2021-06-22 Board of Education meeting

001to order if you would please thank you official media notifications Saturn here hello here here right here any discussion all right opposed to the comments tonight yes all the different schools handing out um thank you [Applause] and the last um acknowledgment uh goes to James I know she loves being on stage for 26 years thank you [Applause] thank you very much um board members or community members or administrators I'll try and keep things moving tonight good evening you ready for me I want to dress yet another email that was sent out to the entire School District teaching our director of teaching and learning in October 2020. I will read the email to you now it says in reading the latest issue of educational leadership I found this link to children's books on social justice while

002the main focus is the website includes title for middle school and high school as well as professional reading around these topics your curricular topics additionally when teaching around social justice and using article textbooks resources multiple perspectives ask the students whose stories in our schools the presence of the decision [Applause] turn your arm back um over the past few months I feel you're missing some of the most important discussions which is a great education for our kids thank you involved to open with I want to open it I just wanted to really say that the school board transparency across agenda out of the school so I take personally issue with such a non-sensical decision I want to share with everyone here what the Middle School law enforcement counselor and educator according to the Germantown Police Department's

003latest audit I mean I'm sorry latest annual reports closely with the school staff and administrators safety security and Welfare of all students faculty staff Wellness foreign speaking from my husband's point of view in 30 years of experience across the country Rising school shootings this is the time [Applause] you know officer Kelly [Applause] School District um that seems to be most of us accept foreign we are going to come out and we are going to fight against this and her position isn't an elected position so we cannot directly unelect her but we will start to elect people that don't support her because this country it's not everybody has said it's a democracy it's a democracy correction it is a constitutional republic we use Democratic processes that are enforced by the Constitution the supreme law of the

004land there's a framework for the government if we taught this in school we would know this and it limits the power of government we have stood by and watched the government overreach we have watched School boards and schools overreach into our children's Minds it is time for that to stop we need to have adult conversations about this not the heckling not the argument we need to be respectful we need to have adult conversations we're not going to continue to stand for it Gary and then Liz Apollo is on Deck keeping up with what terminology is like playing whack-a-mole if you're being a phrase like critical race Theory those promoting these ideologies simply change a definition or use a different term a case in point at the 2016 board meeting Brenda O'Brien referred to CRT as

005a literary Theory quoting from the minutes director of curriculum O'Brien provided Clarity on critical race theory in the district and why theories are taught she then uses the phrase one of the tools literary Theory and States as we begin to ban certain literary theories CRT is non-literary Theory you've heard lots of definitions he repeats the phrase often a Germantown School District resident through a foia request to obtain Communications between Brenda O'Brien and Ubuntu where they are discussing a virtual workshop for up to 150 staff members the primary email of the exchange is David 29th September 2020 full seven months before superintendent Southlands statement first appeared in the board members white supremacy or Core Concepts of CRT ideology intersectionality is often used interchangeably with CRT the email threat demonstrates the ideology of CRT has been on

006the school district for more than eight months and the spread of the ideology is being led by a member of The District administration you cannot solve a problem until you acknowledge its existence the superintendent is either in denial or as complicit next topic I'm an analysis instructor which means I teach students staff and teachers as an analyst instructor and a student of school violence events I can think of nothing worse short-sighted representative Noto last month referred to CRT as a cancer cancer I concur you need to eliminate a position to consider eliminating their director of teaching and learning keep the SRO position this solves one problem and prevents another a win-win for the district thank you very much [Applause] I'm going to start by reading an email that was sent to the CRT reporting Forum

007that we made has your mother ever expressed that you should have been swallowed your white privilege is so confused into your brain that you cannot understand the systematic racism that still occurs today real quick UW Madison connected with four applicants all the same resume the only difference were that two were white and two were black tell me how systematic racism doesn't still exist when the white felon got more callbacks in the black applicant without a record what are you scared of from Children Learning on weight watch History there's a reason that it is hardly any diversity in the area you can't even think critically to understand cot probably can't even Define it without Googling it may God be unmerciful when judging your disgusting Soul so that's fun so here's what I have to say how

008do we expect children to behave kindly towards one another when this is what we teach them how are our youngest Learners supposed to love and accept one another when they are told that they are inherently bad or apparently a victim because of the color of their skin CRT is more than a singular classroom topic it is an entire ideology that is meant to fundamentally change our educational system the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction recently held a webinar for teachers the presenters of that webinar told the teachers you are a co-conspirator with your student and in what world would any parent think the ACT is okay this is the material that is being presented to our teachers this is what is trickling into our classroom we have a feeling back in Reading proficiency scores amongst our

009high school students we are substituting foundational education with Progressive politics and leaving students with no basic knowledge understanding or skills thank you [Applause] following Father's Day plus Mother's Day last month they'd first like to start by celebrating and thinking every single person in this room personally I like these holidays as an opportunity to honor all people who make a positive difference in the lives of others and so I think and applaud All of You Who Come here with the best intentions to stand up for our community and protect our students because that's what we all want right we want every child to recognize their potential and get excited to excel beyond their perceived capabilities we want all children to not get the slightest thought about the pigment of another skin but rather to appreciate that

010individual's story and support one another in hard work to get where they'd like to be all the while enjoying their school experience and having fun being surrounded by their friends and peers this is very simple school is a place to learn and develop skills it is not a place for politics nor for teachers to push their personal beliefs or opinions school is a place to celebrate our students individuality and to nurture them to flourish and to stand up responsible and respectful contributors to society individual Integrity hope streams and results are all that should ever be allowed to define a person never should we ever categorize one another and most especially not our students it's 2021 and there is no room to allow divisive training into any of our children's schooling and if we have to

011ban it from our AP classes fine we should get rid of those EP classes if they support racism replace them with something more meaningful and respectful equality equal opportunity to excel the drive to be the best they can be we don't want our students to have Equity with their peers when they all just hit a ceiling and there's no motivation to excel we want our district to meet all children at their current level and propel them to their fullest academic potential with all due respect to those of our teachers who are phenomenal the teachers don't get to decide what they teach our kids we the parents are here telling you do not teach our children racist hate so don't just ban CRT proudly ban any and everything that could possibly divide our kids from one

012another proudly ban any manipulation of our teachers via divisive and racist professional development probably ban any allowance or Worse encouragement from our own director for teachers to go Rogue on their lesson plans and report back to her with evidence of progress from what they're implementing the classroom behind her backs rep and ran racism and have zero tolerance for anyone who attempts to bring division discrimination or segregation here to Germantown unite and celebrate these awesome kids and this amazing community to end in a stating that we're all privileged I'll quote from Carol Sween who's an African-American female professor of political science and law event America is a true land of opportunity for anyone of color and background in this country where you start your life does not determine where you ended up thank you Alex Hardy

013and I'm Jack is Megan kizzy Ward good evening Alex Hardin from Colgate so just for everyone who still thinks that the CRT situation is about an important pedagogical lenses racial tensions white privilege of course the educational value of such exercises children it encouraged teachers remind teachers that young children's education is inseparable from social justice I don't know why that's even thought of being Incorporated in the classroom okay but it's happening about this everyone knows about the April 26th board meeting where much talk was given about how critical race theory is a pedagogical tool in a lens in a literary framework perhaps reading about the emails that Brenda said the previous fall or the 3 500 she tried to pay Ubuntu to facilitate social justice training okay again at the May 24th curriculum meeting the ace

014committee proposed a Listening Library where books very similar to the ones that Brenda is trying to bring into the school could be backed or into the classroom outside of the curriculum why is this allowed again this is happening okay so everything I've said and everything everyone else has said is extremely well documented everyone's read it everyone's seen it there's no gray area or differing perspectives here these are the facts like to close the snippet from one more of the books that Brenda O'Brien wants teachers to incorporate into the classroom this is a book called pedagogy of insurrection you heard me it's by a well-known uh Marxist scholar named Peter McClure on page 62 he says I want to underscore the structural violence of capitalist inequality and the necessity of creating a socialist alternative and if

015we arrive at a socialist alternative it will be the result of class struggle now I was mocked hardly two months ago when I highlighted the Marxist roots of this movement yeah yeah here it is okay so there are exactly three logical ways to respond to all these facts that everyone's been talking about one you could be perfectly okay with it two you could not understand them which I I doubt no one's everyone here is reasonably intelligent I think or three you can make it stop we the parents are imploring you to please make it stop thank you Monica Monica Curtis hi I first want to thank Brenda O'Brien for all the work she's done in the Germantown School District I worked under Brenda's leadership for 15 years and she was phenomenal at her job um

016so thank you Brenda for all that you do for this District I would also urge the board to do everything in your power to find correct sources everything that has been said tonight is incorrect I have a master's degree in education I have a degree in English and a none of what I've said is correct information it is not what critical race theory is I have three questions I'd like you guys to think about tonight that I hope you really really think about and discuss first question is this why no I was a teacher in this district for 15 years I started teaching here and the critical race Theory formerly known as the African-American theory was taught in conjunction with all of the critical lens series it has been taught in this district for 15

017years I taught most of your children this Theory I'm just blown away that now this is coming up um and so I really challenge you to think about why not why is this such a big deal now this isn't something taught in isolation to promote racism this is a lens and it's a point of view to help kids think and to learn I also was department chair for 12 years every year I was required to write Curriculum maps for all of our course programs and we talked about these Series in every single course so for us the band one is going to make all these courses seem off from what we are supposed to be doing which is teaching kids how to think we're not teaching them the way we think we're teaching them just

018to think and they can formulate their own opinions for 15 years I have taught 300 kids a year in this District um not once was there an issue not once did a kid come forward and say that we had I had been racist I had made them to feel bad not once do the math on how many children that is that have been exposed to this what's changed is my second question four years ago I co-authored the class critical thinking back then you all were here said this is a great course you said we love that you're teaching our kids to think we love that you're bringing our kids forward not one of you challenged me when I introduced the critical theories and that was all of them critical race theory was in there at

019that point and you never brought anything up to do with that I would like to tell you and I wish I could invite all of you into my classroom the most beautiful discussions I've ever had in my classrooms had to do with critical theories not critical race critical theories I would sit back and I would watch these kids discuss they would challenge each other there was never an agreed upon or a dominant opinion it was a discussion it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen watching these kids formulate their ideas and opinions and that's what we should be doing in Germantown last I want you to think about what's our Legacy um I think that we are at this Crossroads here are we going to leave the legacy of the people who caved or

020are we going to actually move forward and help our kids to develop critical thinking today a bunch of old students reached out to me and they said this Kitty why is this happening that was one of our favorite units and we learned how to think about other people why would they do this and I couldn't answer because I couldn't understand why we wouldn't teach our kids how to think I have a son with autism in this district and the reason I share this is because there's a critical disability Theory I'm not sure if you know about it basically it says let's look at things from the point of view of someone with disabilities if you were to ban that I'd be devastated it would mean my son's opinion or experience doesn't matter it would mean

021all the times he gets looked at and mocked and made fun of him public didn't matter that's what you're doing to our kids of color so I challenge you to make the legacy of Germantown one where we give all kids a voice and a place in the school thank you Monica I'm Jackie it's Jamie Nielsen hi I'm Monica Curtis I'm a parent in the community I live in Germantown the freighter and the Medical College of Wisconsin Health Network Embraces our roles as an employer Community member and corporate citizen we value and celebrate the wealth of diversity reflected in our patients their families our Workforce and the communities we serve we are committed to being an inclusive and culturally competent organization that provides exceptional care to everyone this commitment is demonstrated through our nationally recognized diversity

022Council which is led by our CEO and CEO to provide a broad oversight on all of our diversity initiatives within our health network diversity and inclusion leverages the individual uniqueness among culture people cultures and systems that collectively Empower us to drive Innovation and deliver culturally competent care we fulfill our commitment to to uh diversity their efforts that impact our Workforce Marketplace and the community we also pledge to take action to eliminate Health Care disparities Health Equity committed to eliminating Health Care disparities and addressing social determinants of Health like education employment and food insecurity the freighter and the NCW Health Network provides culturally and linguistically competent Health Care to all individuals regardless of race ethnicity language preference gender gender identity sexual orientation and any other dimension of diversity Health Equity is fundamental to the organization to

023the organization's Mission and simply the right thing to do growth we will support our growth strategy by Inc by increasing awareness building relationships and meeting the unique Healthcare needs of Emerging Markets including African-American black Asian Hispanic latinx the lgbtq plus Community veterans and people with disabilities our commitment to help end racism and Health Care racism continues to be a threat to in our community as a healthcare organization we are committing to helping end racism and racial racial disparities in health care by examining our own biases evaluating our policies to ensure they meet the needs of everyone we serve leading change in our community and more Equity isn't a phase it's present and essential in many of the next steps we take for our children thank you Jamie and our deck we have Jessica Chapman [Music]

024my name is Jamie Nielsen and I'm speaking um as a parent in the community um and I'm going to read the children's Wisconsin Equity statement we know how many lives we impact on daily basis we take our responsibility to uphold values and standards relating to inclusion diversity and Equity seriously we believe these principles are essential to our division that the kids of Wisconsin will be the healthiest in the nation that's why we are working together every day to ensure that we are an organization that is listening learning and driving positive change children's office of inclusion diversity and equity empowers and supports our Workforce the families we serve and our community to advance our mission of care advocacy research and education commitment to inclusion and Health Equity for the children and families we serve increase the

025diversity of Workforce and Leadership with a special focus on underrepresented populations enhance our culture of respect equity and inclusion for all aspects of diversity provide leadership in the community on topics of diversity inclusion and Health Equity [Music] this includes racism within the workplace within that a child and family experience or in any of our peer settings and I just want to know if you don't want your children exposed to CRT Equity diversity inclusion um yeah you want them to thrive in the world um almost anywhere that they choose to go for higher education or a place of employment they will be encountering it and I have yet to meet a white person who feels shame for being white because they learn the truth thank you [Applause] good evening my name is Jessica Chapin I have

026two kids in the Germantown School District and I'm still not totally clear what we would be banning our teachers to teach we can get bogged down by politics but I'm curious about the practicals there are wide differences it sounds like an art an understanding of CRT so what would we be exactly Banning our teachers to teach what would they be allowed to incorporate that all white people are oppressors and all people of color are oppressed I trust none of our teachers are would be saying that um that only people of color experience discrimination and all white people have it easy you know I trust their teachers wouldn't be saying that um that white people should be mired and guilt that there is a history of racism in this country and that there is value in

027considering the effects this may have on the inequalities today I sure hope we're not Banning that when we look at the current racial disparities in this country can we really say that the history of racism played no part and that understanding this may help us move forward together it's absurd we can't talk about this very real and relevant history in our schools I work at Advocate Aurora and while I'm not here representing that organization um I'm proud of the work that Advocate Aurora has done to make real change across the organization and the people that we serve um our organization put out a 2020 diversity equity and inclusion impact reports and in it our president and CEO of states that we focused on and we'll continue to focus on taking tangible action to affect Real

028Change by prioritizing Health Equity to ensure all people have that opportunity to live well working in our communities to eliminate race-based barriers to Health Care Employments and he goes on to say that we recognize the need to evolve and grow as our world also continues to change so leading companies in our community see what's happening they have created a culture and are creating a culture around dismantling racism our students need to be able to think intelligently about issues of race and racism we can't limit what they're being taught only a narrow view a view with harmful results that the rest of the country is waking up to if not already aware I was recently talking with a family member who I haven't seen for a while and I mentioned my son is going to be

029going to Germantown High School in a few years and she said totally unprompted Germantown there's some racist kids up there she used to play basketball against us and we have a reputation and we need to change that thanks foreign t y good evening my name is Mark Philla and I'm a Germantown resident I have two high school age Sons I would like to share some information on the diversity and Equity that one of the largest employers in Milwaukee Rockwell Automation has on their website I am not an employee nor am I representing Rockwell I just found this interesting at Rockville automation we care for and stand with black indigenous and all people of color we condemn racism and discrimination of any kind because they have no place in our communities change begins with each of

030us and it starts with listening and learning in these times some might find it difficult to know the right thing to do or say to be a strong Advocate and Ally one of the key differentiators in our culture where we encourage courageous conversations on inclusion and diversity is in the workplace the goal is to create stronger workplace Partnerships by building understanding of issues that can get in the way of inclusive work environment these are my words now on a personal note I believe we do our community and our students a disservice by publicly advertising herself as a place that does not share these values families will not want to move here or we'll move away and our graduates will not have the tools to operate within a world and corporate culture that is finally starting

031to embrace diversity instead of running from it many recent ghs grants have indicated that this District did not equip them with the tools and language needed to navigate the more diverse communities they experienced in college and their careers and in CRT will only exasperate that problem I've attended to watch the last several school board meetings I have yet to hear a coach in argument against critical race Theory those speaking against it seemed to think that if they repeat words like Marxist socialists and communists often enough they can ignore the purpose of CRT or worse they believe that we are somehow are doing our students of color a favor by refusing to acknowledge the reasons for the struggle people who look like them have endured some Germantown residents recently received a solicitation to sign a petition

032against CRT setting aside for a moment the fact that the word Germantown was misspelled the bullet points on a petition have nothing to do with CRT they were only meant to misinform and frighten I believe opponents of CRT are being played they are being played by people who need their votes they're being played by people who need their money they are scared of a boogeyman that does not exist the movement against CRT is a solution in need of a problem and accomplishes nothing do not vote thank you I'm back is coral Klein hello I'm Kim Grant I'm a parent of the Germantown High School senior okay um at we are committed to building more than just a society especially for our groups facing systemic barriers including our black latino indigenous colleague customers and communities bmo's

033zero barriers to inclusion 2025 is a multi-year strategy focused on providing access to Opportunities and enabling growth both inside and outside our doors it is all part of our purpose-driven commitment to boldly grow the good in business and life one with zero barriers of inclusion when it comes to our colleagues we will ensure that an equitable employee experience for all supporting inclusion and improving access to development and career advancement for colleagues facing systemic barriers when it comes to our customers we are Financial inclusion for diverse customers through inclusive banking products servicing and resources and we're meeting our customers need by addressing their unique expectations and experiences when it comes to our communities we will be leaders in increasing inclusion in our communities building strong relationships to Foster racial Justice and Truth and Reconciliation and promoting

034inclusive local and economic opportunities now these are my words this is not about CRT but I personally demand that American history be taught correctly and with the brutal honesty that this country was built on I demand that African-American history will be added as its own course Native American history added as its own course and African-American poetry to be taught so everybody will understand Why the Caged Bird Sings I will also want to understand that even with all of this division in the words of Maya Angelou leaving behind the Knights of our Terrors and fears I Rise into the Daybreak that wondrously clears I Rise bringing the gifts of my ancestors gave I Rise and the dream and the hope of all of the slaves me my son and everybody in this room we still can

035rise foreign coral and on Deck we have Dana obenauer good evening my name is coral Klein I'm the parent of three children who attend the district I'm here tonight to stress the importance of diversity equity and inclusion within the Germantown School District our community is years behind in the need to embrace Equity work tonight I'm presenting to you the Dei statement from FIS a global banking and investment firm FIS has a very contemporary and global view on inclusion and diversity We Believe diversity encompasses all the differences that make people unique it's these differences that inform the way each of us interpret and negotiate the world and how each of us thinks and approaches problems inclusion on the other hand is about creating the right environment to unlock the power of diversity when we think of

036inclusion at FIS we think of behaviors that signal that diversity is welcome and that no one is to be discounted or diminished because of their differences it's about fairness equal opportunity respect and Trust inclusion is embedded in fis's core values and in our views on corporate responsibility at FIS We Believe fostering and cultivating an inclusive and diverse Workforce is the responsibility of all our employees this commitment starts at the very top of our organization and with our most senior leaders who is the signatory of the CEO action for diversity and inclusion to our chief chief people officer Denise Williams who speaks out on the importance of diversity in our Industries our senior leaders are united in championing inclusion and diversity within our workplace our Marketplace and within our local communities under the guidance of our

037Global director of inclusion and diversity we achieve this through systematic and consistent consideration of equality and diversity within FIS planning including but not limited to our hiring promotion transfer engagement and retention efforts we regularly review our metrics on the demographics and experiences of our colleagues with respect to these efforts and we report them to our senior leadership in board on an ongoing basis we further use this information to inform refine and drive our inclusion and diversity programs and initiatives to attract develop and retain an inclusive and diverse Workforce I would like to test this board what will companies like FIS think when they see a Germantown graduate on a resume anything less than an embracement of diversity equity and inclusion makes our children less competitive upon graduation into a diverse world in addition our ability

038to retain and attract Educators and for us to have an inclusive and diversive Workforce here in the district will be absolutely non-existent if we do not take action now thank you Rebecca Perkins is on Deck hi good evening my name is Dana ovenauer I'm a mother and a coach in the community I live in Colby I have a middle schooler and a grade school daughter I'm not an employee at Molson course but I'm going to read their statement on Equity um I also encourage We Believe diversity equity and inclusion should be embedded deeply in our culture and how we operate from how we work together to how we grow as a company we know that when we support diversity from within our company we find new ways of working and bright ideas we aim to

039foster a diverse Workforce that reflects the rich diversity of our consumers customers and communities where we do business in 2020 we created 2021-2023 Dei roadmap for our North America business unit informed by an assessment of our existing culture programs and talent management process using this feedback we set a series of commitments to Target our efforts towards 2023 our Dei commitments include by 2023 increased people of color represent education in the U.S by 25 by 2023 achieved one billion of spend with diverse suppliers in North America and by 2023 improved representation of women on an enterprise-wide level they also have a safe spaces initiative and as we strive to create a brighter future for our employees and the people in the communities dedicated to listening reflecting and taking action to be part of the meaningful change

040with our focus on creating a culture where everyone feels appreciated respected and valued we have rolled out our safe spacious initiative is a place where everyone feels confident they will not be exposed to discrimination or harassment this initiative is one of many steps and courses for our culture um I guess I grew up in the community smaller than Germantown and I was 40 years old when I learned about the Tulsa Race Massacre and as an adult and when we moved and became citizens and taxpayers Community I wanted something better for my kids I want them to learn something that was inclusive for everybody until it happens you know no I guess more than I did great enough thank you [Applause] thank you hello thank you sorry my name is Dr Perkins I'm a parent to

041two students here at Germantown and I'm here's an advocate for Equity work that so desperately needs your attention in this district and it's regarded I'd like to share the experience of our pet University as they see some parallels here grounded in the Catholic Mission Marquette University's vision is to create a diverse and vibrant Campus Community in which all enjoy mutual respect however there have been significant challenges along the way to achieving that vision advice since the release towards becoming a more inclusive campus Germantown School District are at a critical Crossroads a moment environment he goes on to say in his 2018 speech educating people for World citizenship involves recognizing diversity as a constitutive dimension of a full human life this means experiencing cultural diversity as an opportunity for the enrichment of human beings we want

042to educate human beings who are able to feel that they are members of humanity because they have become critically aware of their own culture in culturation who are capable of joyfully recognizing the culture of other human beings multiculturalism and relating to others becoming enhanced by the variety of which their own culture is of heart interculturality interpreted in this way education can provide the impetus for social justice fraternity and peace goes on to say that diversity that researchers have found that learning is strengthened by diverse environments diversity is an asset to the learning environment it expands our world view helps us become more receptive and empathetic to others drives Innovation helps us to become more effective to problem solvers and ultimately prepares us to become better servant leaders in the community students and I urge you

043as a word to listen to those kids who are telling you that they feel marginalized here in general it's time that we start putting Equity work on the Forefront because you are who all have Equity um policies this isn't about an image it's about doing what's best on behalf of our students and I urge you to do that tonight thank you [Applause] hello my name is Melissa Garvis and I'm a parent of two elementary students in the community education they say we believe in equality and social justice and our family of organizations are united in our stance of being an anti-racist organization one that stands for equality and social justice and against violence hate and supremacy of any kind this amendment is just words we say it's reflected in the actions we take we are

044committed to championing diversity and inclusion we do this by ensuring we have diverse representation at every level of our organization cultivating leaders who are committed to creating a sense of Engagement and belonging and embedding our values into programs and policies that assures our culture and our community Embrace equality for all regardless of sexual orientation gender identity or gender expression not only does the organization support the LGBT community it provides health care benefits to same-sex like partners of employees medical coverage for gender reassignment surgery and the benefits for adoption by same-sex partners we believe in empowering women and the advancement of gender diversity Network which stands for empowerment diversity growth and Excellence supports the enhanced career experience and advancement of women in the workplace it's one of our most vibrant internal programs promoting professional development and

045diversity with 23 chapters globally I'm curious propaganda fuel grants of Marxism and communism demanding these policies be reversed I wonder why not perhaps it's probably waving your flag of willful ignorance at work if you perceive a family education how are we preparing students they're expecting cultural competency from every single one of our graduates anything less than an enthusiastic embracement of diversity Equity inclusion make our graduates less competitive and less prepared okay is on Deck my name is [Music] also attended all of the board meetings since April and out of all of the respects of the board we've chosen not to speak on CRT or flood public comments as far as the cameras are concerned the school board will make history one way or another many of you recognize the diversity equity and inclusion statements that

046we read earlier tonight the people in this room employed by those companies may have even signed something saying that something with their employers saying that they've agreed to partner in those commitments as a condition of their employment I'm curious are you also fighting with your employees I wonder why not the points made tonight by so many are simple diversity equity and inclusion are not policies that a major area employers and universities believe our policies that they believe in continue to grow in and invest in less valuable you may decide tonight to ban to vote CRT before you vote I'll remind you of a few things this board which included several of you voted for the curriculum that CRT lies within many years ago there has never been a single complaint about that content there still

047isn't complaints about the content just complaining from parents tonight why hasn't that information been um that you're using to Define CRT been shared publicly and why are the partisan policies of some board members more important than the needs of our students you are violating our civil rights agenda tonight we are all well informed that they cannot be voted on we won't shut up we won't yell at the board and we won't throw a tantrum as we have seen happen in this room several times over the past few months instead if you advance the RC tonight we will hold you accountable for violating our civil rights thank you [Applause] deck I'm here before you once again because critical race theory is online once again I won't stand here and re-explain what critical race theory is I've

048been there and I've done that at this point whatever you don't know or refuse to acknowledge is on you ignorance is bliss and you can't see what you choose to close your eyes to watching these board meetings is both comedic and unhauling the bias misinformation and microaggressions how many people have stood up here and openly acknowledged that they're self-educated on this subject within the last few weeks credentials right now the threat against this community is it Marxism it's ourselves but no matter how bad it gets and no matter what people say no matter what political agendas people push it's 2021. you can try and ban critical race Theory but you'll never ban the truth whether you vote in the summer or in a year from now when we graduate there will always be students who

049stand up for what they believe in look around you what side of the student sitting on [Applause] empathy progression and the hope to be better will Blossom with or without your support students have time and time again shown that show not to be true it's not a matter of if but when and for the sake of our community schools and students don't block our learning because they are scared no not to say names I'm not saying names but somebody um sent an email around talking about how they plan on Banning CRT tonight like regardless of anything and last time when I spoke he was eating M M's and drinking so just to be perfectly clear critical race theory is not an attack on white people we exist in a society that is built on inherently

050racist ideas and institutions it's not calling you racist it's just talking about America's past are you going to deny that America has a racist past because that's a whole other problem acknowledging those roots and learning from them isn't an attack on you it's an attack on racism don't like your misunderstandings and discomfort interfere with our education we are responsible for the past but we are accountable for the future [Applause] [Music] thank you Gail Trap Is On Deck thank you at what point did Germantown School District 's Focus become equity Equity is a critical race Theory term according to Christopher ruffle director of the initiative of critical race Theory at the Manhattan Institute there are a series of terms deployed by its supporters to describe critical race Theory including Equity social justice diversity and inclusion and

051culturally responsive teaching critical race theorists masters of language construction realized that Neil Marxist would be a hard sub critical critical race theory is an ideology started in Academia in the 70s that says racism exists everywhere and in every person and system and the job of the critical theorist is to assess how not if racism occurred in any circumstance racism is always assumed to have occurred our director of teaching and learning Brenda O'Brien is the chair of the ace committee advocacy subcommittee based on Christopher ruffle's explanation both the superintendent and the director of teaching and learning knowingly or not are supporters of critical race Theory but they deny that it's being implemented in our school further in the draft in a draft admission statement for the AIDS committee one of the points under the equity commitment

052heading is we will Implement culturally responsive teaching and Leadership practices that reflect contributions and perspectives of all people so what is critically or culturally responsive teaching and learning I went to the DPI website for those of you who don't know DPI is the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction hoping to find that culturally responsive teaching embraced and celebrating culture and promoted Unity but when I looked up culturally responsive teaching and microaggressions now to understand microaggressions you must first understand unearned privilege and power and marginalization it explains it's privilege based on some aspect of your identity that you are born with the next slide titled privilege context had a link to a TED Talk presented by Peggy McIntosh where she explained that as a white woman she had white privilege and power over her color co-workers and

053how a white man simply based on the color of their skin and their sex have power and privilege over all women time thank you to summarize is this what we want to teach our kids do we want them taught that just because of the color of their skin and their sex that they are oppressive or oppressed we need these kids to feel like they can do anything they want in life thank you I'm definitely cuts funding educational programs that promote critical race Theory equity in the 1619 project and I say absolutely no to all that Federal funding we all know that critical race theory is definitely a Marxist ideology it causes Division and it causes segregation but I'm also very suspicious about Equity social justice or whatever catchphrase that's being used in the curriculum I

054also see very red flags schools in Wisconsin are also implementing um Equity because they look at the equal outcome curriculum and canceling AP classes for our kids so what exactly does Equity look like in a curriculum and what is the outcome that you're looking for because Equity is not equality Equity also focuses on being agenda neutral so does that mean that we're going to have Boys in our girls and in their bathrooms in the future because it's happening are we going to start teaching our first graders about sexual education and how to please themselves because they are in Illinois so don't say that it doesn't happen teachers that do these kind of things they should be locked up I personally consider that a pedophile if somebody's going to teach a first grader that type of

055a curriculum underneath of the disguise that it's equity so I asked parents and grandparents what are you willing to do to protect your children because CRT equity and the 1619 project are all a very political movement and they are all joined at the hip these are identity politics that take a make a mockery of equality with special privilege on the basis of racial and sexual identity the 1619 project tells students that America was fought had fought the Revolutionary War to pervert preserve slavery it states that the Atlantic slave trade was the dominant factor in the founding of America instead of ideals such as individual liberty and the natural rights historians and political scientists have called been calling it a bid to rewrite the U.S history our government stated that a man called Ibraham Kennedy was

056an example that we should be looking at that this is the man that says discrimination now discrimination tomorrow and discrimination forever that's who we're supposed to base it on that's how they want to use our tax dollars and they don't even mention Martin Luther King or Frederick Douglass let's look at teaching U.S history again Declaration of Independence the Constitution Federalist Papers Bill of Rights the first Lincoln Douglas debate would be a great one what about Justice Clarence Thomas parents are waking up to what teachers and staff are pushing on the kids and my suggestion to the teachers that want to teach Marxist ideology need to go visit Venezuela or Cuba and see how well Marxism is working there foreign she's an African-American female professor of political science lab Vanderbilt and it's titled what I can

057teach you about racism let me tell you how my story ends I become a tenured award-winning professor of political science at an ivy league university and that one of them at one of the leading universities in the South now let me tell you how my story begins I grew up in rural Virginia literally dirt poor I drop out of school in the eighth grade and have three children by the time I'm 20. I consider myself to be a reasonably modest person that even I have to admit that's quite a journey how did I do it I worked hard not crazy 24 7 hard just hard I made good decisions not brilliant three-dimensional chess decisions just good ones and then people along the way who helped me and sincerely wanted to see me succeed not because

058they had something to gain but because they were decent people but mostly I think I was blessed in one crucial way I was born in America a true land of opportunity for anyone of color or background in this country where you start your life does not determine where you end up that works in both directions you can start out with every advantage and waste them all or you can start out with nothing and become a success it depends on you your attitude is more important than your race gender or social class in determining what you will accomplish in life when I hear talk about systemic racism I don't know whether to laugh or cry I want to laugh because it's such nonsense I want to cry because I know it's pushing Untold numbers of young

059blacks into a dead end of a self-pity and despair instead of seizing the amazing opportunities America offers them they seize an excuse to explain why they're not succeeding I was born into a world where systemic racism was real no fooling outright bigotry back of the bus reel but here's what you need to know yes that racism shapes the black experience but even then it did not Define it change was in the air called systemic reform I was fortunate in another way I was spared the life-sapp being negative messages about America that are crippling a generation of young people these ideas are poison White Privilege whiteness is a form of property unconscious racism reparations microaggressions police have it out for blacks that the United States was created to protect and promote slavery these are the ideas

060and people are told they must accept and then they're told to reject the ideas that can save them the antidote the success principles that enabled me and millions of other Americans to escape lives of poverty these principles are complicated work hard work from your mistakes take personal responsibilities for your actions when I made the decisions to get my high school equivalency attend a community college and then earn four additional college and university degrees I believed that my education would open doors and it did it was only one exposed to academic theories of Oppression in graduate school I was informed because it was Black Horn female I could never do what I had already accomplished thank God it was too late for these toxic messages to stop me don't let them stop our funeral future Generations

061vote to be on CRT and discriminatory teaching [Music] foreign Wisconsin I am a seven year Germantown resident this is indeed my first school board meeting because of many reasons one because I recently only sent my children to the Germantown School District because of the pandemic two because just like many of you I didn't want to expose my children unnecessarily to a school system where people did not value their story three because I've previously felt the diversity in Germantown was a lost cause so it's not the cameras that has brought me here it's actually the elephant in the Germantown School District that brought me here how many of you know now let it marinate because you don't critical race Theory examine social and cultural and legal issues as they relate to racism understanding cultural and legal

062issues related to race racism is a critical element of understanding American history if you are outraged by the possible teaching of critical race Theory then you should be garnered dead at the thought of teaching American history whose story isn't being told the student is affected by the cultural and legal issues related to race the students who are being fed the washed version of American History if politics don't belong to the schools remove history of any sort and then focus on what I heard referred to tonight as the critical subjects math reading and writing make the students of Germantown really unprepared for the diverse World ahead of them the Germantown school district has long voted critical race Theory down and diversity without saying one word on the 3rd January of each month a Federal holiday where

063post offices and banks are closed Dr Martin Luther King Jr day you have school and on that following two Friday you have a teacher in service where there is no school so you see Germantown school board and community members critical race Theory isn't the only issue being it's the only issue being discussed here but it is definitely not the first thing that has been done to students of color to let them know that their truth doesn't matter of course Naomi top you're on Deck good evening my name is Lisa fella I am reading this on behalf of my son who was at work earlier so although I am no longer a student of the Germantown school district and now attend the University School of Milwaukee my nine years attending both MacArthur Elementary School and Kennedy

064Middle School sufficed in opening me to the cruelty that has been displayed by students in the Halls from the n-word being used without thought to other offensive phrases and off Mark comments and gestures used to describe or talk about people of color I didn't quite understand how horrible these conditions were until I transferred originally I was looking for a more challenging Curriculum by felt Germantown could not offer but after attending USM for two years now I see beyond that and notice how hateful the community was I feel that USM has done a great job creating diversity as well as an understanding of these problems among its white population within the school and that starts with education USM is far from perfect but they are devoted to educating their students on these topics and moving forward

065and not backward like Germantown just because you would like to hide these things doesn't mean they didn't happen and still don't happen today being able to ignore these issues is a privilege but not everyone is lucky enough to be able to do so thank you Chad Matson you're on Deck my name is Naomi Toth and I am a jerk I'm going to be a junior at Germantown High School I've grown up in Germantown but feel as if Germantown hasn't grown up with me as the world around us evolves Germantown has been closed off to any changes outside the box being a student of color in the Germantown School District can be frightening in your eyes I may be pure full white and sadly that is what saves me from racial discrimination ethnically I am proudly

066halfway and half Asian Pacific Islander and a typical day of school it's common to hear racial slurs racial stereotype based Commons and witness situations that would make many people uncomfortable I've heard fellow students say go back to where you came from so freely even though many students of color in our district were born in the United States there have been multiple instances where students have not come to school and in fear of their safety my classmates should not come home crying or have their education jeopardized because there is no accountability for those cruel actions for this reason it is crucial to acknowledge history the way it occurred it would be easy to say we have a perfect society and past but that is dangerous as history repeats itself and no way it is created to

067erase theories State white people are bad nor does it blame the past on every white person critical race Theory simply teaches the truth so we can better understand history and how it affects individual behavior and how it affects the way we live today why shouldn't my education include how to think critically about Reading Writing math in all aspects of History we can change our education by opening it up to new deeper Concepts so that everyone has a chance to learn about their history critical race Theory allows us to become more culturally sensitive and in time a more welcoming safe environment members of the Germantown School Board need to understand your vote to keep CRT in the curriculum and have such a positive and lasting impact for a future Germantown students it is time to move

068forward vote no to Banning CRT thank you thank you Gene Mary you're on Deck hello my name is Chad Matson um I have two kids in the district I've been here for almost 10 years um I want to start off with the people who claim to be colorblind I am a white man I do have white children I don't want them to be taught to hate themselves and that's not what CRT does and what I've seen here is a lot of inflation between CRT and Dei and it seems more more than likely that the people who are against CRT actually that's scary diversity equity and inclusion which we've heard from a number of speakers is so very important in our culture in our world where we work Dei is in the Forefront of every single

069major corporation in this country if we are not providing those tools to our students our students will fail now I want to just take a second to talk about CRT because that's what's on the agenda CRT is a single lens of multiple lenses and what I'm hearing behind you are the greatest hits of all the far-right uh funded groups like The McIver Institute like the Heritage Foundation uh probably a little Tucker Carlson sprinkled in this is frustrating these are lies this is not what CRT is but again most of these people aren't even talking about CRT they're talking about Dei now I remember I spoke at a previous board meeting where the people who are quiet and told us we shouldn't yell out we only know that they told me it is their decision what

070their children learn what their children do in school why is it your right to tell me what my children get to learn in school especially since CRTs lean in two courses Advanced courses at that so it's definitively a choice to put your children in those classes I'm going to finish up here by saying that one board member has outright in writing stated that progressives hate America I want you to look out here there's a lot of people here who would call themselves Progressive this community is changing we don't hate America we believe it can be better none of us hate America we have a board member here tonight who said this is already predetermined if that's the case you're violating your own we have a board member here who outright claims in right his political

071affiliation that again is in violation of what you're supposed to do for all of the students in this District please please do what's best for all the students in this District thank you [Applause] methodology that teaches children to appreciate differences rather than CRT method of labeling categorizing categorizing and denigrating as an example I had the chance to go to a little award presentation for our Eastern European grandson the sixth grade teacher clearly Asian had decorated her desk area with Japanese pictures and artifacts I looked around the room and saw a few children of different ethnic backgrounds after getting his award she asked England to talk about his background he told the class about his family living in Germany visiting his mother's parents in Bulgaria and their moved to the United States then the teacher asked

072if anyone had questions shut up all over the room they wanted to hear him speak German and Bulgarian and to see their names written using the Cyrillic alphabet the teacher allowed the enthusiasm to run up to the bill for lunch this is the methodology for teaching children about differences appreciation not CRT judgment we live in a global society and how will our children deal with differences among people in the future if the approach they are learning now is based on judging categorizing and demeaning someday many of them will find themselves in other countries facing every conceivable mixture of people and backgrounds and how will they find the things to even cope let alone to engage or appreciate or enjoy my mother always said it would be a doll world if we were all alike and

073that perspective has given me the ability to travel the world enjoy and learn from an amazing people their Customs their cultures their politics their religions without any preconceived notions of superiority or inferiority today's children deserve the opportunity to have that same view of the world and its people don't employ a CRT classroom methodology that teaches them to judge dismiss or even hate others based on predefined differences thank you Diane Peterson and I'm back we have Jordan Healy Diane Peterson Richfield this seems to be a time of waiting waiting for your decision tonight in Wisconsin earlier have you reached those research those authors Drew fire from experts Educators policy makers and parents the Arkansas edition of Education announced back in October 2019. founders her rights your decision on CRT is critical as it will tell all

074of us your bias and political position no Republicans would support this anti-American ideology wisconsinpolitics.com was formed I don't know what your knowledge was the time Ace needs to be disbanded as soon as possible personally labeled as a liberal Democrat in Wisconsin if Wisconsin's the bill it will show he doesn't care about our children away from those 13 positions lastly let me make one um parents had become teachers at home and they learned about CRT and other things are being taught Nationwide parents are raged and fighting back without covet so much of this would not have been transparent and are you aware that one is recalling for of their school board members thank you [Applause] good evening my name is Jordan Ely and I'm a teacher here at the high school and I'm also a parent

075I'm here tonight um pretty much just to remind us that this is a school where children are encouraged to learn things and it doesn't count as learning if we're just reinforcing ideas that they already know we've heard from both sides tonight about critical race Theory and both sides should have an opportunity to have their information presented in our schools but to ban critical race Theory this allows us that opportunity and how can we call ourselves to school if we deny our students an opportunity to do the very thing we exist to provide in terms of teaching critical race Theory I think there are some things that need to be cleared up but generally it's this idea of offering students different perspectives I can learn I'm sorry I can read Harry Potter without becoming a wizard

076I can learn about serial killers without becoming one and I can learn about Judaism and Islam without adopting a new religion I learn about all sides and all different things in a classroom without adopting any of their policies or ideologies that everyone is so terrified about and speaking of are you sure you in terms of those who are arguing about indoctrination that if I have the kind of power to indoctrinate our students none of them would ever misuse an apostrophe and they would all spell Germantown correctly on their Flyers foreign of your career you have to treat everybody with respect and dignity no matter where you are no matter where they come from and you have to acknowledge and tell people you know give them the respect that they have a different story and they

077have a different background so let me tell you this I do have a small son and he uh when he was about four years old um I took him to the store to pick out a baby doll and there was a white baby and there was a black baby he's like I mean obviously my skin color is like he picked the black baby and I said okay I I took him I paid for the baby doll and he treats it like it's just us you know it's his baby he changes his diaper he puts his clothes on and he treats compassion and that showed me such a key lesson anybody talks about small kids kindergarten first grade their minds are so open they can't they don't have the ability yet to think for themselves because

078they're just developing their brains he doesn't see color he doesn't see you race he treats the baby with compassion because it's another person he doesn't see that it's different from him it should be treated differently than this baby he took care of that baby and fed the baby just like it it was a white baby it didn't matter so in order to get rid of the racism and all of this you know derogatory terms in school you know I've been in high school and yes I've heard those terms too and it's awful but the critical race theory if you really look into the basis of it it's pretty awful so are we talking about critical race Theory or are we talking about diversity and inclusion because it seems like there's two different sides here tonight

079and they're talking about two different things I think we need to look at what's critical race Theory what's the background and what did they come up with you know in Europe 50 years ago or when they came up with critical race Theory let's talk about critical race Theory diversity inclusion yes everywhere thank you thank you [Applause] I'm Jack is Jeannie Hetzel good evening Brad Sheriff Germantown uh parent in the district um just before I started I wanted to make a comment about one of the things you heard earlier I think it's an example of the easiest gaslighting that you're getting from one of the groups um [Music] and what it means to be a good friend in the um first grade um but when I saw the email from one of the board members to

080another Community member last night it troubled me um tomorrow um is exceptionally close-minded and it is extremely concept what comes next leaders are showing us what comes next there's a bill to ban CRT in the school system it depends among other things the teaching of anything that causes an individual to quote feel discomfortable guilt anguish or any other form of psychological distress because of the individual's race or sex to the rest of us [Applause] we need to be better than falling victim to Manufactured outrage on this issue thank you [Applause] um frequently dividing us National company we don't have a mission statements my employers we don't need to take time away from what we're doing to academics all these things at all the possible computers get worse I'm disappointed in all of this because across

081the board we all have our political views they are different and that's fine when my children are coming home [Applause] um please [Applause] shut up so if you have if you have facts if you have a law upon the law if you have neither I guess just blackmail and cancel your opponents I hope you guys on the board see what's going on tonight on this board and then a threatening comments were made about this bullying that are threatening that's intimidation Brian for your comments at the beginning of this period that has no place thank you I am going to do this a little bit but in a proposed rule on April 19th the Bible administration's education department laid out plans to strongly encourage if not require federally funded American history and Civics education programs to

082focus on the consequences of slavery and the ongoing National Reckoning with systemic racism the program would incorporate anti-racist practices into teaching and learning there could be legal problems however the use of Highly charged and stylized code words like Equity systemic racism and anti-racism make clear that this is far more than a plan to teach American history's Flaws and All on the contrary the administration seeks to entrench a comprehensive almost ontological historical view often referred to as critical race Theory according to the Department's rulemaking notice Grant funded teachers must emphasize racial identities and create an identity safe learning environment teachers also must teach the 10 days of critical race theories systemic racism biases inequities and discriminatory policy and practice in American history teachers will also be required to emphasize Equity as a solution here's where the

083legal problems Begin by incorporating these ideas into a federally funded grant program the administration sends a clear message America is not a country that has struggled to overcome racism but one that itself remains deeply racist the term Equity as using the critical race theory is very different than the equality America was founded on and has admittedly struggled to achieve for decades school children have studied the Declaration of Independence the Gettysburg address and the Kings I Have a Dream speech these fundamental texts teach students that no matter where they come from or who their parents were every person has created equal and should never be judged by the color of the skin to be sure a variety of different theories and views of America can be taught in public schools but federal state laws protect individuals

084against racial discrimination meaning that students cannot be treated differently because of their race the student has been made to feel inferior and unequal based on the color of her skin she's probably been exposed to racially hostile environment that violates these guarantees of equal treatment moreover the Constitution along federal and state statutes protects freedom of conscious meaning that the public schools cannot force students to confirm certain points of view such as certificate serious ideas a white supremacy White Privilege or systemic racism the Constitutional speech meaning I am racist Public School teachers Discovery and potential liability the education thank you I do work in a profession where it is valued to work hard and I don't know that you guys are preparing your Workforce and children to understand the difference between equity and inequality it is a

085big difference Equity means everybody has the same outcome that is not how the world works and you are not preparing them for Equity means equal outcomes thank you [Applause] please let me know okay thank you very much okay I am very disturbed by what has been taking place within this community where I've lived for over 30 years the lack of knowledge when it comes to understanding the historical context of the people of color much was that of a more recent events I was a child during the Civil Rights Movement and remember them well my parents were very much like many of you on the board and in the audience I recently been having conversations with adult children of our friends they are very upset with racist comments being made by their parents they're angry with

086as they terminate the whitewashed history of this country they've received they were taught that the blacks that were enslaved were always pictured as happy and unappreciative of their positions human they recently learned that the Tulsa Race Massacre because of its 100th anniversary did you know there were around 100 other black communities that were devastated as one young adult put it she's now woke and cannot educate herself fast enough so that our own children are properly educated on what racism is done to hold down and suppress people of color and those that are biracial they are angry and feel they have been sold out by lack of actual history I have great respect for my friends of color that live in Milwaukee and their commitment to responsibility towards all in their Community I see none of

087that here in Germantown or any other predominantly white Community I'm part of their community and it breaks my heart I'm afraid to have them and visit me in mind in conclusion in reference to a comment made in response to an email I am not an impressor nor do my black friends see me that way they also don't see themselves as oppressed I am angry as are they the facts are being so horribly misrepresented beginning with the history of black enslavement in our country to the present day my friends of all Races are working hard in unity and Community to bring about conversations to help educate and better understand one another until those conversations take place there are always divisions whether or not you ban CRT I hope you are wise enough to see that we

088need factual and complete black history and infactual and complete White History to be taught together as part of our factual and complete American history thank you if we want our students to be able to function in what is increasingly a culturally diverse country and world this is an absolute necessity anything less is a disservice to their education thank you all for speaking tonight just for the record we went on for an hour and a half um with public comments um we do appreciate the public comments we do not want to limit it we'd like the three-minute rule I think that helps things but I think hearing for an hour and a half I think we have a pretty good idea where the community is coming from so thank you all um on that note I

089would like to take a 10-minute Comfort break for the board if you're okay with that and we'll come back and reconvene in 10 minutes we will resume in one minute okay the time is 8 56 we are resuming the board meeting item four approval the minutes of June 7th session move forward [Music] opposed thousand [Music] the money cannot buy is people it can buy it can buy um except for for people um our first our first meeting um for our students any questions yes um Ben and um uh conversations now and um the one thing is um The Village to pay for a portion of uh of the SRO and that that proposal tonight and a lot of school districts and municipalities do share costs in um you know the one thing and we've stated

090this is that uh as a school district and myself we value the relationships and we know um that building a relationship is great for our students um just having a um [Music] you know we're hopeful that we can work something out thank you thank you um but thank you um I think this this uh I talk to people and I absolutely believe um you know come home up some more money a little bit more of that position I think everybody understands um thank you thank you [Music] yes tonight um earlier but I want to mentioned again as well there's more cases here that what we're trying to do with the community is taking an approach where for instance tonight we had the discussion topics so uh what we're trying to do with that specific Community

091is discuss allow some time not only before the community but also the board members tonight to digest to process to do whatever research questions Etc [Music] to think about things in be aware of that our relationship with Ingenuity or potential relationship with Ingenuity uh writing the potential female CTE course the leadership mindset the Uhl curriculum sixth grade science [Music] questions no thank you okay an unfinished business um I would like to begin with a proposal um [Music] and I'll tell you why I think there's a lot of heat in this Target on both sides I do believe there's a lot of agreement on what we want for our kids I believe that both sides are on the same page but we can't see each other's side right now what I would propose is that we

092have a forum a public forums as someone who's lived here for 25 years as well and talk about the things that are not [Music] to be able to do it [Music] the comments I think it's a good idea um but I think there's some reasonable items that we could do this evening short of waiting for the community Forum in the future yeah yeah I mean so obviously I've been thinking about this for a while um and I went back to some of our established documents in the district and you know our board goals um ready which was established several years ago has the belief that our students in their District I think you know and I I for me I got stuck on more of banning something um I believe properly defining it is for

093our staff I can see staff not wanting to touch a piece that's being banned um and you know I think I think we have to spend the time to Define what does this mean um diversity Equity inclusion you know does it start finding out what we mean when we say we're beginning something to me is really important because it can without that we're going to paralyze ourselves um I think to move forward um [Music] disagree with Define it in a lot of ways just working on one word thank you Brian and um her son uh we went public with that we the board supported that that was wrong so that's where we're at now but look at this look right now I welcome the conversation I welcome the dialogue we're learning I apologize thank you

094very much for sharing our state of my employer because I'm very proud of that I will stand by on what I do every day in the area of diversity and inclusion I support Equity equality means each individual or a group of people we're doing that today I learned a lot in terms of my learning on CRT when this whole thing started three months ago we were told that we were not teaching CRT in our schools so there's a lot of learning that we all need to do today um again I don't believe in racism I believe in the systemic racism look around us in our community in our region we've got the bridge Dei I think we all are we wanted to be more diverse look at everybody here we want it to be more

095inclusive our goal is to do that equity and we want equality right um that's what it's all about not what to think with that so I hope somebody else Katie Brian I really don't have any interesting we've got the community here now we've heard from both sides links in the last two or three months and I've read links from the site that support [Music] [Applause] in 1989. communism I work with people from Russia and other communist countries I worked with people from Neighbors of communist countries it's a bad system the reason why young fell is because Communism had failed Marxism a second so approximately two months ago I took my seat on this board and at the time [Music] and I mentioned during the meeting that it was my opinion that I wasn't convinced that

096that this is more that I am a part of has gone through all the different steps that we need to do to make the proper choice and I still believe that and I can tell you that [Music] discussion okay but I've also spent two months pregnant for this vote and when I saw it tonight honestly I didn't necessarily anticipate a public forum but if if that is one of those additional steps to make sure I'm okay with that but I'm also okay and I have um what policy will this lie in right where is a clear definition our expectations what are our expectations going to be um so I so we can come to an agreement that we understand there are things that we do not want but we also understand there are things that

097we want our students to know and and I'm just I don't know about the rest of you but I can imagine I care so much about the community so if we can do better I would love to do better discussion foreign calendar [Music] July I'm just curious [Music] those students could we remove that content from the other class sure but if it's an elective class if parents know that that content is in there then I don't necessarily see a problem with it um you know for me I'd like to see this result tonight um I can live with CRT being in those two classes as long as parents [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] the decisions anything anything so I would like to keep the community focused on education and what's not happening in the classroom but

098if the board decides if the board decides will be taught or we've talked about within our classrooms we need to talk about what's happening um you're back and foreign we don't have this understanding of what a band means it is also means inclusion so those are the things 10 years right because that's these courses so I I think defining what that means is really important in anywhere except for those two courses right now so okay I think um um I don't think that that's what CRT is what are they stated on uh 426 2021 is the Marxist Scholars they try to get Marxism communism socialism and so on into this country by hitting the upper class it didn't work because of their middle class was too big it was too strong it just failed but

099as I said the marxists Socialist communists against one another people of color against white people I have nothing against the people of color I'm not a racist I've been accused of a risk here I even have been called uh Joseph [Music] in high school myself and I've done a really good job with it so what I would like to do is go ahead and fold down the table now and go ahead and vote for move forward and when those in the audience transparent [Music] I told you yesterday what I was going to do today it doesn't mean I didn't listen to what was going on in this room today I just told you yesterday transparently look I'm not going to vote that's just the way it is because I don't approve USSR Venezuela North Korea

100Cuba and a few other places there's a hundred million humans dead do you want to bring that to you to the United States I don't want to bring it to your children the children of people of color and I don't want to bring it to anyone's children your children you know it really irritates me after kindness [Music] and increase about how bad communism and Marxism is Venezuela [Applause] so why would you want to hit white students against black students [Applause] that's what it is you in most cases yeah educate yourself the information has I didn't interrupt you when you were speaking and it's not my turn [Music] [Applause] okay please [Music] [Applause] come on please please please [Applause] good night [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] father foreign [Music] no no no

101no can we keep the doors open [Applause] staff [Applause] [Music] that are all white we have a motion in a second we move forward moving forward I don't know okay all those in favor no no okay any further discussion all right like to make emotion unless you want to bring it back but bring it back is about three weeks okay I move to constrain the instructions straight everybody it is theory two critical thinking and writing AP English Literature and composition and provide parental consent form acknowledging the introduction of this series or other critical theories within the course materials second discussion so I'd like to just clarify because it's a little wordy we're not going to teach critical race in the school district except for in the two classes that I just mentioned so will we

102still be meeting as a policy to actually Define that information so we can provide [Music] good to go before [Music] a definition for CRT mm-hmm this motion says could there be future discussion to Define other types of Education that might be happening maybe but for now thank you any further discussion um if if what we've been told is accurate that a CRT whatever that is defined as always I'm okay with that but my concern is what are you doing we need to talk about race we need to talk about systemic racism we need to talk about community and I'm concerned that outside of policy our teachers are going to be gunshot and I want them to talk about that I mean I've been 84 countries throughout the world they're all like us at the topology

103we need to get along and as you can see there's a gap here so my concern is less about security [Music] my concern is this motion is a board that we're committed to moving forward with the Dei whether that's with a this we really do and yeah foreign [Applause] but if those words I work for I work with all sorts of diverse people so one question eei why would I do that I don't have an issue with it is the teachers [Applause] oppressors [Music] I I hope diverse people at work regularly and when they show up in my office I don't say oh look there's a diverse it doesn't matter to me Theory uh two critical thinking writing 18 English literature composition and provide parental consent form of acknowledging the introduction of this Theory or

104other critical theories within the course materials does not include diversity equality and inclusion [Applause] things like that this solution does nothing about those things [Music] [Applause] my concern is [Applause] and I don't know if anybody's Really Gonna know what we're planning well I don't think anything anything [Music] regarding the but to your point that's not an education but that's also I think if I'm understanding this correctly any other questions can't ask about something that might be specifically related to the original years ago that's my point that's my concern moving forward on the table yeah opposed no that happened [Music] right okay good okay with that I think the additional emotions that we've been talking about Theory move forward yes thank you um one thing that I've noticed um which is amazing and impressive and um

105we have six different uh donations first one um foreign second discussion um but as always um [Music] at the best discussion yeah thank you um High School um okay any discussion [Applause] in action to improve supplemental contracts [Music] as part of the process second okay [Music] thank you I have a few additional summer school contracts um here approve the contracts as presented all right applications Saturday yes yes yes yes yes