001Good evening. I call this public hearing to order at 6 pm. This hearing has been scheduled by the board of education to receive public input regarding the district's HIV and bloodborne pathogens instruction curriculum. Under Michigan law, public schools are required to teach students about the modes of transmission and prevention of dangerous communicable diseases, including HIV and AIDS. Additionally, before adopting or revising curriculum related to HIV instruction, the board of education must hold at least two public hearings to allow for community input. Tonight's hearing is the first opportunity for board member for members of the public to review the proposed curriculum and provide comments to the board. We appreciate the community's participation in this important process. And I need to I think take attendance now. I forgot to do that. Morris >> here. >> Shoefelt >>
002here. >> Westfall >> here. >> Block >> here. >> Fields >> here. >> Morris here. And Mardski is excused. At this time, I will invite the assistant superintendent of curriculum, Mrs. Emily Graham, to provide an overview of the proposed HIV and bloodborne pathogens instruction curriculum and explain how it allies align with Michigan law and district educational goals. Miss Graham. >> Thank you very much, Miss Moore. Before adopting any revision in the materials or methods used in instruction under this section, including but not limited to revisions to provide for the teaching of HIV and bloodborne pathogens as required by state law. The board of a school district shall hold at least two public hearings on the proposed revisions. The hearing shall be held at least one week apart and public notice of the hearing shall be
003given in the manner required under section 1201 for board meetings. A public hearing held pursuant to this section may be held in conjunction with a public hearing held pursuant to section 1169. >> Thank you. Purpose of the public hearing, Miss Graham. >> Thank you again. The purpose of this hearing is to present the physical curriculum required by Michigan to teach HIV and bloodborne pathogens through Eaton County ISD entitled Michigan model curriculum for health. It's important to note that we are only presenting the required HIV materials and are not considering any additional maturation or sexed curriculum at this time. >> Thank you. The process for conducting the public hearing will be share the meeting agenda which you have we and is available online. We ask that all participants hold all questions until the formal presentation has
004been completed completed. Um I will then introduce speakers if you would wish to speak. There's a form you need to fill out. Give to uh Miss or or to Becky back there. And the speakers will be called in the order in which they gave their form to Becky. Um and be limited to about three minutes so that we can hear from everybody. Sex education advisory board info and process. >> Thank you again, Miss Moore. I will be giving you now a brief history of the CA the CAB which is the sex ed advisory board and the HIV curriculum for Taylor schools. Taylor school district had an active official sex ed advisory board or CAB in 2022 operating under a different district leadership. In 2024 the Taylor administration including myself worked to reconstruct the board's membership
005roster and identified the previously approved curriculum. At that time, the CB had been operating under an abstinence-based framework, and because it had been established under prior leadership, our team faced significant challenges in determining what had and had not been approved by the board. After an extended exchange of communications aimed at filling the required SEAB positions, including parent, student, and clergy representatives, we believed that we had enough participation to convene an official meeting. However, it quickly became clear that the Taylor community wanted to rebuild this group with fresh membership rather than just simply filling vacancies. They cared deeply about this committee. We immediately paused our recruitment efforts and the board of education and district administration developed a formal application and select selection process for the new CAB members. Since then, we have faced ongoing challenges in
006getting the official SEAB fully operational. In an effort to be inclusive and responsive to community interest, we allowed all participants that applied to participate. While well-intentioned, this has resulted in a large board membership that makes gathering the right team members difficult and has slowed the group's progress. Over the past several meetings, the co-chairs have been guiding members through the development of bylaws to establish an official governance document for the CF. This spring, we will be administering the MYFI survey to students, followed by a parent survey in the late spring. Both surveys are designed to gather community input on what families want to see included in the curriculum. The results will help the CAB make more informed recommendations as it moves forward. Now that you have that context, I'd like to share where we stand today
007on a completely separate matter, but related. The Michigan State Board of Education mandates that all public school districts provide annual instruction on HIV and AIDS and bloodborne pathogens at the fifth grade, middle school, and high school levels. This requirement is entirely separate from any curriculum that the CB may recommend regarding sexuality and maturation education. We are not talking about that today. Today's focus is solely on the state required HIV lessons. I have the curriculum materials with me. Becky is actually going to put them in the back of the room for your viewing and they will be available for review at this meeting and then each of the next two subsequent board meetings. This curriculum created in Michigan accordance with Michigan laws and it is the state approved curriculum for teaching this content. You may also
008arrange a private viewing by contacting your child's school directly. They will schedule a convenient time for you to come in if you're unable to stop and look at the binders here. Every school has a copy of what is required for that school. While this curriculum is statemandated, parents retain the right to opt their child out entirely from this. Any content in the curriculum that you prefer your child not receive can be excluded through a Taylor school district opt- out form. Taylor has also added a permanent opt out option so you can permanently opt out your children which will be honored and maintained throughout your child's entire enrollment in Taylor Schools. We will make sure that your children are not exposed to that curriculum. I'd like to close with this. Taylor Schools depends on parent and
009community involvement to move forward effectively. We genuinely welcome your suggestions and your feedback. I look forward to hearing from students and parents through those upcoming surveys, and I encourage anyone interested in shaping our district's direction to consider joining one of our committees, including the CAP. My name is Emily Graham. I'm the assistant superintendent and if you have any questions, I'd encourage you to reach out to one of us and we'd be happy to answer your questions. And that's all. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh did you I I know you've covered this, but the sex ed sex education advisory board recommendations. >> Um we do not have any official recommendations from the CB at this time. >> Thank you. Both curriculums will be available for viewing at the next three schoolboard meetings beginning at 5:30
010p.m. We will have feedback sheets available for people to provide feedback should they not be able to review the curriculum this evening. Curriculum can be viewed by making an appointment with your child's pre principal. Um now I need a little bit clarification. You said this meeting and two additional meetings or are we this meeting plus three additional meetings? >> Nope. this meeting plus the next two meetings. So, three meetings total. >> Correct. >> Thank you for your for that presentation. At this time, we will open the public comment portion of the hearing. Members of the public who wish to speak should have signed in prior to the meeting. Speakers will be called in the order they signed in. Each speaker will have approximately three minutes to share their comments. We respectfully ask speakers to focus
011their remarks on the HIV and bloodborne pathogen instruction curriculum under consideration. Please state your name and address for uh the record before beginning your comments. Okay. Uh Mr. Oh, you're just signed in. You don't want to speak. Oh, Elisa, you're good. And Curtis. Okay. Thank you. All right. Um, everyone, thank you to everyone who took the time to provide provide comments this evening. Your feedback is important and will be considered by the board as we continue reviewing the curriculum. We appreciate your interest and we appreciate the fact that you're here. If there's um anything, please let us know. Thank you again to everyone who attended and participated in tonight's public hearing. At this time, this public hearing on the district's HIV and bloodborne pathogens instruction curriculum is adjourned at 610. >> I have a question.
012>> Sorry, I was waiting for the closing comments, but I just had a quick um question. You had mentioned in your presentation that each school will have the material um per their school. Is there different material for each age group? Like Okay. So >> each age level like between elementary, middle, and high school are potentially or they are going to be taught different things. >> Oh, okay. The fifth grade lesson is 45 minutes. Um the middle school lessons are there's three lessons in total and I believe there are six in the high school. So each one gets just a little bit more in-depth. Um and there are video links. So if you do if you are interested in watching the videos, please make an appointment at your child's school because they'll have a laptop hooked
013up for you. You can look through the paper copy of the curriculum and also view all of the supplemental materials, the videos, everything. >> Okay. And then uh my last question is you had mentioned the if a parent chooses to opt their child out say in fifth grade that will carry through the middle and to high school or do they have to specifically mention like I want my child opted out >> after they list which portions of the curriculum that they would like opted out of. Let's say for example they say HIV AIDS bloodborne pathogens and then with the drop- down menu they have the option to select permanent opt out. >> Um and then as a district we are going to be holding all of those opt out forms and making sure that the
014administration with each passing year um knows which students are to be opted out of those curriculum. >> Okay. That was going to be my like how are we following through with making sure if they're permanently opted out. How do we follow through if they move? that will be a part of we have opening administrator meetings um at the end of August, beginning of September and we will make sure that we go through those lists, make sure we contact the parents so that they they know that we know that they're being opted out and then those opts will absolutely be honored. >> Okay, perfect. Thank you. >> Thank you for creating that option, too. >> Yeah, for sure. >> You you got I I have >> Yep. Go right ahead. Anybody else? I'm sorry. I won't
015I won't adjourn us until everybody's had an opportunity. So what's being taught is state approved and statemandated and we are teaching exactly what we're expected to teach and we're not going above that. Correct. >> Yes ma'am. This is the bare minimum. >> Any other board members? Mr. Morris, anything to move? >> No. >> Okay. >> It is the bare minimum. Then I will go ahead and say thank you again to everyone who attended and participated in tonight's public hearing. At this time, the public hearing on the district's HIV and bloodborne pathogens instruction curriculum is adjourned at 6:12 p.m. >> A motion. >> We have to have a motion. >> Oh, I need a motion. Sorry. Two different papers here. >> Do I have a motion? >> Motion. >> Thank you. Do I have support? Okay.
016Motion by Mrs. Shoe belts reported by Mrs. Fields. Shoe >> yes. >> Westfall >> yes. >> Block. >> Yes. >> Fields. >> Yes. >> More >> is a yes. >> Morars. Waiting for her to answer. What's she doing? Morarski is excused. And Morris. >> Yes. >> That passes 6. Thank you.