001All right, welcome. We're going to go ahead and get today's meeting started. Um, I do want to note that uh Mr. Smith and Mr. Windgate are both absent today from our work session and our voting meeting, unfortunately. But we will start with our delegates and uh Mrs. Jones is going to fill in for the vice chair role. Um giving the delegate their statement and keeping time. Okay. Thank you for your Oh, absolutely. We're gonna reverse this. No. So this is a delegation statement. Thank you for your interest in addressing the Hamilton County Board of Education. During your presentation, please address the board as a whole, not individual board members or administrators. Also, please do not present complaints or concerns you have about an individual employee of the school system. If you wish to voice those
002complaints and concerns, you should contact the central office and ask for a meeting with the superintendent. Since the superintendent is responsible for individual employees, please limit your remarks to 5 minutes. I will tell you when you have one minute left. You may begin when you're ready. So delegates that we have today are Skyla Skyla Fowler, Rebecca Day, Angela Farbolaro, Stephanie Dalton, Jessica Perkins, Colleen is it is Kio, Tara Bowwin, Harriet Reed, and Josh Ewing. You can come in that order. So our first delegate is Skyla Fowler. Skyla here. Okay. The next delegate we have is Rebecca Day. Good afternoon. I'm here to ask the board to review policy 4.402 402 wherein it states all resources used during a course of study will be disclosed to parents. Parents can request an alternate assignment and the alternate
003assignment arrangement will ensure that students receive quote the same level of instructional and assessment rigor as the primary assignment. There is no mention of changing a location of learning in this policy. As background, a local public servant contacted Moms for Liberty about a note that was sent home to parents of K through two students. This note advised a Mother's Day lesson about the LGBTQ lifestyle, which was planned by the librarian. In the note, the librarian advised, "Should you choose to have your student opt out of this lesson, an alternative assignment and location will be arranged." The lesson plan was canceled by Dr. Robertson, agreeing that there are better book choices. While many parents are grateful that Dr. Robertson acknowledged the poor book choice failure to follow board policy was not addressed by the school system
004spokesperson or Dr. Robertson. The lesson plan targeted students between the ages of five and eight and included instructional material that dealt with sexual orientation of parents. The sexual orientation is a personal quality that is federally protected from discrimination. Had this plan been allowed to move forward, removing students from their normal learning location would not only have violated 4.402, but segregating the students may well have broken Tennessee state law 4961019 because the librarian planned to use supplemental instructional materials, which would have literally divided and caused resentment based on personal qualities of parents. If you choose to review policy 4.42, 402. Please be um sure to think about this specific incident and ask yourself how making small children leave their friends, setting them aside outside of their normal learning environment. Discriminating against them based on a parents
005values and/or sexual orientation would meet the mark of the same level of instructional assessment and rigor. One mother said she will be removing her child from this school because this was the last straw with this librarian. Another parent advised they would be removing their student and have already contacted a local private school for enrollment. Moms for Liberty is engaged with the community and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government. They are not outofstate activists. They are local moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, taxpayers. They receive information daily from this community which overwhelmingly confirms Hamilton County voters are dissatisfied with what is being allowed to happen in public schools. Some comments from the community about this situation. I'm unsure why schools are trying to push boundaries with this agenda. Schools need to
006get back to the basics instead of causing outrage and hate among community members. Unless that's the point. It's obviously not about the kids. How will Hamilton County keep this from happening again? Will librarians now just hide their lesson plans and not inform parents? Someone should start auditing the library. Submit open records requests on all librarians emails. Find out if they are communicating with far-left activists or elected officials to plan this discrimination. Maybe Moms for Liberty can start a library scorecard. Share a list with each school name. rate how woke and weaponized the librarian is. How about opening up the taxpayer funded libraries to the public for a tour? Since the budget drives policy and monthly presentations to this board are primarily used primarily used to tell you guys why the schools need more money, it
007should not be lost on anyone that this incident is a clear example of how when the admins managed to convince you to approve more money for staff, they use that money to hire, train, and pay woke and weaponized activists who are ruining the school system. You guys are voting on the budget tonight with a line item of several million dollars for the student support coach position. Last month, it was called a seed coach. The activists who are already in the school system have made it their mission to run off tenure teachers and the very parents who have historically been the school system's biggest support. How will hiring 76 more activists affect employee morale and retention rates? Our best and brightest business leaders, school teachers, and politicians are completely opting their children out of Hamilton County
008public schools. What message does that send the rest of the county? The me message is loud and clear. There are other options and parents no longer need to be dependent on this failed public school experiment. Thank you. Thank you, Angela Barbaro. Good afternoon, Chairwoman Robinson, members of the board. I'm Angela Favaluro. I'm a mom of two Hamilton County students in District 5. And today I'm speaking on behalf of the Chattanooga Moms for Social Justice organization in which I volunteer. A little about about MSJ. We're a grassroots parent organization founded here in Chattanooga in 2017, originating with a small group of moms actively seeking ways to help other parents find ways to engage and be advocates for social justice in various ways within our community. While our campaigns extend beyond this arena, our efforts to support
009Hamilton County Public Schools have been through thousands of volunteer hours, classroom library project campaigns, support for families in transition, PPE drives, stocking care closets, and student rights advocacy. Not only are we a substantial group of Hamilton County moms, we also encompass so many other amazing people in our community from each of your districts. We have uncles, auntes, grandmas, papas, and pretty much anyone who would consider themselves to be a supporter of our youth and the issues that heavily impact their lives. Today, I'm here to make our communities demand that representation be honored and that the administration reinstate the fair and inclusive library lesson at Alpine Crest Elementary. We have many people here in support of this measure and have also shared a petition to reinstate the lesson with alternate options as planned um that has
010garnered over a thousand signatures. The books that were to be shared have been accessible at Alpine Crest Elementary for nearly a decade and are logged and online. It was disappointing to see an email shared publicly where administration stated that they agreed with a small opinion of this literature and withheld it from that lesson without following your own policies. No formal request for rem review of materials has been filed for these or any book for that matter in Hamilton County. The principal and librarian even went further than was necessary in order to be as inclusive to everyone in their student body as possible. They sent a notice home with the ability to choose an alternative title through multiple means of communication, not just a flyer. This prompted a small few to write a highly contested op-ed
011targeting the librarian um bullying them online and slandering them on social media. Um, the existence of people in our community is not controversial. All kinds of families are part of the fabric of what makes this place what we call home. And we all have a place here. I personally donated a significant amount of my time along with many other community members to work through our selection and review policy surrounding access to literature. Even the supporting Supreme Court cases say that we don't cherrypick literature to decide its merits, nor do we use ideological beliefs to suppress information to all students. These were not curriculum, but they were absolutely do tie into the Tennessee Department of Education's ELA standards. Preventing an educator from sharing a variety of books that connect to a topic is preventing them from
012supporting one of the cornerstones of Tennessee reading standards. I personally am a third grader and know firsthand how crucial meeting these standards are to the trajectory of our kids' education. Helping students learn about the books they choose to read is one of the most essential roles to our school librarians. These books, Stella Brings the Family by Miriam Schiffer and Holly Clinton Brown and Mother Goose um Bruce are both solid literature that subjectively fills the gap for when someone doesn't actively have someone they call mom to celebrate on Mother's Day. These books are well known for tackling blended families, adopted families, foster families, or any family that doesn't fit perfectly into a box. And I don't have to tell you that Hamilton County is not made up of one single demographic. Stella brings the family shows
013how a child and her peers work through how on Mother's Day is how Mother's Day is a celebration of nurturing and that her dad's and lot of her family support her even though she doesn't call any of them mother. ultimately bringing all of those who nurture her to the Mother's Day celebration. Mother Bruce is a lovely story about a bear accidentally fostering a gaggle of gosslings and ultimately adopting them into his heart and the silliness and awkwardness that ensues when a bear grows as a caregiver to exuberant gosslings. I'd like to reference on your agenda the policy 6.100 of student goals. Um, part one reiterating the same educational opportunities for everyone regardless of their social factors of their household. And in part four, that every student feel respected and valued. Those resonate here because all
014students, families, and educators deserve to be respected and feel valued. These policies are a contract with families, and when the reality doesn't align with the goal, it puts the district's integrity in question. I can wholeheartedly say that the majority of students, parents, and teachers in Hamilton County believe in more fair opportunities without discrimination for all students. This was a great opportunity that is now gone. You can call it on hold, but it's gone. We, the majority of parents in Hamilton County, demand that the schools have integrity and opt in to reinstate the inclusive and fair option where everyone can win. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. NEXT WE HAVE Stephanie Dalton. Stephanie Dalton. Okay, you're okay. Um hello. I am here before you as a mother of a student at Alpine Crest Elementary. Um, last Tuesday, my
015family received a note from the school in a library reading lesson just referenced, which contained the learning target, the books being read, um, and the option to opt out and receive an alternate lesson. I read the note and didn't think anything of it again until two days later, um, when the bullying began. Now, I don't have time to read this book, but I wanted to bring it to show folks in the audience and at home. Um, it's a kindergarten level book called Llama Llama and the Bully Goat. It's about an adolescent goat that bullies his peers at school for sounding different than him for loving things he doesn't love and for doing things differently than he likes to do them. Us non-bullying adults in this room know that when you allow a child to bully
016and don't hold them accountable for their behaviors, they keep bullying. And then those kid bullies grow up to be adult bullies. Unfortunately, there are some adults in this room and at home in Hamilton County who've made it very apparent they never learned this lesson in grade school. I have known Mrs. Carolyn Mickey for over two years now. I've volunteered with her in the library and I've served with her on the PTA. So, I've seen how she works and interacts with parents, families, students, and her colleagues. I am so proud to have her as our school's librarian that I nominated her last year for I am Hamilton recognition. Mrs. Mickey not only makes reading and learning fun, she makes sure it includes all students and the many different characteristics that make them, their lives, and their
017experiences unique. She's funny, generous, kind, welcoming, and compassionate. Her reading lessons always include books that help students learn about each other. Last year, I watched her take special care to read a book written and printed for children with dyslexia because there was a student in the class who had this reading disability. But her library is not just a space for reading. She also spent her own time and money planning and creating a sensory and quiet space for students to take a break in when they get overwhelmed, over stimulated, or have big feelings they need to calm down from. Mrs. Mickey is not just a librarian, although she is the best librarian I've ever known. She's a mom, a teacher, a nurturer, a counselor, a caretaker, but most importantly, she's just a genuinely good and caring
018human. So to hear and read about adult bullies slandering Mrs. Mickey's character for reading books and teaching children, as she was expertly trained and certified to do really shook me to my core. But what really shook me even more was the HCS leadership and administration's absolute failure not only to stand up and support one of their most incredible and beloved educators, but their absolute failure to encourage and empower her to move forward with a lesson plan that didn't violate any established policy, procedure, or law and also met American Association of School Librarian standards, literally doing her job. You say as a district that you that every employee is valued, but you aren't showing them they're valued. Instead of fully empowering Mrs. Mickey to use her years of knowledge and expertise to teach this lesson to
019Alpine Crest students. This lesson about a little girl's anxiety over a Mother's Day party that she has no mother to bring to and a bear that fosters and adopts four golings. This lesson in which a little girl having two dads is a footnote in this powerful story about how big feelings of anxiety and stress impact this young girl's ability to eat, sleep, and perform well at school. Instead of backing Mrs. Mickey up, you let the bullies win. When you let the bullies win, they're going to keep bullying. I understand that these adult bullies have intimidated and incited an ungodly amount of hate in our community. But you, HCS leadership and admin, must show them that you have a zero tolerance policy for bullying. When you have a board policy that states you expect all students
020to treat each other with civility and respect and students are expected to behave in a way that does not interrupt the education of other students and then you let grown adults bully one of your educators and you let them interrupt the education of our students, you're teaching the community that you don't actually mean what you say. You must show these adult bullies that you will not allow them to censor learning opportunities for children. Because when you as a district say that your just cause is that all children thrive and experience a future without limits, but then you censor learning, you're already putting limits on their futures. And when you as a district and these bullies in the community throw out this rhetoric about parents' rights, but then steal other parents' rights away, what lesson are
021you teaching? I'm an actual parent of an actual student at Alpine Crest, and my parental right to choose whether or not my child got access to this learning opportunity was stolen from me. What about my rights? Why wasn't my voice heard before you decided to cancel this lesson? I'll finish with this. My child repeats this pledge at school every day. I'm respectful. I'm responsible. I am caring. I am ready to learn. I have tiger pride. You know what other lessons Alpine Crest students learn? Don't be a bystander. Be an upstander and support and protect your peers against bullying. I think HCS leadership and admin would benefit from learning that lesson. Let's hope you don't decide to cancel THAT ONE, TOO. [Applause] THANK YOU. UM, I was told that Skyla Skyla Fowler is here now. Good
022evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Skyla Fowler and I sophomore at Central High School. Today, I will be discussing the cancellation of girls wrestling in Hamilton County Schools. Since 1994, the number of women who wrestle in high school has grown from 8004 to over 50,000. Women's wrestling is of the fastest growing sports in the collegiate and and scholastic levels. Wrestling first entered my life when I was 13 in eighth grade. I went to one of my old older brother's dual meets and the coach came up to me a little excited and said, "So, you're the sister I hear about?" I I was like, "No, thank you." But I came back a few weeks later because my brother was like, "You should come practice." I asked coach, he was like, "Sure, why not?" So I
023continued and I went the first day when I walked into that wrestling room, the people in there made it so much better. I struggle from anxiety. And so as someone with anxiety and you've always been judged in school because you're different than everybody, finding a place where you're not judged and where you truly do do the best It feels great. For the first time in my life, I had never been judged. For instance, um wrestling is teammate work. It teaches you teammate, how to be teammates, how to work with a team. It also gives you a family. And for instance, it was after a tournament, we quit with our coaches and we were like, we're going to go somewhere fast. Never done it before. We didn't go anywhere, so we ended up at McDonald's like
024normal. And we sat down after ordering our food and we started talking. What was our favorite memories from this season or from any season that we have wrestled in so far and the first girl, she um she's a freshman and she's a first year wrestler. She said ju that just being a team just being with a team being competitive with one another during practice the coaches wrestling feeling feeling like a family and becoming the best version of ourselves was the best memory that she could ever get from wrestling. Another girl who is a sophomore like me, her first year wrestling this year though, she said uh she said being in the wrestling room talking, practicing and playing around. A second year senior wrestler added that her favorite memory from wrestling was when she won her
025first match and we all screamed and celebrated with her. Personally, one of my favorite ones was from this year, actually, and it was one of my first matches I had ever won, but the girl did not go well. She ended up throwing up to like the first round at this point. And so, I had her down. She was down on the ground and she was over there gagging. I was about to throw because she was gagging. And I was looking at this and I was like, "Call this match. I'm gonna get sick if she throws something. And finally, he did though after like a minute. And as soon as he raised my hand, I ran and I jumped into my teammate's arms because that was the best feeling ever because I did not think I
026was going to win it because I felt so weak and so tired that day. So, you see, wrestling means so much to us girls who wrestle. It's the only time when our minds are at ease and not thinking about all of our problems in life. For our wrestling isn't all rainbows and sunshine. We all enjoy it and couldn't live without wrestling. That's why I'm here today because all kinds of troubled kids join wrestling and walk out as a senior and way better person. We are so thankful that we got an opportunity to wrestle, but at the end of the day, we can't just give up on wrestling. Thank you, Skyla. Yep. Hey, Skyla. Skyla. Skyla. Skyla. Skyla. Skyla. I need to ask you a question. Maybe I as maybe superintendent. Did you say they cancelled
027girls? I I don't know. I don't I'm not familiar. We were told actually a couple different things. First, we were told it was just our school. And so, I came up with a plan. I was like, we can get a coach because we had a volunteer volunteer to coach us. And then the teacher came to me. Actually, I came to her and showed her my plan and she told me, she was like, "Actually, I just got informed that it was county thing." Okay. So, she told me to come speak here. Okay. Well, that's what I wanted to know. Is it just at your school or is it countywide? I just I've been told two different things. Okay. What is it? It's not a county decision. I'll have to reach out to Central and All right.
028I just didn't know where to go. Okay. Thank you for the info. Appreciate it. And thank you. Hey, Skyla. Sorry. Sorry. Hey. Hey. Hey, I just wanted to tell you did a great job and um I know you mentioned that you um that you have anxiety, but you did a great job and truthfully you brought a lot of joy to this board with your anecdotes and your stories. So, thank you for that. Um and and I you know to piggyback off of Rhonda's question, but suggestion is I mean we know that some schools their sports they go and play with other schools. Maybe there's an opportunity for us to have the girls at Central just simply wrestle with another team. Um, so anyways, but hopefully we can work with you to get that figured out
029and you should be really proud of yourself for taking the initiative to organize. Um, so good for you. Next is Jessica Perkins. Members of the board and executive committee, I am here today to address topics of a sensitive nature. My name is Jessica Perkins. I am a former teacher with the district, a mother of two children, and a bonus mom to two more. First, I would like to say thank you to our district administration for listening to parents concerns this past week and making the decision to have a Mother's Day lesson of a sensitive nature canled. We agreed with Dr. Robertson when he responded that there are better book choices that could be used. Listening to and responding to parental concerns builds trust as we continue to work towards our goal of partnering with our
030children's schools to create the best academic environment possible. Teachers have a responsibility to teach students the state standards. As a district, we are failing in this area. Wouldn't it make more sense to focus on teaching standards at school and allow parents to address topics of a sensitive nature with their children at their discretion? When a teacher is allowed to hang a LGBTQ flag in their classroom, they are making a statement about themselves. Their statement says, "Showcasing my identity is more important than you." Where will you draw the line with personal, religious, and political idols in the classroom? What happens when a teacher wants to hang their pedophile flag up? Would that be okay with you? Please, I'm not the only parent concerned about what our children are being taught by anyone who clearly puts their
031identity as primary importance in the workplace. Children are by nature curious and do not need to have lessons at school that focus on unnecessary anxiety as in the case as is the case in the book Stella Brings the Family. It is time for parents to make themselves available to listen to their children, ask questions, and guide them towards healthy ways of dealing with their feelings. Our children are looking to the adults in their life to model healthy emotional regulation. Schools are not a proxy for parents, which is a person or persons in this case acting on behalf of the parents in their absence. We the parents are not giving up our rights for our children. We will continue to invoke our rights stated in the Tennessee State Board of Education under parent family involvement standard
0324 states speaking up for every child. Families are informed and enabled to be advocates for their own and other children to ensure that students are treated fairly and have access to learning opportunities that will support their success. Maybe we need to help define success. Let's let the children be children. There's no reason to put adult decisions or feelings on them. Leave topics of a sensitive nature to parents discretion. We can also define sensitive nature if necessary. By writing policies or lesson plans based on the social and emotional beliefs of individuals who do not all agree, you are inviting chaos. By voting yes for student support coaches, formerly named seed coaches, you will be inviting lawsuits and unwanted national attention. These coaching positions will introduce more topics of a sensitive nature to our children. Social activists
033will be hired as our county student support coaches. These activists have an agenda. It will be very clear as our precious elementary students become brainwashed that they are in the wrong body. We have a problem in our country with young children being fed lies about themselves by influencers. These influencers are not only on social media anymore, but they are also in our schools posing as teachers, media specialists, counselors, and student support coaches. It takes a backbone to say no to student support coaches. It takes a backbone to say no to medical clinics in our schools. You cannot dress up your evil agendas and pretty words and expect all parents to follow along like sheep to the slaughter. We will protect our children and that is our right and our responsibility. If you vote yes to
034student support coaches, you will have completely lost the trust of the majority of families who support public schools in this county. You will no longer be representing most families in our community. You will no longer be doing your job in good standing. Colleen. Yes. Okay. My name is Colleen Kio. I'm a working mother of two children currently enrolled at Alpine Crest Elementary. I'd like to point out that attending a schoolboard meeting at 4:30 in the afternoon on a weekday is a luxury most working parents simply don't have. I'm fortunate that my workplace understands the importance of my speaking out today. I'm extremely disappointed in the way an inclusive Mother's Day lesson was canceled and my kid's librarian has been vilified. I knew there would be push back from a few loud bullies, but I'm enraged
035that the administration sided with them. Parents were notified multiple ways that this lesson would be taking place to encourage compassion and inclusion and given the opportunity for an opt- out alternative lesson. Our administration claims that they made up their mind to cancel the lesson before hearing from a particularly loud group. But regardless, they posted emails publicly and called it a win for them. Parents were Sorry, my hands are real shaky. A majority of families have been denied an important lesson in our increasingly diversified world, and a platform was given to a group of fear-mongering extremists. This group claims that a story about a bear is pushing trans ideology, and a story about a girl feeling left out during Mother's Day is pushing a homosexual agenda. They say this is sexualization of children when they're the
036only ones that brought sex into it. Is a story about a heterosexual couple inherently sexual? No. I read one supporter say that the book, one of their supporters say that the books are actually innocent, but they are sure the librarian is somehow pushing an agenda. The only agenda Miss Mickey has is to provide kids access to stories that reflect their lives and encourage a love of reading to every kid despite the homes they come from. The only agenda I'm seeing play out is that of Moms for Liberty. The organization that claims to be grassroots that empowers parents is in fact a well-funded and connected political group that prays on vulnerable people with manufactured outrage in the guise of protecting children. I am here right now to protect my children from them with financial and political
037support from the Dantis family who are criminalizing Florida educators for teaching factual history and discussing current events. Betsy Devos, who wants to dismantle the Department of Public Education, public's aist Julie Fanchelli, who funded the Stop the Steel rally and led the insurrection on our nation's capital, and the Zaglers that pose with Proud Boys, displaying white power symbols, and co-wrote the harmful don't say gay bill. I'd have to strongly disagree that this group cares about the safety of all kids. Their affiliation with the Council for National Policy that want to take down teacher unions and public education in order to reorient education to Christian nationalism, plus their affiliation with the NRA and conservative money make them a very real and dangerous threat to public education and safety. Kids are supposed to feel safe at school. There
038are so many kids that depend on public school, not only for education, but nutrition, direction, and safety. The motivation behind the cancellation of a compassionate literacy lesson sends a message to minorities and LGBTQ families that their existence is unacceptable. It is not news to kids with gay parents that they have gay parents. Homosexuality is not synonymous to pedophilia. And teaching kids about other types of families is not indoctrination. By shielding your kids from love that looks different than yours, you're turning them into bullies and crippling them from living successfully in a diverse world. To conclude, I want to reiterate the reactionary decision and statement that better books could have been chosen for this lesson was baseless and cowardly. And I expect and demand more for all the kids in Hamilton County. [Applause] Okay. All right.
039Good. I mean, I'm being respectful of everybody clapping or whistling. I try. I let everybody do whatever. Okay. So, bullhorns next time. No. Tara, let's keep going. Good afternoon. My name is Tara Baldwin and my daughter attends Best Shepard Elementary School. For the benefit of the board, I'm going to give you a glimpse of my background. I am a parallegal for more than 25 years and have been a litigation parallegal for nearly two decades. I cut my teeth in the legal field on civil rights cases, including 1983, Title 9 and Title Six actions. These days, I work for plaintiff attorneys across the nation and right here in your own backyard. I am a single mother and the primary support for my household. This year, my daughter has struggled in school. It is unfortunate that she
040is genetically genetically predisposed to OD and ADHD. And as we wait for the testing with the diagnosis, I find myself against a barrier that should not exist. That barrier is the district's policy on support resources, specifically in the form of a 504 plan for my daughter so she can get the accommodations that she so clearly has a need for, a need that has been readily identified by the teachers and administration at her school and documented in her file. The federal legislation surrounding section 504 states that the federal law is designed to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. It gives guidance to districts stating that the school district must conduct an evaluation in a timely manner when a student when a student needs or is believed
041to need services because of a disability. The evaluation will determine if the student has a disability and should that student need accommodations. I encourage you to freshen up your understanding of what the language in section 504 says. It does not require a medical diagnosis, but rather provides guidance as to the qualifies qualifiers as a disability under the law. For the district to implement a policy requiring a medical diagnosis when mere interaction and observation provide an adequate foundation for qualification is a copout and nothing more than a backhanded way for the district to restrict access to resources that are specifically meant to be used for those children they are blocking. I am also aware that the district refers children to Cornerstone for evaluation. I do not accept this as a proper solution either. Cornerstone requires you
042to have some form of insurance, which means that they bill the parents insurance for that evaluation. The district receives federal dollars for services to be provided for under section 504, which includes evaluations. Those dollars are not meant to be reserved while the state's Medicaid agency picks up the bill. And it is a clear violation of the parents right to select the medical providers that will treat their children. The fact that the district would in even enter into a contract for exclusivity or partial exclusivity limiting the pro providers in the ability to provide services to students within the school setting and limiting parents right to seek and select the best medical care for their child's needs was some with something as personal and vital as psychiatric and psychological services is nothing short of appalling. So I
043tell so tell me now why my daughter has become a victim of the district's exclusionary and discrimin discriminatory policies. A policy which at its very core is there to ensure that the most valuable and vulnerable of our community have access to resources and support they need to grow and thrive in environment that isn't designed to automatically provide for their specific needs. The very policy which is set forth to provide access to support and resources for those who need it the most is blocking that access for those individuals. The policy on face value is exclusionary and discriminatory to an entire faction of your student body and their families. Those whose parents, for one reason or another, do not qualify for state insurance, do not make enough to pay for private insurance, and do not have the
044disposable income to pay out of pocket for expensive psychological evaluations and testing. The policy is a slap in the face to those parents who work the hardest for the least reward. the parents who go through a daily struggle to stay above the line between poverty and barely surviving. Not to mention the additional strain it places on the schools and teachers. The battle to get resources and support for those kids who don't seem to fit in anywhere else is frustrating, ridiculously long, and specifically constructed to make it practically impossible to achieve the end goal of getting help and resources. You leave them in the trenches, unequipped to face the challenges that surround their students. You further enable the discrimination by forcing those same children to watch as others get the guidance and help needed while they
045languish trying to fit into a mold that they were never supposed to fit into in the first place. I call on this board, district, and every single member of administration to re-evaluate all the policies, identify those with language that creates regulations and restrictions which are exclusionary and discriminate against any section of the student body. You are public servants. You are meant to serve the public. These policies do not serve the public. It is a job of every single member of the department of the education to ensure that every single student in their care receives the best education possible. Do your jobs. If you don't fix this, I will be right back here every month and I will steamroll through anyone who acts as an obstacle to me reaching the goal of getting my daughter the
046need this what she needs to be successful. I will leave you with this quote from a woman who I admire and is an inspiration to many. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that other will lead others to join you. Join me in this fight or become a casualty of the war. Thank you for your time. Super. Uh, Mrs. Baldwin or Miss Miss Baldwin. Hi. Hey. Thanks for your passion. Appreciate your fight. I have a question. Oh, yep. I do too. Hold on one second. Sorry. I thought you was just saying it. I was going to be like, I got some questions. Okay. Hey, what I take really seriously what you're saying and so I want to make sure we're clear have which which school
047are you referencing and then who have you worked with at this point at the administration level to resolve this issue? My daughter attends Bestie Shepard. She is a first grade student there. I have had a considerable amount of interaction with Miss Ariel the vice principal, Dr. Lane, the principal, and most recently I had interaction with Miss Robinson and I have also met with um Deputy Superintendent Jason Vance. Okay. All right. I wanted to make sure that someone on the Okay. So, you've got the two people running the ship right here and they've heard your cries and we'll be able to hopefully connect and start working through this. Okay. I asked Steve to get your daughter's name and I will uh My daughter's name is Kaylee. K A I L E. Let's let's do that privately.
048Do not Okay. Right. The gentleman right there. Right here. Steve, raise your hand. Steve. Yeah. This is a public meeting and we don't want to. No. Please. Y. Okay. Never mind. Never mind. I think Tiffany's answered what I was I mean, I'll hold my question to follow up on this right here. I did. You have a specific policy number that you say requires a diagnosis? Um, I've never been told the policy, so it's really difficult me for me to address that directly. Otherwise, I would. Scott can get it. Scott can figure it out. I do appreciate you coming and we will get the right person to you. Well, I mean, we have we we clearly have some type of policy or procedure about in exceptional aid about something related to this, I'm sure. Okay. So,
049just all of them. I just need more information. Okay. Well, I welcome an email from you if you happen to look at policy and you happen to identify. I know you said you're a parallegal, so I assume reading legal language is fun for you. Um, not really. Okay. Uh, I welcome hearing back from you if by chance you happen to go back to looking at our policy and you identify exactly what you're referencing. I mean, of course, we can look too, but to understand it directly from you is way more valuable than us taking a guess. And um, so just wanted to state that. No pressure on that front, but certainly on my next visit, I'll have that policy for you. I have a feeling we're going to see a lot of each other. Hope
050not. I hope not. I mean, and you can free to come back, but I hope you don't have to come back about this. You can't hurt my feelings. I work for lawyers. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I feel really confident though that if Sonia Stewart says she's going to call you and work through this with you, she will. And therefore, hopefully you don't have to keep visiting us. But we do welcome your visits. So, thank you. Next is Harriet Reed. Hello. Thank you for allowing me to speak today. I'm Harriet Reid and I'm speaking regarding the rights and responsibilities of the right number five. Uh students should not be discriminated against on the basis of race, sex, color, creed, religion, national origin, disabilities and also the responsibilities uh to respect the dignity and work of every
051other individual and also number 11 to behave respectfully toward everyone in the school. And I think that parents should be the first um person that shows that to their child. And all children should be taught to respect each other. And that in in and of itself is inclusive. So there shouldn't be there shouldn't need to be anything else except people treating other people the way they want to be treated. That should be enough to include everyone and make no one feel that they're left out because there are quite a few topics that are controversial and there's so many different living arrangements that people either agree with or don't agree with that everybody's never going to agree. I mean, I don't agree with my husband on everything. So, we're never going to all agree. But what
052we can do is we could focus like a laser beam on education instead of trying to focus on all these differences that we all have. For example, my situation might have been different than some other people when I was growing up. I looked different cuz I was tall and then I was skinny. But tall, skinny. I got teased all the time. There's always been bullies since the beginning of time, but just like then and just like now, parents have the responsibility to teach their children to be kind and to treat each other the way we want to be treated. And in terms of all these different situations that we're trying to address in people's households, you can't do that either because everybody is an individual. Everyone has a different situation at home. So, you can't
053address all of that. You know, there's some people who, you know, have good things going on at home and some people who don't have good things going on at home. Do you want to teach everybody about that, too? They have an addicted parent. You want to teach everybody about that? We don't. So, we should keep things middle of the road. If we're not going to talk about religion and we're not going to talk about all these other different things that are clearly controversial. Ma'am, yes. Can can you make sure you're tying it back to policy 6301 is what was on your document. I am speaking exactly about behave respect and can I get my time back, please? Behave respectfully toward everyone in the school community. respect the human dignity and work of every individual and
054to not be discriminated against on the basis of race, sex, color, creed, religion, and national origin. Okay. Go ahead. Is that I just wanted to make sure you were because it was kind of seeming like it was about to go another way. So, I wanted to say you're good. Okay. So, what I'm trying to say is instead of picking books that address certain situations that are sure to cause an uproar, why do that when students are in the bottom? Many students are in the bottom third. They can't read, write, or compute at grade level. And here we are arguing about other things. And I think that these things can easily be taught at home. If you want your child to read about a particular thing, whatever that thing is, and it's important to your household,
055you can do that at home. You don't have to do it at the school. You can focus like a laser beam on getting children to read, write, and compute at grade level because if they're not reading by third grade, they're done. That's when you start getting all the problems. And the the discipline also plays into that. we're not treating each other with respect when you're bullying, when when all of this is going on. And as parents and as adults, we should be the example of that. And we should be able to accept that we're different. We should just be able to accept that. And we should be able to teach our children that people come in all different types. Whether it's their language, their ethnicity, their whatever it is they believe in. These are all
056different for everyone. So why is it that we keep trying to go to the to the controversial instead of writing down the middle lane? I'm sure that there is a way that you can teach children to read, write, and compute at grade level without touching on all these subjects. We don't have to include every person's situation. So should, you know, I mean, if you look at my situation, I was born in Birmingham, Alabama to parents who were raised in Jim Crow South. Should we focus on that? No, we shouldn't. My parents taught me about that. That was their goal, their job. Thank you. YES, Josh Ewing. Yuing. Uh, good afternoon everyone. I am Joshua Euing. I am a father of two. Um, both of my sons, well, I take that back. One of my sons
057is a first grader at Alpine Crest Elementary. My youngest son will be a kindergarten next year. Um, I'm not like everybody else here today in the fact that I didn't prepare a speech. I've come up here to speak to you candidly about my feelings in regards to, you know, student goals. Um, just like someone mentioned, it's not easy for us as parents, uh, you know, to get away from work, come to these meetings. This is the first time me being here. Um, I work for a bluecollar organization. I work 50 60 hours a week and it's concerning to me when I come to a schoolboard meeting and I see people in this room discussing what goes on in Hamilton County schools or in the schools where my son will be educated both my sons and
058I've never seen them there shoveling mulch putting up swing sets painting door frames you know we can all be uh you know seagull manage as we jokingly say they can fly over and poop on everything and keep going but we're here in the trenches We're here with these children. And just like people have said, there's been many great points here. Yes, we should stay the course. We should make sure they can read and write and do arithmetic. Yes, we should. But not everybody has the same values, the same system. The lady previous to me is correct. But if every book we read to them has a uh heterosexual white male man and woman in the couple, that doesn't identify to everyone. This is 2023. I'm a Christian man married to a woman. I'm sorry if
059I get off course here, but I think everyone should be represented fairly and they should get that. And then when you go home and you say, if you're a qualified parent, what did you learn today in your class? What was the reading topic? Oh, uh, Brother Bear adopts the goosees or whatever it is, explain that to your children. Discuss it with them. Give them your opinion. That's your job as a parent to teach them those things. It's not the school boards. It's not these people. It's not these people or those people. It's your job. You're the parent. Be that influence. If you want to keep your kids in a closet and just shelter them from everything, there's opportunities for that. There is. Homeschool them. Send them to Christian school. This is a public schools for
060everyone. Everyone. We pay our tax dollars here. And there should be respect for everyone. There should be equality. And and and I know most people in this room don't understand this. I live in that community. I make a good wage. So does my wife. We receive free breakfast and free lunch because the social and economic level of our community. There's African-Americans, Hispanics. There's kids in ESOL in my son's class. I know there's kids with mixed parent households. Okay. Well, let's just paint them in the dark so they never see that until they're adults. And then they're like, "Wo is me. Little Billy had two dads. What? What are we doing to these kids? What are we doing to them? This is our world. We can pretend like it's something it's not. I deal with equality
061issues and things. I oversee a post-secondary training program. Everybody deserves the right. Everybody. And that's what I'm saying. Yes, I agree. We don't need to be off here in the left and the right. Don't hang your flag in there. I don't care. Don't paint all the walls gray. read them all the same books and we'll all be programmed to be the same exact way. You know, that's that's not America. We came here for freedoms. That's why we changed the government. That's why we're here. Worship your dog. Do whatever you want to. Don't force that on anybody. Let's all get a little taste of everything in the public school system where it's for everyone. THAT'S IT. NO, they shouldn't force the left on these kids or the right. But read the read the school reading list.
062I've dealt with that woman. I've been there. I've helped her organize books. She loves these kids. She doesn't have a negative ulterior motive to brainwash anybody. That book has nothing to do with homosexuality. It doesn't. I'm being fair. So, I'm sorry if I've gotten off topic. I will step down. I'm passionate about my community. These kids, I love them all. He was on topic, though. He was talking about student goals just as you were talking about how you felt people should respect. I am I am fair. Trust me. I I and I do and and I respect the things these people have to say. Fair. I am fair and I appreciate these people being here to help our students and caring. But until you're shoveling mulch and you're out there putting swing sets up or
063digging now you're getting outside. Okay. But thank you for doing that volunteer. Thank you for giving me the opportunity. I didn't expect it. But thank you all. Thank you. [Applause] That that concludes delegations. Great. Thank you. Um it does not look like we have a presentation today. Correct. Okay. Um we'll run through committee chair updates and uh we actually will have a short executive sess or uh executive session with um Scott Bennett. And so we'll do that before we go into our voting meeting. Um could I go ahead and start with committee chair updates? I will start with Mrs. Black on the discipline committee. Yep. No updates. No update. Okay, great. Uh Mr. Connor, do you have a legislation update for us? I do, but only to say that it's forthcoming. So I've mentioned that
064to the board. There's a there's a major um review going on by the TSBA, the Tennessee School Board Association tomorrow. Um and then there's another followup uh to that. So, I'm going to digest the way that they saw it go and and report back to the community. So, as soon as I do that, community members, please look for a open meeting that I'll discuss the things that have gone on in the legislature this year, what's passed, what's not, what's finally been signed, because there's lots of things that are just being signed this week, too. Great. Thank you for your work on that. Uh, Mr. Perez, would you like to give us a finance committee update? Yeah, I think just for uh the public to to be aware, so tonight we will vote on the budget.
065Mr. Gran requested last week uh that we have uh another committee meeting. I was out of town for some of it. I couldn't uh accommodate until Tuesday, but then we couldn't get the board to accommodate. So, uh as we touch on the budget and the agenda meeting today, hopefully Mr. Gran, you can um uh ask your questions then uh and then we uh this evening will uh vote on the budget one way or the other. So, um that's that's my update. Thank you. And Mrs. Jones, do you have a facilities committee update? No update. Okay, great. And Mr. Windgate, who's not here, um would normally give us a policy update. Okay. Um since we actually have a pretty um indepth uh agenda, I'm going to suggest that we go ahead and adjourn for executive session
066and then come back and go through our agenda together as part of our voting meeting. Does anyone object to that? Great. Okay. With that, our work session is um concluded and we'll uh we'll come back here at six o'clock.