of the reasons many of the books would not even be considered political or controversial a case in point chrysanthemum a delightful children's book by Kevin hinkis tells the story of a little girl named chrysanthem who loves her unusual name but is teased by her classmates for it she learns to embrace her individuality and finds pride in her name learning a lesson about self accept self-acceptance and diversity a parent in a Kansas School District sought to ban the book saying the book promotes an inappropriate message encouraging children to be different and embrace their individuality one parent
060a student or a small group of parents or community members legally should not violate other first others First Amendment and intellectual Freedom rights as articulated in our US Constitution censorship is not the answer each parent can create a plan with their child for selecting books while at the library based on their values but they do not have the right to impose their beliefs on the community as a whole or make decisions for other parents children or individual students about what they read when I first came to Florence I was amazed and so happy to see that the sausa school libraries are topnotch providing students with opportunities to explore new ideas understand different perspectives and discover their own love of reading students deserve to see themselves reflected in a library's collection censoring books especially those that
061reflect diverse cultures histories and experiences limits the scope of education and stifles the students ability to think critically I ask that the board uphold the legal right of the student students and families to access books that reflect a wide range of voices histories and experiences and uphold the rights of the students to read learn and grow without unnecessary censorship thank you for taking the time to hear my comments and concerns please support our students rights to ear to right to read knowledge is power thank you thank you and our NE our third uh so on Deck is Kathleen Grove and in the hole is Jennifer McKenzie Shannon or Sharon Shannon Shannon Shannon please I'm Shannon hunt and I am also a substitute teacher here in the district and I'm on the short list of Library
062substitutes as well and I've been a substitute teacher across Oregon for about nine years even in eastern Oregon past Pendleton where there are more cows than people um and I love books so much so that next year I'll actually be starting a master's program in children's literature before I start uh more of my commentary I want to let everyone know that I will be mentioning some teen suicide rates in my commentary I read flamer last week and found it to be both heartbreaking and uplifting this is a story about survival surviving the outdoors at summer camp and surviving the brutal Gauntlet of adolescen every single adult in this room is familiar with that Gauntlet because we've all been there too we've all been teenagers is trying to survive Aiden the lead character of this book
063survives by accepting himself for who he truly is despite the bullies despite a difficult home life and despite the shame Society inflicts upon the gay community according to the Trevor Project 41% of lgbtq plus youth have seriously considered suicide suicide Remains the second leading cause of death among all 15 to 19 year olds and the leading cause of death of all 14 to 15 year olds Aiden is 14 in this story the author Mike curado details how accepting his true self saved his own life it is still very difficult to be an lgbtq plus youth in this country especially right now after a decade of working in Oregon Public Schools I can tell you that some things haven't changed since the late 90s and early a time frame of this particular book calling somebody gay
064is still wielded as an insult hate is taught but can also be survived I see this book as a vehicle for Suicide Prevention I understand that some people have concerns about the appropriateness of its content like swear words and sexual content and I want to remind the board and the community that this book is only available at the high school library it's also not required reading if a student doesn't want to read this book they don't have to they get that choice let's not take away that choice from all students let's not take away that choice from a student who may see themselves in Aiden and fight to stay here lastly I want to say that it should go without saying that books don't turn people into somebody they aren't already they turn us toward
065each other and toward ourselves they can hold up a mirror or hold up a portrait of our neighbor or our friend or someone across the aisle or somebody on the other side of the cafeteria at the end of the day the more we see each other and respect each other for who we truly are the more of us survive thank you thank you [Applause] okay uh Kathleen Grove Jennifer McKenzie on deck and then uh Gail and I I I can only read my own chicken scratch so starts with a V vzzi yeah did I hear a yes okay all right oh miss Gil if should have just said Miss Gil okay yes okay uh Kathleen good evening everyone thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts regarding the supplemental curriculum adoption policy my name
066is Kathleen Grove teacher here at saaw middle school I'm here to address the proposed supplemental curriculum policy that has been sent back and forth between the board and the policy Review Committee and how that could affect our teachers the school board now has in front of them the policy committee original suggestions to the supplemental curriculum policy the school board member suggest s and our commentary on those suggestions there are many concerns regarding the suggestions made by the school board and each of us tonight will try to cover the most important issues I would like to focus on professional efficacy by definition professional efficacy essentially refers to an individual's belief in their ability to perform effectively within their professional role it encompasses a sense of of competence confidence and productivity the relationship between professional efficacy job
067satisfaction and retention is deeply interconnected when individuals feel competent and confident in their abilities they tend to experience greater job satisfaction professional efficacy contributes to a sense of accomplishment which is a key driver of job satisfaction professional efficacy leads to reduced turnover employees with high professional efficacy are less likely to seek other employment they are more resilient in the face of challenges and less prone to burnout which reduces the likelihood of leaving when people feel they are good at their job they are more likely to want to remain in that job in summary when employees feel capable and confident in their roles they are more likely to be happy and stay with their organization my observation in regards to the suggestions made by the school board member are concerning to me in regards to adoption
068of supplemental materials it was suggested that supplemental materials used by teachers go through the same process as Core Curriculum materials I feel concerned that an attempt is being made to restrict my abilities to have autonomy in making educational decisions I feel appropriate for my students learning needs what is important to me as a teacher is that I be given the opportunity to exercise my professional judgment when deciding what supplemental materials can be used in addition to the Core Curriculum without having to go through a lengthy formal process as we do for Core Curriculum adoptions in other words I require the ability to work somewhat autonomously and creatively I value the fact that I am a competent professional and have the autonomy in making Sound Decision ISS in regards to how I teach my students I
069have a very high degree of professional efficacy I request that this school board take our commentaries into consideration when evaluating the policy committee suggestions thank you for your time [Applause] oh I wasn't on the mic Jennifer McKenzie and then uh Miss Gail and Amy CH groning is uh in the hole all right good evening everybody I'm Jennifer McKenzie your District teacher librarian I'm the current president of the Oregon Association of school libraries and I'm also a former United States Army Medical Service Corp officer and we swear Oaths to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States first I want to talk about my professional resp responsibilities for the district per Oregon administrative rules school districts are legally required to staff a certified teacher librarian to oversee media programs as your District teacher librarian it
070is my responsibility to Champion our learning communities freedom to read as protected by the first amendment in the Constitution I am also obligated to report censorship to the Oregon State library and this is defined as any attempt to remove or restrict materials based upon the objections of a person or a group examples of challenges or censorship instances that I'm obligated to report include if I find swastikas or dangerous uh graffiti in our libraries I report book challenges I report Library programming challenges I report if anyone comes into the library and requests that we remove posters I report report it if anyone comes into the library and requests that we take down particular book displays I am obligated to report it next I want to talk about professional vetting protocols the district uses a professional vetting
071database called Title Wave to select and Screen books flamer is rated appropriate for high school students per that database the book also went through a building level review where administrators deemed the book appropriate for high school readers then it was ran through a community review panel a panel consisting of a nurse a parent a teacher a pastor and a professional author all of whom deemed the book was appropriate for high school students after all these levels of review it would be appropriate for the school board to affirm the decision of educational professionals to retain the book instead of censoring the book students and parents have the right to apply their own personal vetting protocols for self- selected reading material and finally I want to talk about the cost of book challenges this book challenge may
072have cost our district and Community $10,000 in time and effort taken away from instruction and curriculum litigation for a book challenge could cost the community 250 to $400,000 additionally there is an opportunity com uh cost to conflict divisive conflict regarding censorship can harm students and staff morale and well-being and finally most importantly there is a real cost to our students you've heard Librarians talking about Windows and mirrors it's what we call it it's important for students to see themselves in our collection and books also serve as a window into someone else's life which is extremely important for our rural Coastal students when books about historically marginalized groups are censored this can send an unintentional message that discrimination and exclusion of students with these identities is acceptable so in conclusion I urge the community of Florence
073Oregon to not engage in censorship thank you thank you and uh third in line here so on hold is uh will yman good evening board I'm gilin KY also known as Miss scale a resident of the district I'm speaking tonight in strong support of affirming the decision of the district Community Committee regarding resolution 02122 5-6 parents are their children's first and most important teachers and should be present to guide them in their learning and to help them navigate what they read watch and experience in the world around them as a librarian I encourage parents to engage in open honest discussions with their children about how to approach uncomfortable or challeng challenging content whether that content be found in books on apps or even in conversations with friends however not every family has the same resources
074or support at home for these children our school libraries play an essential role they provide access to materials that reflect diverse viewpoints cultures and experiences your school library collections are thoughtfully and professionally curated and provide individuals with an opportunity to select titles that May challenge their perspectives I agree that not every book is the right book for every individual but the question of restricting access should only be considered if the content in question does not benefit any student in the district if they can benefit even one student it should remain available as every child deserves access to books that reflect their own lives and the diverse world around them Additionally the district is reviewing policies related to both core and supplemental materials as well as the school and classroom Library materials these policies are critical
075in supporting our Educators students and parents they should ensure that Educators have the tools and resources they need to provide diverse range of instructional materials materials that promote intellectual growth empathy and a broader understanding of the world we celebrate Educators who are Innovative and engaging and we want the Next Generation to be educated and informed of complex issues rather than spending valuable time and resources reviewing every lesson or book for potential controversy we should allow our professionals to focus on teaching students how to engage in respectful conversations about important topics even when we disagree after all every subject can be considered controversial and a better use of our valuable resources would be to teach students how to approach such discussions with respect understanding and an open mind thank you for your consideration and for your
076service to the students thank [Applause] you so up is Amy toning uh on Deck is Will yman and in the hole is uh Susan Schuster can youon can you hear me or do I need to last time I tried adjusting it I messed everything up all right uh good evening my name is Amy Shing I teach natural resources at the high school and I'm here to address the proposed supplemental curriculum policy and how that will affect teacher evaluations uh the suggestion that supplemental materials should be vetted through the same process as Core Curriculum adoption is going to come with some unintended consequences Core Curriculum adoption takes a lot of time I would have to make a suggestion that a Review Committee uh formed and then announcement at a regular board session uh that gives constitu
077constituents time to review those materials at this point we're a month out before I could Implement any supplementary material and in reality all of my curriculum is supplemental um I have a huge Network within my CTS uh and there's been a qu request from my CSO to have students research one of the president's new executive orders regarding the expansion of Timber production but under this proposal I would not be able to bring the supplemental materials and required to teach them what the executive order is saying and how our local policies would be affected at least not for 30 days by that time my students would be at state conference and be the only students that would wouldn't understand how these po policies will be affecting industry and conservation according to our board approved uh professional
078growth evaluation handbook which determines teacher Effectiveness and job uh continuation I would fall into the category of does not meet by not adding supplemental materials to my lessons because I'm asked being asked to go through a minimum of a 30-day process where at the end that material becomes Irrelevant in in the handbook I am evaluated in four domains uh planning and pro uh preparation learning the learning environment instruction and professional responsibilities and I'm going to hit on a few uh planning and prep operation very few resources are used to communicate content knowledge the content taught is seldom related to national state or District standards it would become very difficult for me to communicate national state or District standards when they're constantly changing and it's taking a 30-day process each time I want to bring supplemental
079material in regarding these new policies I would fall into does not meet in regular core classes teachers would be labeled does not meet if they are solely teaching out of the textbook there is no curriculum out there that can meet our students where they are because there is curriculum designer that knows our kids better than us um if we're teaching out of the book we're neither reaching the high or the loose low students and we're not giving our students what they need and we would be wasting their time and our time in a 30-day process uh to be able to add supplemental materials to meet them where they need teaching to the middle of the class also puts us in the does not meet category instruction in order to be effective instruction is almost always
080driven by student need and is often differentiated by level and interest as a result the instruction is usually relevant and engaging for most students we cannot anticipate our students needs until we meet them we fail as instructors uh and we allow our students to fail as students by not meeting by not meeting needs in a timely manner if teachers fall into basic or does not meet category they are then placed in a program of assistance according to our handbook teachers have 45 days to fix their domains or they are considered for non-renewal to be fair under the proposed policy these domains cannot be fixed within the 45 days if it takes 30 days to consider the supplemental materials that we as professionals need to use in order to meet our students needs we have some
081amazing teachers here please do not tie these content experts Hands by not letting them teach to our students needs in a timely manner thank you thank you okay so our current list is Will is up Susan Schuster on deck and uh k jlin on in the hole will thank you um hello everyone my name is Will yman I moved to Florence about three years ago I'm the parent of two grown daughters who were educated somewhere else but um I had a long and I thought beautiful speech prepared but but the people before me have said so much of this so much better than I can that you'll be happy to hear I'm going to cut it a bit short um I I I was thinking about this my my mom when I was growing up
082had this theory that we had to eat our vegetables at dinner and I had this theory that I shouldn't and so she would make me sit until the broccoli had grown cold and the butter had congealed and it was pretty awful but I learned to love broccoli so maybe she had something going there on the other hand she had this theory about books and it was that I could read anything I wanted and her theory was that if I didn't understand it if it was too old for me I would get bored and put it down and um and I learned to love to read I read all the time and it's uh something that I'm proud that I passed on to my children um I I just think this is a hard thing right
083that families need to decide for themselves what their children should read parents make the decisions when their kids are young and as children get older they start making that decision for themselves it should be the choice of families but it's only a choice if the book's there for them to choose um you don't have to like every book on the Shelf in fact it would be a boring world if you liked every book on the shelf that there should be a range of choices for people to choose from um I just think that if there's a book you don't want your children to read you simply engage in that conversation and that's what families are for and that's what parents are for it shouldn't be what libraries are for and it shouldn't really be what
084schools are for especially on the library shelves I I think the district has a wonderful system that makes complet completely um that is completely reasonable to me it's not built on a system designed to make everyone happy it's designed to build a system that provides books and opportunities for children you have a trained librarian who makes selections based on on on their skill and experience and a set of rules and guidelines you have a principal who back stops that so if there's a complaint the principle can review the decision-making process and then you have this Committee of people from the community who review it a third time and so you have three places along the way where decisions get to be made and and thoughtful decisions get to be made and and as I understanded
085that committee voted unanimously to approve the book that seems like a system that works um we're never going to like every decision there will be books and I think there should be books that we don't want to read that maybe we don't want our children to read but that's so that the person right next to you or three rows over from you or on the opposite side of the table from you so that they have that choice right this is about parental Choice it's allowing them the opportunity to read it's funny I read the book and as I was reading it I kept looking up my wife was reading it at the same time and I kept saying well where's the part that people are upset about and it never quite struck me where it
086was I thought it was a sweet book with a hopeful message kids can be mean later in the book you learn that kids can learn and be kinder some kids feel different they feel labeled they feel unsure of who they are and they can find their way to me that was what the book was about but you you may feel different you may object you may hate the book you may feel angry and that's okay too I think we should leave the book on the shelf for those who want it and we should respect the families that choose not to read it and so I urge the school board to respect the system that is in place respect the professionals who work in your schools respect the committee that voted unanimously to keep this book
087in the school's library thank you thank you [Applause] okay uh Susan Schuster is up Kelly jlin on deck and Linda Yoder in uh in the hole Susan thank you good evening and thank you for this opportunity I appreciate it and I believe that everyone in this room all of us have a huge common ground which is the safety and the well-being of the children our community we all agree on that the Oregon state board of education has standards and guidelines for public school library books you've heard about them because these books are reviewed I strongly oppose the removal of any book from the school library including the books I don't like I read flamer on the cover is a quote this book will save lives I realize some people find this book objectionable and disgusting
088it's not required reading what I find objectionable and disgusting is bullying and tormenting each other it's in the look what I find most objectionable and this is some of this is repetitious in Oregon in 2022 which is the most recent year we had the 12th highest suicide rate in the United States among our young people it is the second leading cause of death for young people in the state of Oregon only 47% of lgbtq plus Oregon students felt welcome at school 44% of our lgbtq youth have considered suicide 49% of eighth graders felt they faced discrimination on a weekly basis I'm a retired mental health therapist and I've worked with pregnant and Parenting teenagers adolescents military veterans these are real people real people please keep flamer on the bookshelf thank you thank you okay uh
089Kelly Joselyn is up uh Linda Yoder on deck and uh Lauren I can't read the last name starts with an s oh is that sevis yes all right okay Kelly good evening everybody I am Kelly Joslin the future success and AP Literature and composition teacher at the high school uh flamer a graphic novel by Mike Cado should not be banned from the libraries libraries are sacred spaces for knowledge exploration and inclusivity they are meant to offer a variety of perspectives diverse voices and a wealth of stories that reflect the complexity of the human EXP experience flamer as a work of art is one such story that belongs in these spaces it the book tells the deeply personal and emotional powerful story of a young boy struggling with his identity his sexuality and the pressures of
090growing up it explores themes of friendship self-acceptance my favorite bullying and the journey toward understanding oneself even through contemplation of suicide issues that many young readers can relate to on a deeply personal level so why should it not be banned four reasons first is representation matters it's an important work because it provides representation for a specific group of children the lgbtq youth and while the book is not being challenged for this issue alone these individuals still struggle to find themselves in mainstream media and flamer offers a safe space for those who may feel marginalized or unseen Banning it would be a service to these readers especially when they might not find other books that resonate with all of these personal experiences for many lbdq youth uh books like flamer are a Lifeline allowing them to
091see that they are not alone in their struggles and these books can foster empathy and understanding among their peers which to me is very powerful who might not have experienced these same challenges and can gain a deeper insight into the lives of others two freedom to read and think libraries should be a place of intellectual Freedom where people are free to explore different ideas stories and perspectives by Banning any book we Are essentially saying that certain ideas or stories aren't worthy of discussion or consideration this restricts the rights of individuals to read and form their own opinions the first amendment guarantees the right to free speech and by Banning books or censoring we send a message that certain voices are not valid librar are meant to promote freedom and that includes the freedom to access
092books that explore all walks of life three addressing real life issues the themes explored in this book bullying body image uses complexities of sexual identity these are real struggles that many young people face by Banning the book we are shutting down conversations that can be incredibly beneficial in terms of education and emotional growth these are not uncom able topics they're part of the lived experiences of many young people and they deserve to be acknowledged and fourth finally educating and empowering the Next Generation instead of banning the book librar should make it available allowing readers to engage in critical thinking and develop a broader understanding of the world books like flamer give readers the opportunity to understand different perspectives build empathy and even navigate their own identities this can be done through accessing the books in
093a designated area of the library getting parent permission to access these books in or outside after school hours or adding a reconsideration designation to the current policy the book can also highlight talking points for students who need to have open dialogue with their Guardians in conclusion removing this book of flamer from the library does a disservice to both lgbtq plus Youth and the Greater Community removing books completely from circulation on campus violates parental rights for those who would allow their children to read this book it silences an important voice Narrows the scope of our shared understanding and undermines the principles of intellectual Freedom the library stand for by keeping this book in the library we're honoring the diversity of human experiences promoting empathy and empowering young people to engage with the world in a thoughtful
094and meaningful way I'll remain here for the board's deliberations happy to provide input as I was the teacher on the committee for this book thank you for your attention and I consider and and your consideration respectfully thank you Linda Yoder is up uh Lawrence ofis and Spencer lake is in the hole my name is Linda Yoder I've been a Florence resident since 2011 I'm on the board of three local nonprofits including P flag a nationally Affiliated organization of lgbtq Plus individuals and their loved ones P flag Florence has been here for 13 years marches in the roie parade and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce I'm a registered Republican and an every Sunday attending Bible reading cradle Christian I'm married and my husband and I have three grown children in Portland in the
095Portland area one of whom is gay I'm here to express what I believe is broadly held by people in the school district not not all things supported by taxation are for all people the dog park in town is great but I have a cat I love Opera which is partly tax supported but it's not for everyone not every book in the public library is for everyone and not every book in the high school library is for everyone Christians love a share uh love uh scripture but not everything in the Bible especially the last three chapters of judges are for everyone especially children but Christians believe that they were created and shown Love by their creator who demanded in turn that we love our fellow Creatures part of doing that from John Wesley the founder of
096methodism is to do no harm by answering a challenge to a book that is not required reading but is in the high school library the board is trying to do just that which is why I'm asking that the book be retained I would not ordinarily fall on my sword for a graphic novel but the book in question was uh carefully considered by a committee approved by the board before it was acquired that committee using outside critical and professional assessment found the book to be helpful for vulnerable young people to understand that their feelings are not unique removing this book from the library has the potential to harm those who uh no longer have access to it removing it also signals to the community that the school board targets A specific group especially because that group
097is vulnerable retaining the book has Merit the objection to the book can be addressed by a simple admonition that a public institution must serve all even though not everything is of use to all not everybody has to like Opera thank you thank you [Applause] uh Lauren is up Spencer Lake on deck and Dwayne Bean in the hole a three quarter realistic HSE head a ship in a bottle a human hand holding a heart crossed with a pomegranate symbolic flowers a self-portrait and a wheel thrown plate what what do these things have in common absolutely nothing other than they are just one sample of work that's being created by my Advanced students in my classroom at this moment my name is Lawrence SES and I am the art and pottery instructor at Sosa High School this
098is my seventh year in the district and my 24th year um working with public schools and Educators in one capacity or another I have spent my entire life um devoted to supporting students in their creativity and I am proud to do this work every day my program helps students build artistic skills and the ability to think independently and creatively and while I know I am quite skilled at what I do I certainly have never sculpted a realistic horsee head in my lifetime I would never ever be able to offer the support and insight my students need in the moment without accessing supplemental materials in the moment particularly online tutorials visual resources artist references images multiple times a class period in the moment so much of our profession cannot be planned 30 days in advance our
099curriculums are living and breathing and flexible to honor the humanity of the teaching practice the vast majority of elective teachers are not provided with purchase curriculum doing so would add a great cost to the district we have had the trust to build our programs based on industry standards and be responsive to changing environments student needs and upto-date information myself and many of my colleagues especially within the electives Department are greatly concerned by the proposed policy changes for curriculum review particularly that of the supplemental materials our entire programs are built on them please reconsider these changes for teaching um for our teaching staff who deserve your trust in our abilities and for our students who deserve engaging meaningful and responsive classrooms thank you thank you Spencer is up Dwayne Bean on deck and John McBride in
100the hole good evening I am as Spencer Lake and I um am a proud father of five Current sausa public school children um and my sixth graduated just last year uh I'm I've been a professional educator for over 20 years uh but this is my first year here at sausa um I also am a recent addition to the policy committee which is where I first encountered a policy proposal that all supplemental materials should be um evaluated in by the same criteria as Core Curriculum by the school board and at first I that raised all kinds of red flags and I was just incredulous on how this might be a good idea I also couldn't understand how this might be implemented it didn't seem realistic or possible uh that you would have the time the bureaucratic
101burden that that would place on you let alone on the teachers um as as a teacher who's always felt supported and empowered in every District that I've been in I don't know if you understand the message that this would signal of the distrust in Educators and I think it's in your best interest to want to attract and retain the most highly qualified and skilled teachers that we can provide uh for our kids because they deserve the best education we can give them um the message that this would send is that you don't uh trust us to make those decisions in real time and we have to adapt in real time to the needs of our students um we can't wait for others elected or not to tell us whether they approve um if there is
102a case a situation where there might be a a a rogue listen all the control and authoritarianism in the world is still not going to stop a rogue person with bad judgment for making some mistake those cases should be dealt with um on a case-by Case basis and have a conversation and it could be an educational experience for for for all but uh you don't need a you don't kill a fly with a sledgehammer uh so um the policy proposal I think would hinder rather than help the district by limiting um instructional creativity increasing bureaucratic delays discouraging high quality Educators and reducing student engagement I've always been asking myself what's best for the students this would not be best for the students because it would mean the educational uh environment would deteriorate it would we
103would it would also suck the life and the passion uh from being able to implement things that I thought of on the drive to work or just uh over the weekend with a great project idea um a more effective approach would be to maintain trust in teachers expertise while ensuring transparency and communication regarding instructional materials and just because I have a few seconds I'll I'll also add you know I I teach a college level US history class it would not be possible to teach this class without sub imp menting extra readings for Socratic seminars for class discussions uh just by using the textbook alone I also teach government at Sula High School to seniors and I taught them about the Constitution and the the Bill of Rights and the first amendment I supplemented with Mr
104leg's personal interpretation of the Constitution and I'd be happy to provide that for you if you want uh but I taught them that uh well this is what I wrote um we all have our our thoughts some shared by others and some unique just to you you have the right to express these thoughts be aware that others may not like your views and they are free to challenge your views while expressing their own some may may some may even try to do things to keep you from expressing them this is called censorship there is an old American expression which says I may not agree with what you say but I agree with your right to say it and so I don't want to compl conflate the policy with this book challenge but I also think
105there's a common theme here you want to send the message that we believe in freedom of speech I know enough of History to know that the book Banners are very rarely if ever on the right side of History um and uh the uh the idea that only okay the idea that only you the speech that you find acceptable um is the only worth having in the school is is not the message I think you want to send um because I want to just like I want to government I want a school and a library that's not just for me and not just for you but is valuable for all thank you thank you so uh uh thank you again um Dwayne Bean is up uh John McBride on deck and um the number 18 and
106the last one in my pile here uh storm Engle in the hole Dwayne good evening I'm Dwayne bean and I've been an educator in this district for the past three years and also have of 20 prior years of educational experience I believe that the proposal to ban flamer represents an outrageous attempt to silence lgbqt plus voices under the pretense of objecting to profanity ladies and Gentlemen let's be honest this complaint hides behind seemingly legitimate concerns about strong language but this language authentically reflects the social discourse of today's teenagers Banning flamer isn't about protecting students from mature language it's about a racing representation spend a few minutes in the a shs hallways during passing time and you'll soon discover and we're not proud of it that the very few profane words in flamer are quite tame
107compared to the Daily discourse of the average enlightened teenager and I want you to know I take this fight very personally Aiden's experiences with some significant differences is m my story in high school I'm not gay but tell that to the young men in my all boys high school in Cincinnati Ohio who tormented and bullied me just like Aiden who called me and Homo every single school day and like Aiden I was scared alone with no one to share my story and no flamer to console me censoring books that reflect our students lived experience sends a terribly destructive message some stories some lives just don't belong in our community but for many of our lgbqt plus and just curious students such representations may be the first sign that others have experiences just like them and
108their feeling ings are value some argue that this book is about protecting children and I ask protect from what knowing that diversity exists from developing empathy from understanding that words can kill parents can guide their own children's reading but no one group should respect or restrict what all children can access and lastly I have this message for for our lgbqt brothers and sisters and anyone else who with who is othered you are who you are and who you are needs no excuses you are beautiful and amazing your stories matter you belong here and we will fight relentlessly and fearlessly against every attempt to silence erase or shame you this book band is is yes sir I will in short we've got your back for now and forever thank you thank [Applause] you okay uh John
109McBride and then uh storm well apologies I didn't realize I was walking into a faculty meeting seems like only teachers are here so I'm going to deviate from my comments and Mr laor give me a heads up if I'm going too long sure everyone's talk about book Banning in the library last year I brought up an issue about a video that was shown in a classroom as a parent with a third generation um just because we have people watching on YouTube sorry I didn't want to beud keep just keep facing the mic so that so and and I can't hear hear you when you turn cuz I play with power to too much so so and I'll give you 10 extra seconds okay with three generations of Sosa including my grandson in first grade right
110now being a high school graduate class of 1984 myself and also an educational Prof professional who has worked at middle school for 13 years taught at the U ofo and was a curriculum director and a site facilitator I came to the school board as a parent and I am concerned about academic achievement I'm not here about supplemental materials I'm not here about book Banning what I am concerned is when I look through the state report cards for this school district going back to 2015 and I see a middle school where 95% of the students are English speakers 78% students are identified as talented and gifted but only one-third of them can pass an English test my question is why are we using classroom time like we did in January to show an 81 minute cartoon
111An American Tale about Russian mice and to exempt those students from their English their science and their math class we're educational professionals I'm going to put on the teacher hat now I worked in curriculum development I am imp pauled this direct District does not have a curriculum director I think that is a big part of your problem I also believe believe you're trying to apply a policy Hammer to a Personnel issue right now my son who shares a class with your son is in one class he has not received one single assessment back for the entire year every paper he turns into that teacher gets graded scored posted on parent view but he never gets it back assessment as we teach in college as I taught in college serves two purposes bureaucratic ranking and sorting
112and educational feedback how do we know how whether he missed the achievement targets what achievement targets since I complained to the school board last year on parent view every link to the supplemental materials is gone it now says no info my son was sick last week he brought home a school laptop by golly there's the YouTube videos and we're not talking Banning books we're talking YouTube videos and it was blocked because it's locked outside of school hour so in other words as the parent I am blocked completely out of my son's education I get no feedback no assessment and as I said before this is not an isolated incident this is not the only class where instructional time is taken to watch cartoon movies inside out a bees movie An American Tale the list goes
113on this is not the only class where formative and subm assessment do not meet good practices or standards so with that said I will wrap it up and I did prepare a courtesy a copy for the board thank you student achievement is bipartisan I get the love of supplementary materials of the teachers but if you are freezing parents out of the loop if we don't even see the test or quiz results of our children you're doing something wrong and if you can't let us see the material you are presenting in the classroom if you are actively hiding it from us then shame on you and I say that as both a professional who trained teachers and someone who worked in the school district's 13 middle school as an interventionist and again I realize that the
114opinions riding in One Direction tonight I wish I could say more but you need to do better don't apply a policy Hammer to a Personnel issue get a curriculum develop director hold the sub the building administrators responsible make sure your team leads and Department chairs are doing their job make sure that the curriculum that being presented is in alignment with State Standards thank you thank you [Applause] okay number 18 storm hello for those of you don't who don't know my name is Storm Engel I was a student representative on the school board last year and have been a student representative on the seaw school district policy committee for two years now I approaching this meeting not only as a student but as a community member I come to you today in regards to the new
115policy changes and the book that is under consideration today an overhaul of District policy for the two complaints about material within the district in almost 30 years is an extreme reaction when I was reviewing the policy recommendations I found several things that were concerning on page two of AR3 reconsideration of supplemental instructional materials and page two of ar4 reconsideration of school or classroom Library materials at the bottom of the third Point reconsideration committee it says the reconsideration committee may include Equity Title X title 9 Andor sector 504 Personnel in discussions about requests that relate to an underrepresented group or par class with Equity crossed out I would like to know why the word Equity has Equity I would also like to note that in instructional materials double as- I a page 2 in red ink
116the board was recommending that all supplemental instructional materials be held to the same approval process as core materials I know I'm not the first person to speak on this if approval if approved this would make make it far more difficult for teachers to customize their lessons to better facil itate the needs of their students and drastically increase the amount of work that you as the board would be required to do this once again comes down to trusting the capabilities of Staff you are able you should be able to trust the professional educated adults hired within the district if you don't trust them to perform their job duties in an appropriate manner that is an issue with you as individuals or hiring not policy and not the staff the staff within the district have enough work
117that they must do without the school word creating more unnecessary burdensome work because of the first complaints on material in almost 30 years the second thing I would like to address is the book that has been challenged I want to emplore the board to be very careful in the decision on whether or not to ban the book flamer while I understand that some of the topics and language can be seen as unsavory or controversial the benefits that flamer offers as a memoir far outweigh those issues if every book in the library that someone finds offensive is removed we would have no books left this book is just a start the start of something that could quickly snowball into dozens of unintended consequences including a string of of material challenges or infringement on staff and student
118first americ First Amendment rights before I finish my time with my personal experience with the book in question I would like to point out that many more people have read flamer because of the challenge and that many people found the message far outweigh any content issues I would like to end my time with an anecdote about my experience with flamer in particular I come from a religious family as well as being openly queer the first time I read flamer I was severely struggling with my mental health my religion and my identity I found great Solace knowing that I wasn't the only person who struggled with the these things more importantly though I found catharsis being able to directly see a gay religious kid not only survive his depression but grow Beyond it removing flavor from
119the high school library would be a great disservice to all the young adults attending sea High School especially the atrisk youth I urge you to respect the rights of students to access books especially books that have different World Views than yours thank you thank you [Applause] okay uh uh thank you all for your comments and uh for um we all were listening quite well um to one another um directors before we proceed um would anybody like a short little five minute break if not we'll just proceed we all good good good good okay um so uh I need to flip back were you adjusting your mic or raising your hand I this is my bad eye I'm getting I'm getting ready for next agenda item that's all so um 4.0 we don't have any special
120uh presentations um or highlights this this month um so uh 5.0 moving into the consent agenda superintendent uh consent agenda consent business item 031 1225 5.0 uh this month consent agenda contains the following items uh February 12th 2025 uh board meeting minutes February 19th board work session minutes February 2025 uh financial statement uh enrollment update for the month uh uh renewal non-renewal non-extension licensed staff and administrators uh policy IAB use of feature films and videos uh repeal and restore policies from 1825 consent agenda uh again uh repealing uh policies AC AC and ar2 to restore original uh AC and AC ar1 from uh 2021 and 2024 uh policies gbn jba on sexual harassment are being replaced with prior versions updated in 2024 uh policy jfh JF he JF a r pregnant parenting students uh being
121replaced with prior adopted versions uh from 2014 and um again our administrative rules on uh Federal law titled line and sexual harassment procedures being uh uh restored from the 2020 versions excellent thank you um directors any discussion on or questions on this item and if not a motion would be appropriate I move that we accept the consent agenda as presented second okay uh uh motion made to accept the consent agenda as presented res resolution number 0 31225 5.0 uh motion made by director sned and seconded by director Milton bger uh any discussion on the motion those in favor I I I okay uh unanimous on that um and Katie thank you um so uh moving into our action discussions uh 6.1 um I need to turn to that so that I'm in the right spot
122yeah um so uh superintendent 6.1 policy I A2 okay so uh again uh policy I A2 procedures for reconsider consideration of instructional materials again at the February 12th uh 2025 board of directors uh decided to take up a request for reconsideration of instructional materials related to the book in the high school libraries the board of directors has reviewed the level one building and level two District Community review Comm uh committee materials and preparation of this appeal from the previous decision of the complaint okay um directors just a quick uh you see on our on our agendas um that uh I'll just read this little highlighted part so that we're we're all aware and everybody in the room is up to speed um that the board of directors May solicit commentary or ask questions of clarification
123of the district and community community Review Committee or the initial complaintant at this time specifically the proced procedures for the reconsideration of instructional uh materials uh and then uh also by my request uh for this for this particular item um at our agenda planning meeting I I uh asked the superintendent to to put down the three different um essentially the three different choices that are that are uh that are in front of us uh and you see those as a b and c um a would be to affirm the decision of the District of course we're going to have some discussion here um B would be overrules the decision of the district Community uh committee and removes the book from the collection of the saas high school uh collection of SAA High School C modifies
124the decision of the district Community Committee and places a restriction upon the book as it remains in the collection so those are the those are the three um three directions that we have um that we that we are weighing um and I think we'll all just proce proceed trusting that we all took our took occasion to read it to um read the the committee's summary um all of that uh the well I'll rip the scab off I don't believe it belongs in the in the collection I believe that we need to have a higher standard for the for the language and the content that is in the book but I am one opinion of seven so and that that for me that comes after listening this evening that comes after reading um the many public
125that comments that came in and that comes after reading the book twice so that's that's that's my positions and thoughts on it John since you turned your mic on yeah no I would follow suit with what you're saying um director lacur um um I don't disagree with the message um being a father of five and I have one son who's gay and happily married for many years and very proud of him and his Husband um uh incredible human beings and um I have I think the message is fantastic however I think it's a total degradation of us as a society that we think that we have to have this kind of language in a book to get our message across move the mic Closer to You John to get our message across to have this
126kind of language used how desensitized have we created our teens and it's our fault as a society no one else is to blame that this is okay when this book takes place in the mid mid the late 90s you know 30 40 years ago could anyone here a lot of us were in school at that time could you imagine a book not the topic but the language being in the library any of you said yes went to a different School than this one because I can guarantee you a book like this there's no way Mr Whitmore Mr weeks I could go on and on would have allowed a book like this in our library so with that being said to me me it's a travesty that we can't come up with a better book that
127teaches the same valuable lesson and do it in an intelligent manner that we can have a better product than this it's sad that we're sitting here celebrating toxic masculinity which I do believe there is toxic behaviors but this book talks about toxic masculinity I will tell you our football team is some of the most gentle genuine young men you're ever going to run across and to sit there and lump it into that kind of a situation and I'm not saying every school this way but I'm talking about the sausa high school library this book should absolutely be in the public library I think that's a fantastic place for it to be and that's where it belongs I don't believe it should be in the hands of a 13 14 year-old freshman um I've got more
128I could be on this soap boox a long time but I'm going to go ahead and just stop right there thank you John board chair sure Morin okay we just sat here for an hour plus listening to members from our community listening to members from our staff and not one of these people said that that was a bad book they gave us all kinds of different reasons from all kinds of different people from our community as to why that book should be kept on one of the reasons is for people to have something to turn to the other reason is that if we open that Floodgate who knows what other kinds of books we're going to start Banning we may start Banning books that affect you in one way or another or your child in
129one way or another to close the doors and be someone up here that says this is okay for us to go over our professional people to go over our teachers to go over our admin to go over a committee that was chosen from very professional people in our community and make a decision because we're what elected officials because we're what make a decision that takes a book off the shelf that could help somebody or save someone's life I can't even express how angry that makes me that we would even think about making that kind of a [Applause] decision [Applause] Cera I agree we have listened to the public comment we've received emails but honestly that's a small percent percentage of our community um we haven't heard from everybody in our community I believe the sexual
130content and the language being used in the book is unacceptable there's over 20 words over 20 words in there that yes some kids probably speak those words but we as adults should not condone it so I would not be I would agree I would I'm going to actually vote to have this book removed from the collection and I do that it might be the best place for it is at the public library thank you Tamar John like to add one more quick quick note I've heard several people say and I've heard it throughout this is kind of a common commentary that this language is common in a high school that sounds like a staff Administration problem if we're allowing this if I was using this word and I'd love to read some transcripts from this
131book if some people would like to hear it um if I used some of this stuff Mr weeks would have had me suspended so quick my head would have fun so why are we dropping this to a level where this is okay and laughable According to some of the staff that I'm hearing that this is funny this is a joke that this kind of language is okay we're we're we're in we're in a board discussion thank you I thanks John Diana yeah I just want to take a moment and and applaud the young man the student who was brave enough to express his concern and bring it before the committee and this board his concerns concerns specifically related to the um contentious or controversial language and the implied sexual content that was the complaint I
132also want to just um apologize to this student for the adults in this room who sent emails out who implied that his intent in bringing this forward was to persecute or discriminate that was not the intent that was not the wording in the complaint it was specifically related to language and sexual content so I just want to make that clear um I'm very torn the language and sexual content I don't think belongs in front of a child certainly not someone under the age of 16 or 17 however it is on the library shelf in the high school public library free choice on the library shelf in the high school I might be able to live with that based on age restriction certainly not younger than that thank you director how or uh director sneden yep
133if I if I may yeah please um if I may I'd really like to remind this board of directors uh that a school board is a nonpartisan position you are not here uh to do anything that would imply you are using your personal political beliefs in your decision making we are at the table because we are here for every student in the district we are here for every member of the staff and we are here for every member of the community Banning books is a very partisan issue it has been stated multiple times tonight if we start here it's been warned it's a slippery slope I'm for one embarrassed that we have repeatedly ignored the professional opinions of District staff and community members who have taken their time to sit on these committees I have
134had community community members text me call me since this was brought up at the last meeting to say listen I wasn't on that committee but I certainly won't volunteer my time for anything for the district anymore because it's obvious that the school board does not value our opinions or our education I think it is a tremendous mistake to ban this book and that's obvious based on all of the commentary we have received before tonight and tonight thank you [Applause] Josh do you have any thoughts yeah I tend to agree with um John sentiment about the moral Decay and how we find the content in this book is acceptable for a freshman sophomore in high school to read I'm not comfortable with that I I feel there's like John said the message of the book I
135would think there' be other sources that could serve this need that don't have have some of the sexual scenes that are described in it and yeah it's locker room talk you're going to hear it in the hallways but we're supposed to have a community standard and to moren's point who are we we're we've been elected by the public and this isn't a partisan issue this is more of a moral issue I would say and what the content is not anything to do with the messaging and I I I'm at least at least to have a at least a a modification of it to where there's a parent should know if their students going to be reading this book I guess is where I would say at least I mean at least at that point but
136I'm open to more discussion on it maau am I allowed to like just say my two cents on this or okay so I can't really like say a lot about the book itself because me personally I was given the book and I was given the task to read it and as being on the student board and being a representative I should be able to read it and everything like that I read through about half of the book and I closed it and it wasn't because I didn't agree with any of the stuff disagreed with any of the stuff it's just it wasn't my book book and that's the thing is that people get to choose what they get to read they choose what they read and I feel like taking away that choice is just
137very hard on students and it just it sends out a message that I don't think that we are realizing kind of what it means and for me it's like I agree with it I don't agree with it I'm split both ways and the thing is is I closed it I didn't even read the rest of it because it wasn't my book and I didn't I didn't enjoy reading it and it's not because of any reason it's just it wasn't my personal genre and sitting here I can go into the sausa library the the high school library and find multiple books that I have read that have way more vulgar language way more sexual content in them and everything like that and I'm dyslexic I can barely read sometimes and these books are far more worse
138than flamer and I understand the concerns and everything like that but Banning this one is going to lead to so many more concerns and bans and it's just going to lead to I a flood that I don't think we're wanting so thank you thank you [Applause] maau so board chair I have another comment one of the messages that we received that was a person wasn't here tonight was from a Dr Parker locally and there was a couple quotes that she had in her letter um that I would like to say right now they're very short one says that bands harm vulnerable students more than they protect others and the other thing she said was she's been in this community for a long time let us Foster an environment where all young people feel seen valued
139and supported so so so as far as as far as this being a directors as far as this being a a slippery slope issue that's that's that's a given um in in my opinion that's a given um but the and really um I don't want I don't want to say that it's that I hear it as as more incendiary when we're referring to Banning um because it is my opinion that any anybody can write what they want anybody can get published what they want if a publisher is willing to publish it um but that doesn't mean that everything that is written is appropriate for an elementary middle or High School library um and I'm sure that that if we all got to thinking about it we could come up with examples that that would be
140um very inappropriate and so so for me personally um as a as I have been torn Diana as as you said as well um I look at it as as it it is not up to me to say what somebody can read and when they can read it um that is that is not up to me and and the the conclusion that I'm coming to in my own mind of removing this from The Collection is not a it is not an Endeavor of my own to make sure or to try to get nobody to read this book and perhaps just entertaining the reconsideration this book will be more widely read than than any any book in the library and at that point so be it however I think removing from a a public school library
141is not the same as Banning um it can exist it can be uh kudos to the author that he got a book published to my understanding that's a difficult thing and he has the opportunity I'm sure to publish many more so we have the opportunity to ask more questions entertain motions from whoever's would like to entertain a motion whichever so directors I'm I'm done talking now and turning it back to to y'all board chair oh time out time out Tamara had her oh uh we we Mike go ahead yeah please Chris is that mic still on thank you I didn't I didn't notice that I would just like to to speak for a moment to color the conversation that was had by the committee because it was a very robust conversation has been mentioned several
142times we came to a unanimous let say thank you for that we appreciate that time that that that committee spent I I appreciate that and I think that I can speak for the rest of the committee that they did too because it truly was Heavy work and I I would say it was undeniably or it is undeniably true that if this was a book that was part of curriculum if this was book that was presented by a teacher we would have gone universally the other way and said that this book should not be part of curriculum should not be part of instruction the fact that this book has had this much public run and public sentiment is not the spirit in which this book was written the book was written for an individual student struggling
143with individual things to possibly find a kinship with a character in literature I don't see I don't see a risk of harm of having a student who's not queer a student who's not affected by the book They're simply going to pass over the book in the library and a student who is looking for a title like this might be directed to it or might find it on their own accord but the relationship with a library book is inherently consensual like M said earlier she didn't like so she closed the book and she moved on I don't like everything in my Netflix queue so I move on I think most students will do the same thing with this book I think Brian I think you're probably right the fact that the book has become such a
144centerpiece focus of discussion we probably would see a spike in leadership if the book is returned to the shelves it'll be frequently checked out and I also think if you slap a restriction on it you're going to make it the forbidden fruit and again it will be a spike in readership in the early early months of that but for the most part students who are not interested in this title are going to pass right by and it will live it would live quietly on the Shelf with very little notice but it would be there for someone who's looking for it I understand the the concerns and the points that you are making but I think to to properly consider this book the way the committee did I really want to point out out the distinction
145between this being a library book and this being something that's instructed and required reading for students because that was a significant factor in the committee's discussions and deliberations was its placement in the school not simply its inclusion in the [Applause] school okay well that I'll just in instead of sitting here in silence I'll I'll verbalize my thoughts here um with the with that idea of If This Were a curriculum you know an assigned curriculum I don't think we would have had to have a committee about that because it probably would not have gotten past curriculum review um but so now I'm stewing on on Mike what you Mr Harker Ro what you said about If This Were curriculum it would have been unanimous the other direction to to to disallow it but because it's only
146in the library and those weren't your words that's that's what I heard that's what I'm regurgitating here but because it's only in the library somehow the standard is different and I'm I'm I'm wrestling that out in my head right now Mike again please sorry Chris I think the standard is different I think the standard is completely different if this is required reading this is assigned reading or it is a a designed consensual relationship with a topic and with a book that is in the library I I don't know that I'll be able to convince the board of the distinction that we're making but I can tell you it is very much a part of teacher training and educator training we decide what is good for all and what is necessary for all what is core
147if you will which we're going to be discussing shortly versus what is supplemental and what we want to have available for everyone not for all but have available for everyone so we have something for everyone I do I do not hold the position that every book published belongs in the school library I believe that there is a line so I'm not making the choice to say to you today that everything belongs in the library I think this book does because these students belong in school these students are in our school and there may be other titles I think they'd be worth exploring as well to add to the collection of books that would appeal to the same audience that flamer to which flamer appeals but right now this is a book that we have and
148I do think as many of the speakers have said it sends a message to that community of students to have this book removed by calling it dangerous calling it inappropriate when it does John your point is well heard that I'm not excusing the language that we hear in the halls but one of the the other big factors we discussed in the committee is the language of the book is authentic it's especially authentic from 1995 many of us in the committee recog recognized which of the characters we would have been in that book we weren't Aiden we were the tormentors we were the students who were casually talking making gay jokes and making gay innuendos much as is still heard in the hallways today it's not just curse words and swear words a lot of his
149topics and and flippant use of the language that is still heard today and I think the authenticity of the language in this book still even 30 years after the book takes place still reflects the way teenagers talk and that's what makes it uniquely uniquely worthy of inclusion in our school library because it speaks to an individual student's voice in an individual student's voice and student language thank you um so so the only way to connect is to speak like them and speak like with that type of language and that type of sexual explicit scenes is is the point Mike principal harro is making but I I I think can't we find another book with the same message that doesn't have to have all that graphic content especially the sexualized graphic scenes the so again instead
150of sitting here staring at the microphone in silence I'll I'll I'll verbalize some of my thoughts here um and and my thoughts this go round are are more geared toward uh the message being sent um or messages being sent uh because a I mean we we I would imagine that most of us in this room would be able to to posit a potential message being sent about if this book there's no motion I'm saying if if this book were to be removed from the the high school's library collection and some of those could be that books that contain sexually explicit content and and profanity and and vulgar language are not appropriate for a a a high standard or or for children um and and and the list the list would go on and on and
151on about what a potential message being sent is um so again I'm just thinking out loud instead of staring at the microphone in silence uh I think tamas was on first and then Diana I just feel that as um District Representatives including the staff that um we are here to teach kids and one of that one of the things we need to teach kids is respect and allowing the type of language and sexual content in our Library um is to me is unacceptable and if we're allowing that I believe the board or the committee that's approving these books should raise their standards on what they're allowing in Diana I do wonder if there is an there's a Middle Road here um I mean currently Andy we restrict video restrict movies to certain age group groups
152I mean naturally you have your PG-13 and you know your R-rated movie we also restrict access to certain um websites based on their content so what could we do I mean what where's the middle ground here for I mean if we say High School only um you know we have 13y olds in high school so is that appropr rate for this type of sexual content and language where is the middle ground is is what I'm I'm looking for I I don't know if there is a middle ground on this because um again we're talking about removing a book that's potentially uh a niche piece for a certain group of kids that may need it and um and so again you could leave it in the collection with a restriction or a note that says again
153the following themes are in this book so people know what it is before they open the cover that may be the middle ground I think you're looking for to give it a a kind of a ratings Mark uh again our books come again through a professional vetting system that again labeled these as young adult and and we looked at five different sources and uh this was again tagged as from 12 to 18 in the in the widest variety and then in some cases it was 14 to 18 um and again as we talked about the book in the committee again I was kind of the um MC chair Wrangler uh was an actual member of the committee um again people identified kind of who they were uh and how what they had done or they
154realized having that book what they were what they were doing to some of their classmates at the time was Danger ous or um harmful um you know again they may have changed their views and I think the other point that came out again is um no child is going to pick up this book and be forever harmed by the language that's in it um and again if they don't like it they can put it down if they take it home and their parents don't like it their parents can tell them take it back and put it in the library we don't want to see it again um and and again that's where this idea of we're we're keeping this book um in the collection again for again a a minority of people that may need
155it as access um there are parts of the book that I don't like but again I see it having serious value for someone else the book is not for me um again as Mike put it out in high school I was probably one of the tormentors making some casually cruel jokes and thinking it was funny and again we sat back and we looked at and like oh that was me I could see how that now hurt this kid that I look back on 40 years later um and so again this idea too that um we have different standards yes we have a different standard between language kids say in the hall and language kids say in the classroom and language kids say in the locker room um it was true when I was a kid
156and it was true when I was on bus Duty up at the high school last week U one boy walked past me saw his friend uttered something something uh worse than it was in the book and I just hey knock it off get in the like that's because again are we going to write up every single kid for every single incident of language that someone else finds objectionable the guys knew that they were out of line they knew they were in earshot of other people and then they stopped and again that's maybe the only admonition they needed and now had I been at the middle school I probably would have walk them in the office and had a different conversation and said I don't know where you guys think that's a appropriate to say in
157front of sixth and seventh graders but again like this is uh again I hate using the term locker room talk because it isn't it is the it is the language our kids bring in from the outside and use that school and we are trying to police that in three different environments the hallway extracurricular and in the classroom and there is a different standard uh in each one because again we can't police it in the same way in every venue and you know as a former football coach there were things that were said On The Bus by my athletes that uh again took an admonition right on the bus and sometimes we spent Friday afternoon uh running for the language that we used that was inappropriate um I don't I don't know if we can do
158that these days but uh we did I again I remember uh as a high school student uh our wrestling coach stopping us at MTO Brown State Park and we did laps until we decided that the ACDC singalong was over uh it's probably the longest I ever ran in my entire life up to that point in time um so again I don't make the mean light of the situation but there are different standards for different situations and that's part of what this is is that we have a voluntary action to read a book and if a kid doesn't like it they can put it down if the kid takes it home and their parent doesn't like it their parent can tell them why it's not appropriate for them but for those kids that need a hook
159to something because they are the true minority we take that away from them if the book goes away Morin I have I have two more quick comments one of the things that I heard and uh repeatedly in the letters that we received and in comments tonight was for us as board members not to use our own personal biases and I have heard personal biases I mean that's what I'm hearing is your biases about language and what you think language to sound like in a high school to me that sounds like a personal bias um the other thing that I would like to point out is at the beginning of every meeting our board chair uh talks about our mission statement which is motivating and preparing all students to reach their greatest potential and we have
160talked tonight over and over again about there are some students that are not in that main body they're a little bit different they need a a little bit different kind of protection reading help whatever it is and taking that book away maybe that one thing that they need to make them not commit suicide or make them um understand how what bullying is or anything else and for us to take that away from them means that we are not following that mission statement and to me that mission statement also includes the fact that we rely on our staff that we professionally hire to make really good decisions we've relied on the Community Committee that was formed um to make good decisions to do that motivating and preparing all students to reach their greatest potential and I
161think if we take this book Away we are not following that mission statement thank you Mike uh first I it was never my intention to stand up today and speak for the committee and I know some of the other committee members are here if they have some to speak I would ask them to to step up as well if they have somethingone to share that came up in committee uh to director Cole's point about the movie rating system I would argue and Title Wave our vetting system does argue this book would be about the equivalent of a PG-13 I don't think there is that much in this book that is terribly shocking to students I think the difference is the graphic novel nature of it when m is talking about books that have much more
162uh vulgarity in it many more sexual situations there's something that hits different when it's in Pros it doesn't hit quite the same way as it does in graphic novels so I will readily admit I think part of the problem with this book is its very nature as a graphic novel I know you have before you tonight three choices one is to affirm the committee's decision another is to remove the book from circulation another is to keep it in circulation with some limitations and I know we don't make the stuff up on the fly as we go but I would suggest a possible fourth that might be uh an intermediate and would send a signal to those students if you're saying that this book is inappropriate for the high school library please allow us to keep
163it on the shelves or consider leaving it on the shelves until such time as we can find another book that suitably addresses similar topics and we can replace it with another book that is intended for this audience that would be a signal to students that you hear them it' be a signal to staff that you have heard their concerns and to the public that you hear their concerns about other students there is another option which I know we don't make this stuff up as we go on the for the board meeting agendas but I think that could be an intermediate step that would could serve well to keep the needs of all students in mind thank you director Lor sure John um I guess my only question problem would be with the option of keeping
164it out there is goes right back to the forbidden fruit model if we keep it out there for a you know let's say we gave we put a six-month clock on it or whatever the case may happen to be just hypothetical as long as we're spitballing the other option on that is I'm happy to read some transcripts from different pages on there that I guarantee it wouldn't make PG 13 unfortunately I'm not going to do that because I don't know who's on YouTube and I can see I don't think we've got anybody underage in here at the moment other than some high school members I probably wouldn't feel too comfortable reading this in front of but I don't know who's on YouTube so on the side of discretion I'm going to disagree with you I'd
165recommend you looking at page 207 I'd recommend you looking at page 131 in there there are some very distinct paragraphs in there that I if I saw PG-13 movie I would be turning it off um if my my son or daughter was was watching that so just throwing that out there Tamar oh okay so now my brain is going to to Middle Road Mike you're back at the mic you got to go no I've been here the whole time you never left no my my Gaye okay um so so Diana what what you said Middle Road you know the the in your question about what what a Middle Road would be you know that that would be a the modification with with some some type of restriction um an age restriction um maybe an age
166restriction greater than than some of the review sites gave it um and then something I had not considered about uh something you mentioned that got my wheels turning again was uh that we have we have restrictions on on the laptops and on the websites that we can go to and and John to your point I think uh at least I hope the restrictions on our laptops wouldn't take us to a site that we could read those those types of paragraphs and those types of that type of language and I would imagine that the that that our the restrictions on our on our web access does do that but you were about to turn your mic on do you do you have something well I was going to agree with the age restriction I would think
16714 15 but that's where my questioning came in my other thought um and just curious how many other books in our library have um Lang language content or you know and are we opening the door here we're going have to start doing book reviews exactly got the volume of books that are already probably on the Shelf yeah kti Katie go ahead no I didn't mean to interrupt Diana I just wanted to affirm that that's exactly what we're doing by by entertaining this is opening ourselves up to a huge slew of book reviews I also agree with Mike and that the the way that this this um information is presented in terms of graphic is um it just highlights it more it just brings it a more awareness to the issue I think and it creates
168this um the struggle that we're in today thank you Diana Andy well uh Tam your mic's on again do you have okay Andy thank you Andy Mor Diana I wanted to speak to your point point on that um so I think it was about two years ago there was a questionable book that was brought up at the middle school and we went back and looked at that book and Title Wave and realized that that was not an appropriate book for middle school student um it was the content and there was language and we looked in Title Wave we looked at the AR points so we looked at our criteria for selecting books and realized that that was not an appropriate book for middle school students so as a result I want to acknowledge Jennifer McKenzie
169Valerie gyil I know Vanessa flossy's done a ton of work um Valerie grey Bill touched every single book in our Middle School library it took how much of the year a whole year about almost the whole year to go through every single book we looked at every book we ran it through our selection criteria and there was a pretty decent number of books that we decided so they they brought the books to me I looked through the criteria and then we sat down and decided are these books appropriate for middle school or should they get moved to the high school which many of them did or do they get even moved some of them down to the elementary school which a few of them did so yeah Diana you're you're right I mean it is
170an extensive process but I can tell you that we have put in hundreds of hours of work over the last couple years to look at our library and with an unbiased look to the extent possible using clearly defined criteria we touched every single book and we made decisions about whether or not they should be in the library thank you yep thank you Andy Jennifer um as your District teacher librarian we use Title Wave databases to vet and select all of our books for our school libraries and Diana I'm hearing you trying to find some middle of the road ground or a way to go about this that that is logical and sensible and financially responsible for the district what if that middle of the ground was just teaching people how to use the Title Wave
171database right you'll heard me at my last Schoolboard presentation where I'm you know singing The District Praises we uh last year uh got a shout out from the State library of Oregon because we experienced the highest increase in database usage out of the entire state right we're database rock stars our third graders know how to use the databases to find information um so what if we just teach teach people and train people how to go to Title Wave to if you have questions about a book before you read it go to Title Wave and just look at the record it's going to tell you the age uh the age range for it it will tell you uh certain topics that are going to be included in the book it will tell you if there's language
172it'll say language right so that would be a logical sensible step is to just do more training and if you're really concerned as a student or a parent like maybe you go to Title Wave first and and read the record of the book before you engage in reading the book um like Mr morol said vetting is a serious process it's a long arduous process um and I just think that that would be a logical step we we we give our uh School District shout outs for being database users why aren't we using the database in this situation and then that imp empow students and parents to make that decision and um you know it just gives them the power to make that decision before they pick up a book and read it um I wasn't
173going to mention this but I will say our library has Stephen King right y'all are familiar with Stephen King have you read a Stephen King book anybody on the board you've read a Stephen King book okay so we're saying that it's okay to have Stephen King on the shelves and we know how graphic Stephen King is yet we're going to remove flamer from the shelves for a couple of passages that include mature language right it's it doesn't jive so I am recommending that we just train and teach our Learning Community if you have concerns about reading read the record and Title Wave first and then make your decision to pick up the book it would be a financially sound way to go about um this conversation so thank you and I welcome any other questions
174from the board thank you thank you that was a that was a piece that was discussed in the in the committee again what if a parent went onto the website went to Title Wave and said I I see this book title I don't want my kid to have it and my response was well we honor those types of requests all the time they could just email the librarian and say if my kid comes in for this book they can't have it again we're putting the we're putting the choice directly in the hands of the parent yeah and the the onus of of the decision- making between parent and child okay Jennifer I to say that um as a district teacher librarian in our library AIDS we love helping students find a great book so as
175a parents um if you have concerns about what your kid is reading you can reach out to our library staff and and um ask us to help your kid come up with a great list of books that follows your own personal parameters like that's part of our job that's what we do and we love doing it so again that would be a more logical and reasonable way to go to go about this and it's putting uh again um it's empowering students and parents to take that direction thank you thank you um well as it has been for the last month my mind is full of all sorts of thoughts and ideas and well not necessarily ideas but just thoughts and considerations is a better way to say that than ideas um uh the you know
176a Middle Road with an age restriction a a removing it um and Andy Moro I appreciate your your comment on on you know looking at looking at it through an unbiased lens to the extent possible um we're all fallible humans we can't truly be unbiased um and that's what our experiences lead us toward um well directors I'm just thinking out loud again so all right I will make a motion uh motion board chair uh we have three options in front of us I choose option b overrule the decision of the of the district community community and remove the book from the collection of the CIS Law High School resolution 031228 one policy I A- AR to procedures for the reconsideration of instructural materials second okay there's a motion on the floor resolution 031 administrative rule
177two procedures for reconsideration of instructional materials motion made uh you know what just to be I'm going to I'm going to reread the uh the resolution in its entirety that it is resolved that the ca School District board overrules the decision of the district community community committee and removes the book from the collection of SAA High School resolution 0 31225 d6.1 uh resolution excuse me motion made by director Barnett seconded by director Cole um I would yes thank you you read my mind that's a dangerous thing to do um uh Debbie would you uh please uh uh lead a roll call vote one more time director Barnett I director Cole I director Pima name director snedden nay Vice chair Milton bger I want to make a brief comment if that's possible if this does pass
178I want to apologize to any parent we took the choice away from and if any student that needed that choice uh to prevent suicide or whatever I apologize my answer is nay chair lacur I you miss director hly director haberly I motion passes to remove uh collection um at the sa High School um uh and votes were 4 [Music] to3 uh yes a break is requested so um let's give five minutes enough or do you need 10 want 10 uh five five minute recess e e e here we go again so back in session here um so uh we're going to uh superintendent we're going to move on to 6.2 uh this is just the the not just this is the student calendar um so I'll turn that to you and then I want to
179have a little bit of a discussion before 63 so um uh superintendent 6.2 okay uh item 0 31225 6.2 the 2025 2026 student calendar action second reading again the Board needs to adopt a next school year calendar prior to the April board meeting this second draft of the 2025 2026 student school year calendar meets all requirements for instructional time keeping local Traditions the school year will begin on the first Tuesday after Labor Day the winter and spring uh spring break holidays uh follow the schedules of the public universities in Oregon the Teachers Association has evaluated the options for the placement of the curriculum instruction days in the calendar uh the curriculum instruction days will be August 22 October 24 and January 5th the selection of these dates provides for an additional uh preparation day prior
180to the start of school and a preparation day prior to the return from a holiday leading into the second semester uh also presented with the next year calendars an outline draft for 2627 uh it's the recommendation of administration that the board adopt the school year calendars as presented for 2025 26 and 2627 thank you uh directors any uh any discussion on this item any questions on it this is our second time we've seen it in the the pretty straightforward to me all good so a motion would be appropriate board chair be it resolved that the ca School District Board of Directors adopt the student school year calendar for the 2025 2026 and 2026 2027 school years as presented resolution 031 -6.2 d225 2026 student calendar second resolution 0 31225 d6.2 the 2025 26 student calendar
181uh motion made by director Barnett seconded by director Cole um all those in favor I I um just because we uh we broke and came back uh uh I just want to verify Katie are you back with us I am here okay I will let you know if I oppose otherwise I'm just going to keep my mic off great thank you um okay so directors um uh uh 6.3 uh this is this is reviewing policy um IIA uh I don't know how how y'all reviewed it but what I did is I went Page by Page um we have some of the the corrections um and some of the and then in the purple writing and man the multicolored text I don't even know how to do that on a computer but I'm so glad yall
182do cuz that makes it so much more clear so thank you for that um but I went through and I I put yep I agree here yep absolutely all the way through and so my intent or my thought was that we would essentially go Page by Page and address each of these items to clarify all of them some of them are repeats because the language from the 1 AR is is similar to the next but it's already 9:00 uh we here I'm going to put all this wait on Chris Chris has got a newborn at home that he's got to get to um so so well and before we even get into this so I'm I'm maybe I'm putting the cart before the horse but but as far as the the the review of all
183the supplemental insurance we that was an intended we we do not anticipate as a board right I I hope I'm getting head nods here that we do not anticipate that we are reviewing the supplemental Library yeah yes the supplemental what what teachers I supplemental ccum in the class uh Mr Lake had it had it worded great correct nobody wants that bureaucratic Nightmare and like he said on on a weekend or on his drive to school it's you know and and uh Andy was explaining me before before the meeting what uh what Amy toning was was mentioning of you can't you can't pass a teacher evaluation if you're not implementing if if you're not making your lessons personal and implementing some supplemental stuff and and and the one thing I would disagree on with the with
184the public comment was that they said they can't wait a 30-day process well if you have the idea the day after the one board meeting and it has to do second reading that's more like a 60-day process and and what's the what's that meane ain't nobody got time for that right so so I think we at the very least this evening we need to correct that one but maybe I'm just burning More Time by by yaking right now what are our thoughts do we want to go Page by page here no no I don't I don't think that's necessary and I'll be the first one to fall on my sword that I did recommend we make some changes revisit some things but that was a completely unintended consequence on on my behalf I was not
185trying to take control away from our away from our teachers that was that was that that was an like I said very much an unintended consequence I was very caught off guard by that yes and and I'll I'll take your sword fall on it myself um with the language of of uh uh the committee in their purple writing pointed out numerous times about um striking the the term teacher librarian um I asked that question only because we may not always be benefited by a teacher librarian so is that was that proper proper wording for the policy not that it ought to be struck not even benefited it might be a a bud I think the question was budgeted yeah not benefited yeah yeah so so that that so reinstituting that language you know keeping teacher
186librarian in each of those six ARS I'm I'm fine with that the the uh supplemental um curriculum fine with all that but what do we think do we need to go and Andy what's your input here do we have time to go Page by page on this they're pretty straightforward I thought but there's lots of pages well again we put the committee went back and put additional clarifications and CAU where some of the overlap was or were some of the it was noted in one section but not in the previous um I I think again we can go through it fairly quickly if you're telling me what red or purple language to strike I can make those notes here and get them back out um so we can get another read through them and then
187have an have them as an action item for next month um cuz again I think 64 65 66 those are all just reviews that don't even require votes um and 68 so so yeah I I will say that I need assistance in understanding which purple language we're keeping and which we're not I mean some of it is suggestion I think we need to go Page by Page yeah okay I agree okay so I just wasted the time I was trying to save superintendent 6.3 please okay uh on your first page of uh uh 2ia um at the bottom uh there is a purple note again uh again the language was written as these materials are not adopted by the board again this creates a conflict in multiple spots throughout the long because that we miss
188that because we didn't start with this one we started down with one of the administrative rules um so knowing that um uh if you go to the bottom of page 2-4 which is 46 in your packet we try to split this out in the committee by by calling it Global supplemental instructions things that we purchase again like our health curriculum is going to come in two parts next year one is core one is supplemental um and we're calling those additional purchases Global as opposed to the materials teachers would get and use from other resources make science Teachers Association or again maybe they get something that's a current event that's going on in uh uh in the news um so uh again like it would be easy enough to in the global supplemental materials is to
189strike the word Global and then uh and then reading through this I I get all supplemental instruction materials will be selected by teachers principles teacher Librarians and others as deemed appropriate and then we had a a red selection is that the teacher selection of of supplemental instructions will follow and I believe from this discussion that red Passage would be struck yes okay now before we go on going up the page the middle of the page there was we're on page 46 still uh under core instructional materials um there was a passage that was pre previously struck um and then uh restored and we put an explanation note on it says the adoption of textbooks for American history and government by the board may be uh and any committee shall be done in a manner in
190accordance with the ORS um and again the history on that is that American history and government materials uh selections should be done in the same manner as other curriculum do adoptions and reflect again contributions of indigenous people those with disabilities immigrants and refugees um uh over the last several years there have been many um free Boutique uh curriculum that I'll Callum that um again represent uh one specific Viewpoint all the way through and um and that's why that was written into law was again so that we just didn't have a a repetition of um incomplete history lessons being taught sure now um going back down to the bottom of that page striking that that uh that sentence in red there that that clarifies because we we heard a bunch of public comment about the supplemental
191insurance so striking that that's the line that that inadvertently got well inadvertently that that right that our discussion led to but we weren't that's not the point that we were making last month right and what and what this will do is that will Ripple through and you will have changes in uh this I think it's going to be the second third and fourth yeah uh uh administrative rules and so we'll get to those as they come up and we'll just tell you whether it's a strike or not and Andy help me with this one are we keeping Global or not I thought we were getting rid of the term Global okay okay so did we have it in there before no again we the committee put in global to try to differentiate what we purchase
192as as a supplement to everything or across a grade level or a core area as opposed to what teach are independently researching because again like for me as a science teacher it was easy to find a primary core text and work from that but again there's there's no primary core text for art or again chemistry and physics was easy but when I taught um environmental science uh I had a mix of books that came across and again I had stuff from Ducks Unlimited I had stuff from Fish and Wildlife so are you saying that we do not need to to make a distinction between what we purchase in supplemental versus what the teacher purchases so we don't need teachers aren't even purchasing it they're just again a lot of it is from again like the
193art Teachers Association will be posted online of things you can do that meet the curriculum standards for the state of Oregon again if there like we again we have something coming up in April and you'll have uh you'll see Middle School curriculum High School curriculum Elementary curriculum but you'll also see uh again a global piece that is use to supplement all three that we purchasing and that's com up for regular review if we're putting it on and it's coming through this committee and we're or coming through the curriculum committees and we're going to spend thousands of dollars on it's going to come before the board that's again like again I don't know if we solved it with the word Global or created another problem in committee but we were trying to say is that if
194it's if it's getting purchased with District funds it's going through a regular review everything else that is teacher design teacher research from professional sources would not be yeah it will be selected by teachers principes teacher Librarians and others as deemed appropriate yeah and then the red line there is is struck as well the selection supplemental instruction materials will follow same selection that that is not a thing right it is and and that's going to and again that correcting that going to occur in like two or three different administrative rules after the policy one more question on the same page are we adding the language the adoption of textbooks for American history and government by the board and any committee shall be done in matter accordance with ORS 337 we do not need that um again
195it was added as a Clarity potion it was an it was an uh it was an original one that I had struck out the committee wanted put back in uh because again it is a piece that had a specific uh law behind it and so again if we're saying that the district will review core instruct materials in accordance with the State Board of Education adoption cycle each core will again will be reviewed on a seven-year cycle and result repr will be issued by District administration to the board for approval like that also includes history texts and and but again people had uh again gone outside to pick curricul um materials um that's our responsibility right and again so we don't need that in there if we're pulling all through this through the regular process of
196adoption Cycles with with regular approved material it's a redundancy to say the adoption of textbooks for history and government by the board and any committee shall be done in a matter in accordance with ORS 33726 some confusion okay I can strike that back out okay um page 47 3-4 of the policy um again uh again Global is the term here used again uh again I think we would just add the line that says items that are purchased with District funds for use across multiple grade levels in schools would come before regular adoption I mean that's what we're doing yeah that's that's current policy yeah yeah okay okay I can get that in um uh we clarified in the February meeting uh the red language was board suggested and we were looking at how how is
197it how is um uh vetting done for Library materials the one thing that was added later in committee is that um tital wave uh uses um kirkus book list School library Journal horn and Publishers Weekly um and so horn was added in in multiple spots um across the board um and then classroom Library materials um again we're saying there's no formal uh selection procedure here simply because that is what the teachers are doing to supplement lessons on a regular basis if we had that through a formal process then all of a sudden it turns into supplementals I have one more question okay um when we're talking about the materials are screened through the following professional review sources and then we list those do we ever use any other professional review sources and maybe we should
198if that's the case maybe we should add the word including behind sources including so we're not limited you're saying because this language here is limited to yeah just what's listed okay oh okay um including yeah because there are again there's a series of other sources that we could use and again there are also a series of uh uh an again like as a sidebar the kind of the committee is that some of the um vetting sources that were considered were dismissed because they are Anonymous without Source without citation without any professional reference yeah Sheamus you have a question so to director Pinot's Point um can you pull the mic into you yeah just so that YouTube and we can hear you thank you to director Pinot's Point um I'd like to point out these are
199the age recommendations from the various sites for the flamer book by Mike curado kirus time out time out sorry sorry sorry to cut you off but that is that's not pertinent to to the policy discussion right now I have a comment that will make it pertinent after I finish okay go quick okay so kirkus 1218 book list grades 912 School library Journal grade 8 and up horn middle school high school Publishers Weekly age 14 and up this is exactly how the age recommendations appear on the site I would like to say that I believe that it would be a worthwhile Endeavor for the district to find some alternative review sources thank you okay thank you that that point sorry to cut you off in advance you made you made it your point known thank you
200okay um so that would well that would I think Diana and Sheamus you're on the same wavelength by by saying review review sources including but then I agree with you Andy that that I can post a review of anything I want on the interwebs right so but and again that's why we can say including these professional but not limited to but again uh I I will make it a point that we are not using any source that is randomly posted on the internet without any sort of yeah again and that was one of the sources that was what brought up previously was again it's Anonymous uh it's linked to other sites it you can't find out who actually owns the website yeah it was again just a group of people that decided that this is
201language we don't like and put it together in a list the expectations is that their professional revie sources yeah yes and not Andy G's personal loveof books.com or hatred of whatever uh.com um is there anything else in that before I move on to the next definitions okay so we're on to 49 uh we'd be on to ar1 um again the the this is a technicality in the first line I think the board selects we the committee put in approves yes uh your selection is done by your committee yes and so you would approve it at vote that's that again reflects current practice um the committee wanted to include that the selection committee meeting for core materials be follow Public Law um these are building level committees or super level superintendent level committees they go to
202inform my decision that I bring to the board um and so again they wouldn't if it was a direct advice committee to the board then yes it would follow public Mee law because it is a superintendent or a building level committee it would not uh this would create a whole lot of just excess work for every single meeting B basically every time we had a staff meeting we put it on YouTube yeah I it's not it's it's not I like I like your suggestion note there that I don't think that needs to be added in just that okay so again so again I had the note for the committee and my note uh kind of lining out what the problem is um and so we'll keep the strike there um uh going to the next
203page um we had created uh item five supplemental instructional materials that may introduce contention should be brought before the administration prior to raise concern uh the question that came up in comme is how can we foresee everything that again this is talking about your administrat should be dealing with your uh staff your staff should be coming to your administrators if they' got something that is um I think um could create an issue um before it goes out and I agree that and this was my suggestion so I'm taking ownership for it um I do agree that contentious is very subjective um um however we and Mike helped me with this but um my understanding is that there is a process an informal process for correct bringing these books bringing material that um that may that
204may be subjective um to your attention for your advice so I guess what is that process and and do we really my point is the community might like to know what that process is well again it is your teacher bringing it to your administrator and going this is what I would like to do I see this as a potential problem do you see any others uh again regarding of the contention of the material I don't think anybody would debate that um uh in physics there is momentum there is elastic and in and inelastic collisions um but that was my lesson plan the day after three students died in a car accident and I went to my administrator and said I don't think I can teach my lesson today right I'm gonna do I need I'm
205gonna scramble and do something else again and his his his response was no you can teach it that's fine I'm like I said but I can't again I'm I'm going to take this off the table because again I viewed it as being potentially insensitive my administrator John week said no it's in the context of the lesson kids understand this happens and it may be a good learning opportunity and so again I punted it for a few days and then we got back and then kids still discussed it in terms of the accident um so again it's not just the material itself it's the timing of the material in some cases brought about by external parameters so Mike do you want to address the Diana's comment sure please the informal process excuse me the informal process
206is heavily used by new teachers young teachers and teachers new to the district who are feeling their way around the community Moray and values there for example Spencer Lake had some just wonderful supplementation around the election this year but every four years we have the the climate is right for our social studies especially government teachers to to misstep or have something that could go wrong so he was running lessons his past me what do I think usually doesn't happen again once teachers develop a sense of judgment in a sense of place they have a pretty sound sens of what's okay and what isn't the other issue is largely around the sexuality standards in the health curriculum okay so is that yeah I'm I'm okay with striking five okay yeah I'm I agree I agree with
207the committee's comments and striking five head NDS for striking five okay we like that okay uh superintendent you want to keep going this this the school library material is that same as in yes it would read the same and again the one thing again and I think your budgetary piece again every time we see teacher librarian it's or certified librarian as employed by the local ESD because again um we would always have somebody employed overseeing the collection uh whether it's a contract Service or it's a direct employee yeah before we move forward M um in reference to Mr McBride's comments about the availability of supplemental materials on the website we had those available at one point they're not available now is there a way to make them available they still are I went to the
208links and I checked them uh the database we set up for five years ago was still there so um I don't know where the link would be broken but maybe I get to it a different way um because again we took and outlined all the standards listed them and again we need to update it for what'll happen with health um but again like we can repost the link I I I think it's but I found it sitting here in the meeting because I was surprised that nobody could find it but again if there's things that a teacher is using specifically in the class parent would have to make a request to them to say hey where is this and they can send them the link or send them the copy of the material it should
209be noted however that the teacher who has a good idea in the shower that morning and comes in fired up and runs with a new lesson which legitimately happens those lessons wouldn't be on that website it's just the global supplemental material correct yeah thank you for that clarification um so flipping over to uh 51 uh and again so uh number four again classroom laborator which may introduce contention should be brought for administration for any again it's the same use of the phrases contention that we tried to incorporate as um in number five on the previous page um but again we for defining our process about how teachers use other teachers or how teachers use their department heads or how teachers go to their administrators um we don't need number four here I agree with that
210which makes head nods on striking four altogether um and then that brings us to now what would be renumbered as four if a material has been removed from a collection um uh after completion of the appropriate consideration process the material is also excluded from use in library CL classroom collections um and really the only question I think in that is um like it was more financial um how are we paying for replacing it and where are those items going if they've been removed um but again if we pulled something from the core in language arts we wouldn't then turn around and stick it in uh again the math classroom yeah I think that was the um intent of what was written for five um but again I would say that anything that was removed should
211be sent to a professional library or donated under to other institutions that may want that material I would agree with that too okay and then the the I I have a little question here um this is what is the timeline for review and potential uh reintroduction of the material um and I guess my question is is that so later in one of the policies um once an issue has been uh adjudicated by the board uh it the policy says it will not be reviewed for two years so again uh if a if a core material or a book is removed from the collection um or if or if it's not removed from the collection uh the board won't address that book for two years okay and that's that's that is already that that's myam was
212camp camping up when you first started talking you say that's addressed in another policy already it's I think it's an AR3 okay okay uh we'll we'll get there I hope yeah I hope um okay page 52 page 52 um I don't see any changes in there this just mirrors our process for other uh policy IES yeah um um again uh in the middle of the page um we had subjecta specialist and the replacement would be teacher librarian or librarian of record yeah absolutely employed yeah I'm sure that was on me just asking about it um uh but yeah absolutely leave that um down below uh number five we have the reconsideration committee may include other designated uh Personnel in discuss questions about complaints which relate to under underrepresented group or protected class uh we this
213was suggested to be stricken in the February meeting um the committee note is special Insight can be gathered on a topic directly related to the experience of underrepresented groups or protected classes committee recommends restoration of stricken language directors what are our thoughts on that one and I would say the simplest uh explanation to this is that um I'm looking across the table and everybody's fairly monochromatic and if we're dealing with a text that deals with American African-American history or black history we might want to consider some of the black members of our community making that decision so so in that but wouldn't that consideration be in those above five bullet points of putting the committee together wouldn't that that was my question that I wrote next to this is is isn't isn't that isn't that
214already being done when considering who is on on this committee it it should be um but again I think sometimes we put additional language in To remind us that again uh again if we're just pulling from the easiest group of volunteers we may miss necessary people NE that should be part of the discussion yeah yeah and and not ever having to have convened a committee like you just had to do I just I would I would convene the the committee appropriate for whatever the committee was being convened for that's so I yeah so my my own little personal note was this is already up here and so I was just going to say keep the strike but with additional language that's that's fine too so I'm I'm good with leaving it because well I guess
215I guess we shouldn't leave things just to be implied but directors what do you think we have the same with the implication in two or three other spots where we're talking about again excluding people with disabilities when the topics about disabilities other minority groups are mentioned especially with uh Title 9 Section 504 idea um and so again uh maybe having again if we're discussing a curriculum that deals with how um handicapped people address our facilities having somebody with that direct knowledge living with a handicap should probably be on the committee that's where i' would say when those passages come up it's probably best to uh unstrip them to make sure that there is no lack of clarity that there is no again we can't say oh well that was inferred and we missed it when
216we set up the group we're all head nods with unst strike yes okay yes thanks Katie um and so this this does repeat itself numerous times it does so or again something similar to that U because it may it may differentiate different underrepresented groups okay um the next passage uh committee the Comm selected will only serve to consider the material uh which is of the subject of request for reconsider unless otherwise specified after completion of reconsideration committees responsible return to the pool um an un strike of this language was suggested at the meeting again this contradicts annual appointments there have been no need for multiple years to serve on a committee yeah so we're saying that committee as needed as opposed to an annual appointment right to just be held in reserve so I agree
217with committees as needed okay so agree otherwise you couldn't you couldn't establish a committee that was representative of the issue that you're trying to discuss yeah yeah so so I'll go back and look at that and find out where our original stries not a yearly appointment yes okay word it that way okay okay we may have to end really my hamstring is cramping something fierce uh I will I will tell you that there is nothing on page 54 that wasn't already previously discussed boom nothing on page 55 that wasn't already previously discussed now we're flying 56 no adjustments and that would bring us to AR3 on page 57 um again and this is where we incorporated the word Global again um because Global was a part of the policy definition so we would Recon reconsideration
218of supplemental um materials and so uh we would restrike that or take that out of definition um and then moving to page 58 um yeah reconsideration committee item two C note ar2 teacher librarian or librarian a record is employed by The Local District and I misspelled education well none of us caught it so I just caught it now yeah so absolutely change that and the next bracketed passage um again the reconsideration may include Equity Title 9 Andor Section 504 personnel and discussions about concerns related to underrepresented groups or protected classes um this would be the same as we had in the previous um but again I think this was a line item strike again uh to include Equity again just making sure that everybody is represented has a voice at the table um I I
219have a little question here what so so if you if you take out if you just read the sentence without Title 9 Andor section 4 Personnel or well or Andor section four so the reconsideration committee may include Equity Personnel in discussions about concerns which relate to an underrepresent what I guess that that doesn't make sense to me read without the title n and the fin because we specifically don't employ Equity Personnel but it is the job assignment of myself and other administrators in the district to see that um every group has the ability to come to the table at least they're invited whether they choose to or not um but again we don't specifically have an equity director to do that so un striking the previous doesn't that clarify that we're bringing the proper people
220to the discussion when a a discussion is needed or does it not it should but again um we're depending on uh inference implication in history I think it would be easier again especially if we're dealing with a book about equality that we again have people that have direct experience with Equity or inequitable experiences to be part of the discussion it's not saying that they are part of the committee but they would be part of the discussion group Andy yes is there a reason why the language wouldn't be the same as the language we've used in the policy the reconsideration committee may include personnel and discussions about concerns which relate to an underrepresented group or a protected class um let me go back to that um or is there is there a reason that we are
221specifying Title 9 Andor Section 504 so um in this specific because it's about supplemental materials and not the in essence kind of the generic overall which is presented to everyone again in supplemental materials we may need to bring in um again looking at again small group underrepresented populations to make sure that again that is considered when it's beyond the core and so like it's part of our core discussion and we could go back and incorporate the language from uh page 53 yes uh page 53 but I was also thinking again um there's a we because we kind of unstruck a passage uh before and and you may be right it may I thought I just had it and then I just flip past it um seems like it should just be the same same sentence
222um so let me so again we could say that the reconsideration committee may include other designated Personnel in discussions about complaints which relate to an underrepresented group of protected class and repeat that passage I mean I think that's what you're driving at okay okay keeps consistent so add to okay page 58 um the next paragraph um was a un strike of the passage um it was originally struck uh committee members directly associated with the selection of the material under reconsideration will be excused from the committee principal May appoint someone else uh but such replacement will be the same general qualifications above and again um yeah the committee composition I think is fixed with the reconsideration committee and the language that includes uh underrepresented groups of protected classes um and so again I think uh again
223the next two paragraphs could be stricken um as they're covered by what we just said the the the first one is yes okay those two red ones because that's addressed in the in what we just brought over from page 53 yeah and the last Red paragraph there again this contracts contradicts the ideas of annual appoint of appointments yeah um moving to page um again uh uh we would want to uh one available but not uh but not limited to kirkus book list what not limited to and just that's our list of defined professional sources um moving to page 60 item k um uh and the note here is restore to the public committee suggestion superintendent note this creates unnecessary unrealistic expectation for school board principal principal to communicate directly to the board um again it
224was the the phrase that was and to the public um we communicate our again people that are directly related to a complaint or reconsideration um but we don't necessarily post all those results to the general public it's yeah I like your recommendation here your superintendent note okay um moving to page 61 uh in the meeting we had created um appeal line item six appeal to the board um again uh after a review of the committee's decision by the superintendent superintendent review may be appealed by the person who requested the reconsideration to the superintendent by submission of an appeal to the board within 15 days um what was added in the meeting uh uh again the decision of the committee will be taken into consideration by the board and making the final determination of the appeal
225um again the committee notes original language which should be affirmed um because again if you have a three reviews by then um you're probably at a resolution uh the Review Committee suggested that best practice by legal counsil and policy experts uh it was to ensure that the schools operate within the laws of the state um there was the question about again staff time and uh paying people for time uh for that um committee recommends this appeal be limited to the scope of proper process or strike number six um board should follow the same procedural committee process is outlined above um if the previous steps are eliminated 345 the board would need to assemble a committee uh to supplement discussion of the board so in essence um if you're taking on six we could eliminate uh
226basically uh steps four and five yeah and so I'm again I'm not sure how to how to fix that other than um again unless there's a procedural flaw in how the committee came to a decision um I mean that's what should open up for a board appeal if again if it was a a deliberate biased action um or some other fun FAL flaw of the committee um and this is this is about the supplemental material still right we again but this also appears in the next policy as well yeah uh real quick on that third line um it says uh reconsideration to the superintended by submission of an appeal to the you read board but it reads board chair should it be board chair or board because everywhere else it just refers to the board
227the board the board should that be board chair it should be board chair okay because again it comes to you to then assemble the committee or assemble the work group that would look at it um okay and again it would not necessarily come to you directly somebody would typically say I'm appealing the decision of the superintendent level committee and I would say I'm going to pass this on as an appeal right they don't have to actually physically bring it to you yeah and well being pretty let's just say the board chair okay because this isn't going to be me forever right so the board chair okay yeah um okay so director's thoughts on thoughts on any of those uh those asteris asteres is that plural of asterix's um ases yeah bullet points how about that
228um yeah the review committe is by best practice by Council and policy experts to sure that schools operate within yeah yeah I agree with that um will staff be paid for the time that was spent reviewing the materials that one I'm undecided on because kind of you know all of our time is valuable um but I guess I guess a question I would have is would they be able to decline an invite to be on the committee yes they could yeah well if if they could then my my gut reaction would be then then then no because if if you're volunteering to be on if you're if you're willing to be on the committee as a volunteer be on the committee as a volunteer um that but that's that's I'm just thinking out loud I'm
229not speaking for the the group here um any other thoughts on that one directors okay committee recommends this appeal be limited to the scope of proper process or strike six if this remains then all prior committees and and reviews should be stricken from the administrative rule that one I don't really understand the so other than being multi-step process well and again if I think again the the the question came up as as the discussion is that um if there hasn't been a failure process if it was fair along the way um again coming to the board um for an appeal um just because somebody didn't like the decision of a professional review um eliminate again eliminate the committee itself and just have people come directly to the board that's I I think that was the
230that was the point of the work group in the committee was again um if we can do if they can do everything that if they can do everything right by policy and come to a fair um decision um from again a a representative group of uh district and community members um just eliminate the appeal to the superintendent and just have it come directly to you and that's and I if you're gonna if you're going to keep six um uh really you you just have the reconsideration group meet at the building level and then bypass superintendent's office and go directly to the board um if you in essence if you keep six the way it's written where again it's not on policy and procedure it's on the subjective nature of the argument um then just eliminate
231the superintendent from the process and just take the take the decision on yourself that's I think that's the heart of what the committee was getting at yeah yeah um so yeah I guess because again number what's or originally written as number five on page 60 was appeal to superintendent or appeal the board and so um the question came up is how come there wasn't an appeal to the board because if there's a fair process it shouldn't need to come to the board yeah um and so you can in essence eliminate number six and just make number five appeal to the board right yeah I guess I guess I'm I'm not I'm not garnering here why we would why would we why other than the Bure the bureaucratic nightmare kind of of it all but why
232we would eliminate one of those appeal processes because it to me it to me I think that a a formed committee hang on decision yeah um I don't know what where my thoughts were leading me just then so the committee is um formed in this case um really coming out at the building level and then and then as as is written in step four the again it's a building level procedure to in essence establish the district Community Committee um the review of the superintendent is I'm looking at the policies and procedures that the committee followed and if they had a um if they had come to a decision and I looked at and said good to go there was a balanced committee they came to a fair decision okay but I don't like this I
233just can't overrule the committee okay so I think I'm understanding now so AR3 if we keep four five and six that means there would have to be two separate committees and then the board because your review would also you would also put together a committee no again mine is a mine is a again a paper review you Soo I yes again I would look at all procedural documents recom ations decisions made um I may uh bring in the committee to discuss with them how they got there if they had a question um but again uh it says if an appeal is made the superintendent decision made by the uh reconsideration committee remains in effect till it appeal is again if if if there hasn't been a failure of policy and I don't see that the
234committee has been unfair or unjust in some way I'm I can't personally arbitrarily overturn the decision of the committee because there's an element I don't like and that's and so again if we're going to set aside the review of the committee like that again I don't know if I'm explaining this well again let's just bring it directly to the board or strike six or strike six and in this in this AR the the appeal process the last step of that appeal process is the superintendent's review correct and so that would be for supplemental instructional materials yeah what I agree that's that's not a supplemental material that is a library book yeah there's a separate administrative role for dealing with Rec consideration of Library material yes yes can we get a mic on them I can't
235hear what they're saying no because again we're we're talking about like the the the health supplement that's coming up um that we're going to purchase we're reviewing that in the same way we're reviewing regular Core Curriculum and the board has already seen it it's been selected by a professional group and the board has already purchased it they said go ahead and buy it and so if we're coming back around to that again in a year like we've already purchased this supplemental uh health Health curriculum and now there's something in it that someone personally doesn't like we go through a similar review process but it would stop with me or eliminate me and again since the board approved the purchase of it it would come right to the board uh we're creating an unnecessary uh redundancy
236um and again we're getting two paper reviews on something that's already been previous approved by board action in the prior year and so again if the board wants to hear complaints on supplemental instructional materials that they've already approved eliminate the lower committees and expedite the process that's what I think the committee was trying to get to was that their recommendation to eliminate those and come directly to us or to maintain those and strike six either way again again I think that again if there is if there's been a fair review it can stop at 5 right because again supplemental materials have already been brought before the board and approved now you would be undoing your own decision a year later yes yeah I'm I think I'm understanding enough to say that yeah striking striking six
237in AR3 here would be appropriate because we were at the beginning of this Wagon Train in in approving the the curriculum committees and it's gone through public review etc etc the the board and whoever's on the board at any time is is at the front of this train okay so we're striking six in AR3 okay so uh now ar4 this is where I think we were jumping to in the previous uh part of our discussion ar2 reconsideration of school or Library materials school or classroom Library materials excuse me um first not is on page 62 our teacher librarian or librarian of record um note uh moving to page 63 uh we get to the middle of the page again teacher librarian same note as ar2 um uh the the last blue paragraph in that page
238again that's our um original note from page 53 yes about again uh looking at under represented groups um because again we the the board wanted to strike this passage in the meeting and the committee note would be the same special Insight can be gathered on the topic related to IDE Title 9 Section 504 and other representative groups um so I'll go back and pull the the language from page 53 to replace that um same thing with the yearly pool same thing with the yearly pool um so that again that would be stricken in the same way that was stricken in the last in ar2 yeah um middle of page 64 uh including but not limited to uh kirkus booklist School library Journal horn and Publishers Weekly um no other changes on page 64 page um
239uh again uh item J um the principal will communicate uh this decision to all effective staff and the public again that a committee recommendation my note is again um to the general public um and we can't make that announcement um I would go with the original uh language M maintain maintain the strike of and to the public Yes again the principal will communicate the decision to the effective staff because it's the material that's coming out of their collection or their room okay what is the voting process on that too I was just curious uh it's a simple majority vote but is it it it's just like how we would do ours yes okay yeah uh and now we get to items five and six uh five again appeal to the superintendent um um which again
240so uh again if there was a again a fair and impartial group that rendered a decision and I couldn't find a flaw in the policy or a bias in the application of the group um I would affirm the decision of the committee um and then what was created in the 212 meeting was appeal to the board um and again so again if there was a library book or a book in a classroom Library um again if um the board wants to set aside the decision of the committee and take it up eliminate the superintendent review or the lower committee review and have it come directly to the board as an appeal to the board after the primary review at the administrative level well then with that Nicks having any committee at all and so all
241the all the the previous things that we've just gone over about how the Committees are formed there's one there's one again there is a reconsideration committee again it's in this case it's two teachers designated by the principal your a teacher librarian one administrator uh two me members of the committee and one selected and so this is again R ran at the building level it's a seveners committee in core and supplemental it's a nine-person committee so and that that committee is step two that committee is step two so reconsideration goes to the building principal yes and then they put together the committee if that if there if that administrative decision is appealed then the committee votes um again and whatever it is is then Super and then again would um bypass the superintendent go right to
242the board if again if I don't find a flaw in the application of the policy or I find some other flaw um I wouldn't necessarily find a reason to uh overrule the committee and so again yeah and the board would approve this as well be we would bu it's just like the last one no this one is for reconsideration this one is is what we just went through with tonight yes okay right so again a a library book or a classroom library book that was appealed would come to the board um from the committee directly to the board and the superintendent is taken out of this sequence Yes again because again if somebody finds something objectionable on a subjective standard and um it doesn't matter what decision I will render it will simply be appealed
243so why have me in the mix right just bring it right to the board you still want your professional opinion obviously we're going to ask you for it and still get it so just like we did tonight so so this one would be striking five right if we keep the appeal to the board I I would keep I would keep five if you want again otherwise I will not have done any sort of review on it at all so you want you would want to keep five again and you would want to keep six um yeah and again the only question is again if the if there hasn't been a procedural flaw if there hasn't been an an ad you know again an openly um an openly known bias by the committee um again the
244decision of the committee will be taken into consideration the board making the final determination in the field U again and we struck in that should be affirmed um I have to agree with Andy otherwise we're contradicting ourselves okay if we've aligned if we've set this up so that the committee is um is put together to effectively review the material and they have made a decision and Andy has have affirm has affirmed that by reviewing the format formation of the committee and everything in included in the decision-making process it's redundant for us to do that work and or contrad addicting ourselves if we don't eliminate six here but we just did it on the supplemental materials well but again the supplemental reps have already been purchased and reviewed by the board yeah the board already reviewed
245the the previous AR stuff at the beginning of the process this right this is a this this is again something that would be coming starting from a different level starting with a dep departmental or a classroom decision um again I don't mind doing the paper review um because this is library and classroom Library materials um what we just entertained this evening is what we're um we're not approving teacher supplemental materials they don't come to the board correct correct so if there was a a a a um request to review those materials then it would go to committee committee decision would go to Andy and Andy would have the final um decision making right and again and that's how we have it in AR3 and an ar4 we're talking about school or classroom Library materials and
246so yeah and we approve those beforehand no we don't not not a four Ju Just Like just like with the supplemental material the global let's lur on the word Global the global supplemental materials we see we see those yes right and so we're at the beginning of that train but in we need to use the word Global yeah yeah but in in but here in ar4 this is what we just went through this evening that's right and so so but but you were previously saying to that if we eliminated an AR3 we should eliminate number six in ar4 but this but we are not at the beginning of this train the we the board this train yes okay so Andy and A3 because the board's already reviewed it this is only Global supplemental materials okay
247yes yes all right and again in reconsideration of school or classroom Library materials if you leave it the way that it is uh you can uh again individually review books that have gone through process so we leave five and six here yeah if you're gonna yes if that's what you want yeah you would keep five and six to keep the same procedural piece that you had yes keep stat seen head nods to leave five and six all right um ar5 uh there have been no changes this is the form that is used um for instructional or Library materials um and there was one question of clarification that came up in AR6 and again it is one that we have seen before again uh the subject area specialist should be again replaced as teacher librarian or
248librarian or record um again that would be consistent with the rest of the and um okay so now what what I would what I would what I would recommend is that you give me a couple of days to smooth all these out to see if it matches the discussion let the committee have another read through it and see if see if again we haven't created any unknown glitches yes and then come back yes cuz that's again unfortunately that's what happened coming out of February was we created unknown unseen traps yeah like like kicking yourself in your own shins traps okay that's not fun okay so uh I will get these fixed and I probably can't get them out until Monday or Tuesday of next week okay thank you thank you in advance for your time
249on that okay so that one is moving to for an action item in next at next month's meeting in April's meeting 6.4 superintendent okay um integrated guidance application for 2025 2027 uh item uh 0 31225 6.4 again integrated guidance is by anal planning and budgeting process for specific funds dedicated to certain State objectives final applications due April 30th um this is the first reading of the application and initial review of integrated guidance planning for 2527 budget cycle this will be an action item for April 9th um what I've done for the board in preparation of this packet is again uh looked at our Uh current uh budget activity items and listed against the um uh proposed going forward with same or similar uh because most of what we have are uh positions that support student
250instruction or student safety directly in the budget uh I've listed uh again where the how much they've increased in cost from year to year um so the first two pages on 72 and 73 are your student investment account um uh items that uh again because there's a reduction in this fund from uh the previous bium uh simply uh funding the the uh positions that are in there uh we need to do a little work cuz we're $12 $112 over budget so that needs to be cleared up um and then beginning on page 74 I did the same things uh with high school Success Grant which is part of integrated this uh has a slight increase from year one to year two and so again simply funding the same positions uh we've got about $99,000 to
251cover and so again we've always had to shift between HSS and Sia to balance those budgets because they vary year year or we may have a different person in that position and their salary base is different so to balance it out um and there's no change in eiis activities our early intervention systems I I have a quick question there and maybe I just haven't paid attention close enough but on a few different pages this refers to wamit ESD correct wamit ESD um each ESD specializes in uh one different activity and um organ dat Suite is hosted by wamity YY okay they go through and they pull our individual records State records classroom records grade records and put them and attendance and put them together in one format um it would be if every group had
252to do it it would be disastrous it just be too much work yeah um and uh beginning on page 76 is really kind of the process we use for going through figuring out what we need with integrated guidance um this is a presentation that I put together for um the general public we've held this session twice with uh limited public engagement um but again when you want to know what our outcomes and strategies are what we're focusing on um with our uh common metrics um those are uh posted beginning on page 81 again uh increasing our four-year graduation rate um increasing third grade ELA achievement um again uh ninth grade on track uh fiveyear graduation completion rates and uh again uh seeing uh regular attendance come up um by all groups across the year and
253then again one of our side goals in this has been reduce class sizes and case load to increase more meaning meaningful connections between staff um in your digital version that you have in your uh packets again all of those data performance targets are listed um by data source and you can review them and uh right before this meeting I got our updated stuff that includes our 2324 data which we're going to review tomorrow in the admin meeting at 9:00 a.m. six hours yes and so again uh if you'd like to read through the rest of this um again like we s again there's we solicit student input into this process as well um we take a a group of kids uh a group of students um uh to Lane to LCC we take them to
254Lane SD they sit with students from other districts and discuss similar priorities uh We've hosted this as a local um event uh with our students and Mapleton students at LCC campus here um again kids talked about anything they wanted and if it fit with an integr so we could figure out how to make it work um we took it from there there's also again students were Sur surveyed in October and the previous March um so again we get data from several sources Mr Burke just wanted to briefly comment I attended that as I was invited I believe Mai attended it as well just wanted to put that out there very meaningful very good highly recommend thanks um thank you for putting all that data together and this is just a review up here it says
255review and approval do we need to do any head not approval for this until CC and I get a chance to go through and pencil out that $112 okay um and shift a couple positions around um and I know that we've got um like one of those positions is um like a counseling position and we know that we're also probably going to be hiring a A literacy coach for the elementary school Under early lit um that will impact where that that salary position goes because we're going to be having two people at different levels and then we got to balance that out so there's a little massaging still left to left to do um which would again which kind of leads us into 65 which is our early literacy Grant application for 2527 item 0312
25625 uh 6.5 if people don't mind I'm just going to plow right into it um again early literacy success uh School District grant program is a biannual planning and budgeting process for specific funds dedicated to the objective that students reach General reading proficiency by the end of their third grade year final application we do in April uh the first banal plan secured curriculum and training for staff to inform instruction and to improve student learning outcomes the second Bal plan uh will be focused on securing a literacy coach to assist staff in their development of General classroom instruction and individual high intensity student intervention um and uh if you go to page 120 in your packet um again the original 2325 bium uh we ended that cycle with a $76,000 carryover we're using that to buffer
257out the allocations for 2526 and 2627 uh to provide a full salary and benefit package for um the literacy coach and again uh keeping on the same themes and uh pushing forward uh we're integrating that literacy coach into the literacy Grant submission so all of our primary remarks are represented here uh beginning on page 121 And I forget how long it is uh because like most of my grant proposals they are uh thorough they are supporting the timber industry and the creation of white paper um I'm going to say this goes on for it's a solid 20 Pages yeah um because again we go through every single aspect up through high doses tutoring and how we supplement uh regular curriculum how we use I my path lessons um and then uh finally on page 140
258this is your simplified um School literacy plan um your assessment of foundational skills by grade level and our tasks and then guided screening for um fluency benchmark assessments and that's also review and approve is is the uh reason so do we need head knot approvals for that or is that just pushing forward to April as well I would push that forward to April so that way again the Elementary staff uh and Miss Flor and I can go through and we have to again tune that little budget up a bit because there's a 25% match in that that and and when we find out where our literacy coach what what bucket they fall into is going to determine where that budget settles so and if I would have been looking at this other paper it says
259that right there and right there so uh moving into 6.6 okay uh Health curriculum adoption for 2025 2032 uh every 7 years each subject area selects and adopts new Core Curriculum materials health is a subject area up for consider ation in this 2532 cycle the following materials have been selected by local B building committee to be presented to the board of directors for high school will be coner uh Comprehensive Health skills uh High School skills for health middle school will be the Comprehensive Health skills for middle school elementary will be the great body shop and the supplemental curriculum for all schools will be wayfinder future and career Readiness lessons um as for local policy there will be a public review of these materials uh beginning April 9th through May 9th um we would normally have
260them up but we're waiting on a couple of hard copies of some of the digital versions post um uh your selection criteria by each committee and whether it meets uh standard is listed for each um one of the units beginning on page 144 um and so we we'll announce our positive our our uh public you all right oh yeah okay the hamstring cramping baby okay well I I recognize the Flinch um so again uh we'll have the materials up and post and put out our public uh announcement for April 9th so this will be a May action item awesome um again app plowing ahead into uh 67 2567 policy EC facility management maintenance and safety uh this m administrative rule is being updated to reflect current practices related to key cards electronic doors and other
261safety matters that pertain to a school and classroom Administration recommends that the board uh adopt policy EC as presented director any discussion or or questions on the on the the additions to uh 267 as you reviewed it uh Mike yes turn your mic on yeah like for number number seven I was just looking at building and classroom security all School exterior doors will remain locked during un period of student day operations including after school programs I could see that being kind of a real pain in theind end for track and football you know getting into the locker room that sort of thing but coach has got to run unlock that door every single time that kind of a thing coach coach have a passcard going in and going out um our problem is that when
262we have internal programs and somebody props a door open anybody can walk in got it that's that's been the issue is that we've had certain programs that leave a door open and people wander in and uh if it's a bad actor again all the money that we spend on electronic key cards is a waste yeah yeah nuisance yes but I think and I was thinking more along the line like summer activities those kinds of things too well again when the building isn't regularly occupied yeah that's that's typically not a problem because again football practice happens at one time volleyball practice happens at another time they're not necessarily intersecting and having the back door to the gym open isn't a big deal but when the PE class opens the back door up and they go off
263onto the track and they're gone for a half hour that's different that's a direct pipeline into the school where 400 other kids are sitting completely different anim so again during student day operations so when the school year again running and so again when we get to Summer practice and again we're directly across the street and we can see the door and it's the only group that's available yes yeah um that's that's not a problem it with common sense I'm hoping yeah I'm I'm I'm that's what we're working on and again if we find more glitches we'll fix them but again like during the we have regular students and staff in the building those doors need to be locked and again if teachers are going outside they have a choice they can either give their kid
264their badge because I've done that kids like run into the go to the bathroom I'm not running into the bathroom but you're going to be back in 5 minutes with my badge yeah um directors any other questions on on 67 well this is a this is our second read of this one so we got have I move that we accept 6.7 as presented thank you Zach okay uh resolution 0 31225 6.7 policy EC facility management maintenance and safety uh be resolved the school board adopt policy a EC facility management maintenance and safety has presented motion made by director snedden seconded by director howly any discussion on the motion those in favor I I okay uh last one 68 and before we move on uh Shamus I don't know if it's past your bedtime or night
265but as student rep it's after 10 o'clock if you'd like to be excused you can I see we already lost your compatriot because I think she may have fallen asleep after practice today um so again if you'd like to go we you're fre to be released appreciate it Mr superintendent I will text my mom then I am free okay okay uh superintendent 68 okay uh policy IAD special interest materials second reading item 03225 6.8 as reviewed by the policy committee updates current practice are represented Suggestions by the board of directors from the 212 meeting have been added and reviewed by the policy committee there are no questions of clarifications from the 35 policy meeting Administration recommends that the board adopt policy IAD special interest materials any comments on this one uh directors okay then motions
266appropriate being a second read here board chair be it resolved that the SCA school district board adopt policy I A- special interest materials as presented resolution 0312 2 25- 6.8 policy a special interest materials I second okay I'm giving that one to Katie because she chimed in so resolution 031 22568 policy IAD special interest materials uh motion made by director Barnett seconded by director sneden uh any discussion on the motion all in favor I I None opposed okay 70 so 71 superintendent okay uh personal report March 12 2025 uh new employees as for contract approval of position by the board certified Educators uh Mrs Janet Mitchell seventh grade science teacher temporary uh for to complete the remaining of the school year Alisa Dian Nia school counselor temporary CA Elementary School uh with a list of
267uh Collegiate credentials working in uh parallel work uh classified and per professional staff uh Susan Fenton Library C Elementary School Jackie Snider uh kindergarten educational Aid uh to complete this school Year Angela Euling uh secretary for transportation and maintenance at the district level uh coaching staff and extra Duty Courtney King cross country head coach CA Middle School Adam Decker boy basketball head coach CA middle school and lacer tour track and field assistant coach CA Middle School uh resignations retirements or other separations Bethany lot educational Aid C Elementary Katie Wells cross country head coach C Middle School Aon mcneel head girls basketball coach SI High School Tim Payne food service worker Sarah yogger uh WCC educational Aid that's our after school program and we've also picked up a couple of classified substitutes along the way um
268page two of my report is redundant and unnecessary uh um uh and again I think we've covered 62 64 and 65 which was student calendars integrated guidance and early literacy these are just additional notes again in your live document you can pull those digital documents for the integrated growth plan and the early literacy Grant plan um students of the month uh again for February 2025 are listed on on pages five six and seven of my report uh which is probably the best part of my report going along the way boy and something actually you know this these appeared in nice one single page and then they got PDF into split list so that is all I have for this month for my general administrative report because again um if board members have questions they've been
269calling you guys get daily if not weekly if not daily emails sometimes a couple in today so um there any specific things that have come up as of recent um let me know and we'll get them addressed okay thank you for that uh any questions uh for Andy on his on his report no okay um I think CC's left us so CC thank else excellent all right all right um so uh to the admin reports uh uh directors um other than giving that it's not that it's obligatory but it's fairly obligatory that the thank you for the different administrators for putting these reports together they're quite informative I appreciate them but directors do we have any questions for the admin that is is slogging this out with us okay so thank you for your reports
270and for your time the only one smiling over there is Andy Moro okay because he's in the comfortable chair I get it I'm sorry that's the only person I looked at I didn't know if everybody else was smiling too Thank you Lisa were Lisa were you smiling he okay well okay all right thank you all thank you all for smiling still okay so uh thank you for smiling moving on um uh student rep Communications Mall's headed out because she works at like 2 o'clock in the morning uh Sheamus nothing for you guys this meeting okay um boom checking that off uh so future meeting dates uh March 20th is a filing deadline for the Schoolboard positions 24 and six uh April 9th is our uh budget and board meeting uh and that's going to be
271here in the Middle School Commons but then the 23rd the budget meeting will be in the gym because the commons is reserved at then May 14th June 11th are are regular board meetings um and then also this is I would hope that students are in bed right now and not listening to this but student representatives to the board applications are available online or at the high school office the appointment by the board is for one-ear term July 1st 2025 through June 30th 2026 application should be submitted to the district office by May 1st 2025 because both of our board uh student reps are both seniors so um so we we have two positions to fill um moving on to seven Sheamus real quick just wanted to let you know that I have been trying to
272recruit applicants of people I think would be acceptable for the position okay thank you and so not necessarily a board meeting uh Mike what time do we start the CTE showcase tomorrow thank you lunch is 11:30 so so again if you're avable between like 11:30 and 2:30 tomorrow CTE showcase at the high school yeah that mic didn't work so 11:30 2:30 CTE showcase at the high school be there or B Square boom what's the movie okay uh 7.6 uh let's go we'll just go this direction board member acknowledgements Morin okay I have a quick one I was going to appeal to the community but I'm pretty sure the community is asleep right now as they should be as they should be but I wanted to put a a comment out that our Elementary music concerts
273are coming up our uh kindergarten and first grade is tomorrow at FEC I'm sure it's going to be awesome um and then in April 3rd the grades 2 and three has their concert and I've seen the third graders I haven't seen the second grad I think third graders they're incredible they're amazing and I just like to appeal the community because the kids know their parents are going to come but it would be great for the community to come and see how our wonderful kids and teachers and how amazing they are so uh March 13th and April 3rd and then there's I will remind people for the May May and June ones as we other board members meetings so that's it please come and see our wonderful kids and teachers thank you Tamara Tamara shakes her
274head she has nothing Diana I don't have anything Josh we're ready to go home John just wanted to say out of boy to our winter sports so we okay basketball wrestling is fantastic so agreed Katie um I just wanted to say thank you to Aon mcneel and that was a resignation on the uh basketball that he's been doing that for a long time and done great things with that program and um so sad to see him leaving that position but happy for him to get a little bit more time with his family um really happy to see Janet Mitchell back um I know that's a big sacrifice for her to come out of a retirement um but boy she's really helping us out and I know that and and I'm thrilled to see her back
275so that was nice to see um the other things I wanted to say is that um in almost four years at this table which I'm not physically at the table tonight um we've made a lot of decisions and a lot of them have been very hard um none of them have been as disappointing as tonight's and I know that many of you want to sit at that table and think or say that this is not a partisan decision for you um but I think you know in your hearts that it is and I want to remind you that four of you shared the same political consultant to run your campaigns and accepted tens of thousands of dollars from very partisan donors it is obvious it is obvious that those are the decisions that you made
276tonight were were for those people call the order John say that again as a definitely a call to order and that accusation was 110% false when it comes to me it wasn't about you John you weren't one of the four I was talking about well there was only four that voted that's that's true but four people on this on this board of directors ran with the same political consultant and that is true Katie you're you're you're very much welcome to your opinion and we are very much those are the facts we're you're your opinion and we are very much okay to also disagree with it thank you for sharing your opinion okay um 8.0 meeting adjourned