001I'll call the school board workshop uh to order on our um >> meeting this morning. We will be discussing um our survey and a number of other issues. So, we'll open it up. First, I'd like to do our our public comment um under under the instructional materials so we can hear from the public and and um maybe our staff can address some of those issues during their presentation. So, um I'll start with Miss Barbara Kui Koi, I'm sorry. And and I see y'all are a group together led by my illustrious cousin back there. So, um, if if if y'all want to speak, that's fine. But if you have a spokesperson, that that'd be good, too. Either way, come on up and, uh, give us your name and your address for the record, and you you're
002you're recognized. >> I'll be half. You may have to kind of >> Okay. >> Thank you. I'll give this to >> Good morning. My name is Barbara Koy. I currently reside at 116 Buckles Drive in Hollister. Um, formerly and still own 115 West Washington Street in Interlockan. I am not here just to complain, but present a clear positive solution for Putnham County's curriculum choice. Both E Dynamics and HealthSmart Third Edition use inclusive language to promote gender spectrum theory. They question parental values and treat abstinence as merely one minor option among many choices. their corporate backers Pearsons with its gender spectrum sponsorship and databach fines and each PR with its Planned Parenthood clinic origins have shown where their priorities lie and what outcome they hope to achieve with their curriculum. Putnham County families, we deserve better.
003Our kids and our grandchildren deserve better. We deserve a curriculum that represents biological reality, protects privacy, honors parental authority, and actually lowers teen pregnancies and STDs. Restore our traditional values of right and wrong and encourage morality. That curriculum is choosing the best. Look at the Georgia Oasis graphs that I've provided. Gwynette County, Georgia used choosing the best for over 20 years and saw their teen pregnancies drop 75% while maintaining STD rates far below Georgia's state average and below every counting using the comprehensive sex ed programs. They are not options. These are public health results. Today I'm asking the board to reject both E Dynamics and HealthSmart and immediately begin the process to adopt choosing the best andor equivalent abstinence centered evidencebased program. Our children's health, our famil family's privacies and our communities future leaders depend
004on your decision. Please choose what works, not something that doesn't elevate our children's lives for the better and put our children's future first. >> Thank you, ma'am. Appreciate your comments. All right. Next, we have uh Marsha Mezer. If you'll come up, be recognized, and uh give your name and address for the record, please. >> Good morning. Marshia Mezer 674 State Road 26 Miller Rose. Good to see you folks. I know you work really hard for this community, but I will have to say um now I'm here as a resident. Now I think I disclosed last time I spoke with you good folks that I do uh investigate school curriculum and I work in several different states doing this and so I just go ahead and disclose that to you. So I know a lot about
005these curricula. Um the two that you've chosen to that that you've landed on here, both of them have issues. The first one, hope, um there was some kind there was some glitches in being able to look at it all. I only got to one of the testing question quizzes, whatever. And when I got to that particular one, it was dystopian. I'm just going to tell you. um the what was on there. There was a picture that I want to show this to you on my computer screen here. And I I was just amazed at what the tagline says underneath it. You know, you've got this rainbow and you've got this clouded mind here. Okay, that's that's the graphic. what it says underneath. Good mental health doesn't mean being happy all the time, but it does
006mean being able to think, feel, and react in ways that help you live your life the way you want. Okay? So, there there's a message in that with the rainbow head. Okay? There's a message in that. But not only that, when you're reading from this and they're asking such pertinent questions to the family such as I mean this part I just couldn't get over and uh and I have copies of this I'll hand to you in just a moment but what do you how do you define your culture, your religion, nationality, race, etc. How does this culture influence your health beliefs, practices, and behaviors in both supportive and challenging ways? Give specific examples. What roles do your parents, grandparents, and other family members play in promoting a healthy family? Um, does your family prefer to
007cook at home together or go out to eat? I get all of that for health. That's perfect. What type of food does your family eat? Great. But how does your family influence your physical and emotional health in both positive and negative ways? Give specific examples. Think about it. How does your family feel about sports, exercise? What about mental health? Or is that topic topic discussed or is it off limits? How do your peers influence your physical and emotional health in both positive and negative ways? Folks, this is way too personal. This is way too personal. This is like making a little data dossier. And then they ask them to video themselves and make their own podcast of it. So, I have all of this. I have a massive email that has all kind of receipts
008for you. Health Smart is connected with Planned Parenthood and this particular company, Hope, is with Pearson who also sponsors the gender spectrum that has the gender spectrum support plan to hide transgendering from parents in schools. So, I have all kind of connective issues for you and I would be glad to share them. I'd be glad to meet with you on p in person. I'll do a whole demonstration for you if you'd like. God bless. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay, our next speaker is Mr. Carl Mezer. Please come up and state your name and and address for the record, please. Thank you. Um, I'm Reverend Carl Mezer, 674 State Road 26, Melrose, Florida. Um, I'm speaking today specifically about one activity in the proposed Hope Health curriculum. The required podcast assignment on
009how the culture you most closely identify with shape students health beliefs. The prompt tells students how do you define your culture, your religion, nationality, race. But it then demands they explain with specific personal examples how this culture including their religion affects their eating habits, physical activity, family meals, attitudes towards exercise, mental health discussions, and both positive and negative influences from family and peers. Students must record this as a personal health podcast and submit it to the teacher. And where it goes beyond that, I don't know. This is not neutral education. It is a compelled recorded disclosure of deeply private information, especially religious beliefs, and it's turned in for a grade. I don't believe public schools have any business requiring students to publicly define and analyze their own religion in relation to health practices. I feel
010that that crosses the first amendment line of religious neutrality. Beyond religion, the assignment is I consider very overly intrusive in other ways. It forces middle or high school students to publicly dissect their family's private dynamics, how often they eat together. uh not that big of a deal, but whether mental health is off limits and how parents view sports or or emotional issues and their peers influence on their physical and emotional health. These I feel are more family matters, not classroom assignments that should be recorded and then submitted. Um, Florida's health standards can be met without this level of personal probing. You know, teaching general influences of culture and family, that's okay. But requiring every child to record and turn in their personal religious and family confessions, I just don't feel that is acceptable. And last,
011I just want to say this as a pastor, okay? And I want you to understand, I'm not here to try to cause trouble. I want to help. I'm concerned about the lives of these kids. Okay? But I want to just remind you, do you really understand the weight that you carry of oversight looking over this material that's going to these children? I I you know I just want to remind you of the magnitude of your responsibility in addition to the accountability of your decisions not just to the people of Putham Putnham County but to almighty God himself. I know my time's over quickly. I just want to read Matthew 18:6 because this guys, it says, "If anyone causes one of these little ones, those who believe in me, to stumble, it would be better for
012them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea." You guys have a heavy responsibility. We're concerned for these kids. We really want to help. >> Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Our next speaker is Miss Susan Stanley. if you'll come up and give your name and address for the record, please. >> Good morning. My name is Susan Stanley and my address is 1801 State Road 100 in Melrose, Florida. My husband and I have lived a majority of our life and raised our five children here in Putham County. It has been rather difficult to access this information online for reviewing it. But one way that we can learn about something is to look at who created it. And as you've heard already, Pearson, who
013now owns E Dynamics, sponsored the gender spectrum uh organization as a champion. And we know their ideology from that. there. Um, the same company had problems with u the cyber breach and had to pay a million-doll SEC penalty. When you look at the other curriculum you're considering, ETR, it traces its roots directly back to Planned Parenthood. This is not a neutral starting point in an abstinence curriculum. Both companies do use inclusion, and that's just a Trojan horse for progressive ideology. This is not evidence-based curriculum. As a former registered nurse working for six years in an OB/GYN setting, I saw firsthand the unplanned teen pregnancies and the STDs that often and tragically have lifelong consequences. I don't think that's talked about very much. Evidence of positive effects on our young people is of most importance. The
014evidence-based alternative is one called choosing the best. That official Georgia Ao Oasis data that you the graph you have in front of you shows that Gwynette County's teen pregnancy rate went down 75% and it kept STD rates lower than every surrounding county. These graphs you already have in your hand. This is more to me than a left or right perspective. It's a choice. It's a choice between theory or biological reality. It's questioning. It's a choice between questioning and putting doubts in our children's minds about parental and family influences or honoring parents and the family beliefs. I'm asking that you seriously consider if we're going to allow these two deeply ideological corporations to shape our children's understanding of sex, gender, and family. We're here because of our children and our grandchildren, of which we now have
015three so far. and we feel like um they deserve to be educated with evidence-based material, not theory. So, we're asking you to reject both of these curricula that you're looking at and choose the curriculum or an equivalent to it that is um abstinencebased abstinence centered evidence-based curriculum and has integrity and proven results. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Then our final speaker is Mr. David Stanley. If you'd come forward and give your name and address for the record, please. Thank you. My name is uh David Stanley. Good morning. How y'all doing? >> Good morning. >> Um I reside at 1801 State Road 100 in Melrose, Florida. And that's Putnham County. Of course, I'm right on the edge. Firstly, um uh as as I've spoken before the county commissions and all, it would it
016would be a whole lot better to give uh public comment if uh it didn't happen during work hours and school hours. Make it a whole lot easier. Um if you really want public input, let's make it when public can be available and maybe our group would be larger to speak today. Let's talk about transparency because that was one of the issues that we had here getting access to this information. Transparency is supposed to be a cornerstone of public education. Yet, this district only showed us the first six quote safe lessons in Health Smart's curriculum, those without sexuality lessons, and it gave us a broken public preview link for e dynamics. And that still won't load. >> If health smart uh is is is good, then why are the se lessons 7 through 16 not shown?
017Well, they're the ones that introduce gender fluid identities, sexual pleasure, uh, details, and consent negotiations. Why make parents hunt for this information? We want the truth. The lack of transparency feels deliberate. Pearson and ETR, uh, their full digital content contains the very elements that the parents oppose. Florida law gives us the right to review all the material before it's being taught and we've been not given that right. Meanwhile, the curriculum known as choosing the best has always been fully previewable is parent approved and is delivering real and measurable success. This has been demonstrated in the Gwinnet, as you've been told, Gwynette County, Georgia with 75% drop in teen pregnancy sexual transmitted disease rates uh among high school children. It's well below the state average. And this was officially documented in Georgia's Oasis data analysis. I
018think you have all that uh in front of you. Um we're tired of broken hyperlinks and partial and incomplete uh previews and hidden ideologies. That's not something that uh that uh we want. We request that you reject both HealthSmart and Eynamics curriculum. Uh we demand a full transparency so the public can actually know what this curric is in this curriculum. We request that you review choosing the best curriculum and its success rate and adopt it as a curriculum for Putnham County. Uh it's the program that hides nothing and has a proven track record. Uh my wife and I, we've uh raised uh children here uh in Putnham County and we began this fight in well when my uh eldest was in kindergarten. He'll turn 40 this year. We've been fighting this ideology, the same thing.
019They were trying to sexualize the kindergarten students. And we've been fighting this. It's disgusting. It's something that we uh have to continue to fight. We know the origin of it. It's it's satanic. And as long as he's not going to be uh quiet, we won't either. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Board information. All right. We will move to our staff and Mrs. Zulu, you are recognized. >> Thank you so much. So, I want to start um with a few things. The first is I do want to share that we checked the survey link and while there were interactions with the survey meaning people selected the survey and clicked on it there was no feedback provided on the survey ahead of today. I also um really briefly want to touch on a couple of reminders regarding
020our curriculum that we have to look at in the state of Florida. And the first is just a reminder that while many of the curriculums, including curriculum that we currently have in use in Putham County, while many have national versions of their curriculum, there are certainly changes that are made for every single state. And when it comes to Florida in this particular course of hope, our state has some things in place to try to help ensure that many of the pieces that were mentioned here do not make their way into the Florida version. And so when we talk about um that only certain modules are available with the um the access that we currently have, we need to keep in mind that part of that reason is because what we have access to is what
021was submitted for the Florida adoption for the Florida version of the hope course. So while they're very well maybe and I know for certain there is with HealthSmart when they did their presentation um they did a great job of telling us about some of the national concerns with their um with their curriculum. They were very quick to help us as a review committee team understand that what they were presenting was not the national version of the curriculum but the Florida approved version of the curriculum. The other reminder I want to give and we'll go to the links in just a minute um because we do want to make sure um that everyone can see what we see when we look in terms of the student editions. But the other reminder is that there is no
022way for a community member or a parent because of the the stage and the process we are there is no way to access the teaching materials for any of the curriculum. And you may recall when I stood before you last time, we talked about some of the reasons why Florida has put that in place. And that includes things like keeping um assessments secure, not giving answer keys and things like that with a curriculum ahead of an adoption. So those are two important caveats that I am not sure that everyone is aware of that I thought might be helpful reminders as we continue to talk through this process. The other thing I um wanted to bring up is that if you look at our policy 2417 and you think about what the state has put in
023place with Florida statute 10003.42 there are lots of requirements around this hope course. Um in that course we are required to ensure that we have two conditions met. The first is that we are required to select a hope curriculum that is approved by the state of Florida. Currently, there are three curriculums on that list. Unfortunately, the one that we heard a lot about this morning, choosing the best, is not currently a Florida approved curriculum. It is not on the state's instructional approved list for the hope course. Um, there are the two that we um talked about and there's one additional from GoodArt um and I can't remember the second part of that name, but there is a third publisher on there. it is not choosing the best um but there is a third publisher that
024is listed. We and our team really honed in on those two and I want to say again in the Florida version. So when we when um one of our wonderful speakers mentioned that they were only able to see six modules and not those other modules that are out there nationally. There is intention behind that because those will not be available with our purchase of those materials. I also want to add um that when we work to create when we do adopt curriculum and we work to create guidance for teachers, one of the things that our team is tasked with is taking the course standards directly from what CPOMS and the state has said must be taught in the course. And then we take the materials and we overlay that and we help folks with things
025like pacing of a course, what standards are we doing at what time of year and what portions of the curriculum directly align to those particular standards or benchmarks. The superfluous pieces, the pieces that do not directly align or sometimes they align but they feel extra, right? things like word searches, crosswords, things that maybe do align but don't have the same cognitive lift. Um, so often those things are not included on our yags as well. And we do all of that with extreme intentionality to help further ensure that students in the classroom and teachers in the classroom are able to access the most aligned and most appropriate portions even from what we have actually adopted um within our state. And now, if you'll give me just a minute to kind of be messy, I do want
026to go and pull up the links and just make sure that everyone is able to see how we access the curriculum, what is there and available for us to see, and why there may be those differences. Um, so if you'll give me just a minute. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you so much. I apologize. Old eyes and old hands. Take just a minute. Here we go. And here is the username. And then let's just grab that password. All right. So you can see when you access the link directly from the presentation. Um now I've lost it. I apologize. Here it is. Okay. It hid from me there for a second. So, you can see that 1A and 1B for the course. Um, they are both listed there. I do want to reiterate though, these are
027only the student addition sides of the course. So, I'm not sure when we talk about I know one of the um wonderful community members presented um a slide from an assessment. I'm not entirely sure what assessment that would have come from. It could have been it came from a classroom activity from the student edition, but if it came from a teachers edition, that would not be publicly available at this time because again, there are state um statutes saying that we must provide the student link um and the publishers receive that information as well. So, as you click through, you can see you can get to all of the different modules that are available in the Florida version here. If you select any of these and you just click into it, you can get into individual
028lessons. Um, you can see all of the text that's included, the photos, anything that basically would be included on the studentfacing side of the curriculum, you're able to see via the links um, that were in the presentation I shared with you and that are also available on the teaching and learning website. But I certainly do recognize frustration when you are very um when you're trying to be very mindful of what you're looking at with your students. I could see um the the the want to be able to see the other pieces. But I did just want to make sure that the board understood why it is only the student edition and what you are able to see versus what you would not be able to see and the rationale as to why. Um we can
029do the same for the other curriculum. If you'll give me just a moment, we'll go ahead and click that. And the link takes you um to the curriculum. But again, it is only the this is going to be the same. It's only going to be the student side. But we can go here and then copy and paste our password as well. And I don't want to save that. And that one could be I just logged in over there just to verify. So I'm not sure. >> Password is called password one. >> Oh, perfect. And actually here it did let me. There we go. And so on this one where you can only see certain modules. Again, this is the company that did show us that they had I feel like it was 11 or 12.
030I can't remember the exact number, but there were certainly many, many more modules in the national version than what is in the Florida DOE approved version of this course. Again, in Florida, um there are very strict uh requirements and there's a pretty stringent process um where to even be considered for the adoption in Florida, you have to meet the state's state's criteria and that is not done by our team. That is done by a team of state reviewers that represent um typically multiple districts, multiple roles. you have community members, you have families, you have teachers and the like on those committees typically. So that is not done here. We don't get to decide what's on Florida's approved list or not. We just have to follow their rules about now what we will review um for
031our district. >> Can can I Yes. Let's stop there real quick and let the board All start with Miss Wagner. >> I just I just want to be clear. So, so we are required as a district to choose from what they approve and there's only three that are approved. >> Yes. >> So, so we don't even have the ability to actually get something that's proven um I mean if this data is correct and some and and and somebody in Georgia's pregnancy rates have gone down 75%. That's huge. Yeah. So, we don't even have the ability here to to choose that or or something similar? >> Not that I'm aware of. I know that there is some guidance that says if a district has created their own instructional materials plan, you can um you can create
032policies and things around what that would look like. I've never taken the steps to attempt to do that. So, I'm not entirely sure, Miss Wagner, what that would what that would all entail. It's just not come up in the past. Um, but I know that there is some provisions for a district to create their own version of what the instructional materials would look like. The thing that makes me wonder is because this course has so much additional legislation attached to it if this would be a course you would be permitted to do that with because they do have that added requirement of approved by the state for hope in a way that other courses don't always have that provision written in >> do our department of education for the state of Florida has approved these
033three >> yes >> curriculums to choose from and and I know >> we went through this a year or two ago. Miss Wagner brought forward to us to, you know, the fact that we believed in male and females being in their respective lanes. And u I don't know it. I just that I really don't like it when they make kids have to identify their religion based on stuff you see now on TV with Turning Point USA and people getting persecuted for being religious or whatever religion they may be. Uh but but I'm going I'll go ahead and hear the rest of the board. >> Yeah, let's uh let's let's go through the questions. Uh Miss Gillard, >> will you go back to the slide just before that one where it had the choices, the subjects
034>> for hope? Yes. I'll go to taught. Yes. >> It had the pictures of the students there and and there was one below it that talked about >> Oh, it could have been here. This was for the >> Is there any way that we could kind of look at some of what's presented there? I I see the icon for Yes. >> So this Yes, this is our alternate, but we can definitely look at this. >> It's an alternate. What does that mean? >> So we have the primary recommendation and then we have the alternate recommendation. The primary recommendation would be the one that we would look at um that we're recommending to you that we adopt districtwide. the alternate is there in the case of any kind of issue coming up some you know the
035board not feeling comfortable with that decision. Let's say that a company um goes out of business before we finished an adoption which sounds unusual but we have had small companies in the past that have had situations like that. So the alternate is there as a just in case so that if we got to the end of the adoption and there was a need we'd have an alternate selected so that we wouldn't have to necessarily go back through the entire process again. >> Miss Pickkins. >> Okay. Well then in that case I'd like to look at what Miss Gillyard asked for and then I'd like to look for the same subheading in the one that we has been recommended. >> Sure. Um, is there one here that you're interested in? And you can see like if
036you have seen the national version, you already know that even within these lessons, there's a lot missing from the national version. So, while this is the title, you've got um getting appropriate health care, researching health habits, setting a goal to improve my personal health, preventing chronic disease. Is there one specific >> about preventing infectious disease? >> Preventing infectious disease. >> And while you're looking for that, Sure. Did I understand you correctly to say that, excuse me, the state of Florida uh deliberately took out that that team that they put together deliberately took out some units or chapters for lack of the term you use. >> The publisher did. >> Yes. that that the state of Florida is saying, "No, we don't want our children exposed to this >> to certain elements." Yes. And so then
037the publishing company removed those things from the Florida version. And you may recall, I'll use a scenario to kind of help us all think through this. You may recall the math adoption a few years ago when most districts had already adopted. We got through the process and then as we were getting to the very end, the state said some some statutes had passed around social emotional learning and some other things being added into content area curriculum. And you may remember that back then the state said no to some publishers who had been previously approved. They came back and said no based on these new statutes, you are no longer approved unless you make these changes. We at the time, a good example of this would have been our McGraill math curriculum company, right? We had
038already selected them. They came off the list, but the state gave McGra Hill a period of time to appeal the decision and to alter their materials to meet the state statute, and they did. And in that instance, it was just the removal of some things around um um helping kids feel like mathematicians and even some of the social emotional pieces. Focusing on behavior during math was an area where the state said, "We understand you may need to focus on behavior, but in the content area, is that really the best place to do this?" And so they removed it. We ended up with those materials, etc. Sometimes it happens on the back end of an adoption, but typically and more recently since the math adoption, our state has put a lot of things in place to
039proactively help ensure that publishers have a really good idea before they ever even decide if they want to submit and apply to be on the list for Florida. They say, "Here are my requirements." And it's pretty rigorous if you've never seen what they have to submit to the state. um it's far more intensive even than what we do. Um they have to really justify and provide evidence that they are or are not meeting certain pieces before they can uh show up on that list. It may also be um interesting or important to note that the state just updated this list again on April 9th. I just checked as I was listening to some of the things just to make sure it was still current because this does sometimes happen. You can be in the middle
040of an adoption and the state is still making changes and adding things to a list and sometimes removing things to a list before the final adoption closes. And this is one of those times where I had to go back today just to see and make sure nothing else had come on and it has not. So it was updated on the 9th for all the subject areas included in this adoption and there are still um only those three choices for this particular version of hope the hope with the PE variant. >> Okay. >> All right. So we're now going to look at the disease. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> I think that's the one you >> appropriate question. >> All right. >> And I and tell me what you I mean I'm happy to click around on
041anything else here. Um, but you can see the objective. Summarize direct and indirect ways common infectious diseases can be transmitted. Describe how common food born diseases are transmitted. Summarize ways to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. >> How about like the um the initial title on that section was abstinence and other things. I don't see anything there about abstinence. >> No. And it could be as we continue going. It's in here. Um this is just the lesson overview. So let's >> I mean about the whole that whole section though is called abstinence. >> I can't remember. >> Yeah. But this is just >> this is just one lesson. Yeah. So it could be as we keep going and let's look at student resources. Maybe there's something here. So we can see the student journal. Let's
042see what that looks like. Preview in English. The cold or flu affect quality of life. Long lasting illnesses. You can see the word list down the side. So, it looks like this is just infectious diseases in general. Um, let's go see if we can find another lesson that may um be within this. >> Jim, while you're looking for those, um, the board attorney had a question. >> Sure. >> Go ahead, Mr. Holmes. You're recognized. So just to further emphasize the point you you stated that DOE the state department of education essentially mandates that the districts choose a course from their from DOE's approved list. >> Yes. You said that you were aware of but maybe not totally familiar with uh the possibility that a district could create its own course sort of tailor make its
043own course perhaps >> an instructional materials plan and within that I don't know any of the details so I'm not sure if you could select from something I know you can I know because I've heard from another district they built some of their own curriculum for another content area using a district um created policy for instructional materials, but but I don't know enough. I own I know just enough to make myself sound silly probably. So, I'll stop there. >> Even if that happened, wouldn't the Department of Education from on the state level have to approve that? >> Yes. >> I don't know. I know that we would still be tasked with meeting the mandates required in the statute >> except for health plans. This health curriculum, any curriculum that um teaches reproductive health and the
044reproductive health and any disease must be approved by DOE. So even if we picked something different or created something different, >> we would still have to submit it to the state for DOE to approve before we could use it. We cannot use we cannot create anything without DOE approving it. And that's what I was alluding to about this one particular course has these added pieces because of what is contained within the course that is very different than many of our other adoption cycles and courses that we've had to look at >> that process >> just for clarity like a requirement in statute is that awareness the the only thing we can teach is absence we can't go off of that path That's the only thing we're allowed to touch on there >> in the state
045of Florida public school >> and see here's some here's some additional studentf facing resources. What are the benefits of a annual health exam? >> You say the only thing you could teach. >> I I'm sorry I didn't we were I wanted to make sure I heard you clearly. You said the only thing you're the district's allowed to teach is abstinence. >> Correct. >> That is. And as far as like the um gender identity, if you go back to Florida statute 103.42, we our curriculum must match what is in that statute, which is very clear gender roles. And and as far as staff has done their best to ensure that we're meeting all those requirements. >> Well, and the state would to Jen's point, the three that are on this list, the state has verified that
046that's the case. Although there may be national versions of this curriculum, the one that has been submitted to the state, >> yes, >> would not have those pieces in it. Don, there's going to be real liberal states that want to teach crazy, you know, the stuff that we really don't want to expose our kids to. And in the state, if they get enough complaints from organized pastors or community members and they'll take it back and they'll probably restrict it again and then provide you with the same curriculum but with some more parts pull out of it. I I just wanted to make sure that we emphasize the fact that this board does not have the freedom or the latitude to just basically create its own path. Um you you you've got like it or not,
047good or bad, be in favor of it or not, the state's giving you a fairly narrow lane to travel in. Am I not right? >> Yes. Now, I will add that remember that um today is not the vote, right? Today is the first feedback gathering session and we also did the survey as a feedback gathering mechanism. We did the review committee meeting. We had an elimination and selection meeting that was also publicly noticed. Um but even once the board votes on April 28th, we still have a policy and a mechanism in place and it's also written into statute um that we have a process for someone to contest the adoption. The contesting of the adoption requires that the person who is contesting it directly connect back to one of those particular um requirements within the
048course. And if they can show evidence within what they have seen in the student side that we are not meeting that for some reason, well then we can have a special hearing on June 1st. we have that in the timeline if it is needed. Um but there's still there is still lots of time here even as this process continues to move forward and mechanisms for um and I'm happy to sit with anybody and do some let let's make sure you can get in let's make sure you know how to navigate the materials etc. um if that would be helpful. But there is a process by which they can go look again at the materials, access that contest form, and as long as what they're saying meets one of the criteria, then we are responsible to
049have a special hearing and relook at what this >> if I may just like what about if if someone simply, you know, completely disagrees like I I I completely get their point. I wouldn't want my child doing that uh podcasting about their home. >> But this question won't be on the Florida version if I'm >> on our alternate, isn't it? >> Can you show that to Mr. That was in the quiz. >> This is in the one we selected. >> It is right in that system. >> So, you know, >> that whole thing was from your system. >> You know, why can't they just teach >> and and stay away from the rest of the stuff? I I don't know. And I mean, I don't I don't personally like using um companies that uh in
050other states promote these things. It seems like >> supporting something we don't even believe in. But if we're if we're forced to by the Department of Education take a >> a more narrow um version of it, I you know, that makes me feel a little bit better. If we are required to only teach abstinence, that makes me feel a little bit better as well. But if they're going to slide this kind of stuff in and and our kids are having to say, "Oh, this is I don't even like encouraging them to define their culture." Um, that's segmenting people. It's, you know, there there is culture of course, but the word culture is becoming so overused. Um, it's almost asking them to define themselves by variables that maybe families don't want to use. >> M. France,
051did you have something you'd like to say? I >> I just was going to point you if you want to know what is what is required to be taught. It's your policy 2470. >> Gotcha. Yes. >> And I will tell you what is required to be taught in health education which hope is a piece of health education. It is PE and health and it is a required course. >> It's okay. >> Well, while while Jyn's looking for that, I just, you know, would like to give my comments. I can tell you that, you know, I follow the legislature very closely and have on schoolboard issues and, you know, over 50 or 60 bills independent of the budget bills that they're passed. you know, we deal with an education every year and you you see the
052list and and you know, clearly um and I think that you know, the past two governors have strongly supported that that this type of program, you know, they don't want in the public schools and and and um and of course the DOE secretary, you know, follows very closely and they have to report back to the legislature on implementation of the legislation through um administrative rule. So, um you know, it's um I I don't know, there probably aren't many other states that have as a conservative agenda as what Florida has, maybe Texas. Um, and um, now I'll be honest with you, I'm not an expert in this field and and you know, I have to listen very closely, but I do know that there's been a legislative trend every year for the last almost 16 years
053where this this process continues to get more refined and more streamlined in specifically what the state will allow the districts to do. >> Correct. >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. Please proceed or as board have any other questions? >> I just, you know, we've got, if you look at it, Phil was pretty explicit on what he said, uh, we've got a very conservative governor and legislature, but, you know, they tell these publishers what they will tolerate and what they won't tolerate based on complaints like you've heard and concerns, you know, on a a larger level. and they try to, you know, duct tape it around to where, you know, it it'll go by and still we're probably not happy with what we see. But I I don't know. I just I'm I'm like
054Phil. It's we if you can't if Florida can't put it together something that's palatable. I mean, that's not saying you're not going to have a teacher somewhere that may not go off the rails and teach something and they shouldn't, but I mean, we're going to have to adopt a curriculum, but we can adopt it and send a letter to the state, you know, if if that's what the board ultimately chooses to to try to find a way to change even these minor things. It we need more local control, you know. >> Well, one of the things that I'd recommend, Mr. Missoula is if that you know today's a workshop we're not voting um that between now and and when we do vote if if you could meet with the group and uh I'm happy to
055attend and um you know we kind of flesh this out so that we're everybody's on the same page. >> Yeah. >> Sure. >> Okay. >> Now to be clear I I'm happy to meet and show to make sure everybody can navigate >> but the process has already started and we're in place. So the next step would be the vote has to happen on the 28th. Now you can vote yes or you can vote no, right? There's always that opportunity, but I do want to make sure that everybody is able to feel more confident about what is there and maybe what isn't there and even what's what are the standards in the course. I could do all of those pieces with those who are willing and able. >> Okay. And how soon are we to actually
056start excuse me implementing wherein the teachers actually start teaching it in the classroom? >> So if it were to be adopted it would not be until next year and some things would have to happen. >> 26 27 >> 2627 yes in in um July we would work to create whatever the guiding documents would be around it. Um but it would be in place for 2627 if we do adopt. Miss Pickkins. >> So, this this question was an assessment question. >> It was in the quizzes. >> Okay. And so, did you say that we >> Excuse me. Let's let Mr. Zilla answer. >> So, we don't have access to the quizzes. Is it possible that you had access through a national, not the Florida? >> It was under your code >> and it could be in
057here. I just am struggling to find it, but I don't have all the I all I have is the course and what unit. So I don't know exactly where within there it is. >> We're not going to see the assessment. So >> yes, >> so um >> so it's worth definitely further, but I do believe creating a course as a former hope teacher. I do believe that if we tried to come up with a course, it would lend itself a lot more to the teacher having to go find um curriculum and and maybe maybe do go off the rails because of something in an article. To me, you if you have a textbook, then that sets parameters for the teacher and and frankly makes teaching the class a lot more organized and effective in my
058opinion. Well, I'd certainly like Jen and and you know and your your staff to let it be known at the state level that you know local we're locally we're not comfortable with some of the parameters and and language and stuff but I mean nobody left us in charge but we do we are empathetic with what we're hearing today and I don't think anybody here really wants to on the this board would would want to have goofy stuff, you know, for kids. And that's it just is what it is. Sandy, go ahead. I'm sorry. >> No, >> if I may add just one more statement, and I don't know if this is helpful or not. It may not be, but I'm going to just put it out there anyway. If you'll recall, this cycle actually was
059set to open last year, but because of the way that the state runs the adoption process, we opted not to start this process last year because we were we wanted to wait for the state's final approved list to come out before we engaged anybody including our teachers in this process. So, we unlike some districts around us, we did wait. Typically, the way that this has worked in the past, and you know, I've been here talking to you about other subject areas. In the past, you start the adoption process before the state gives their finalist. But because of all of the language tied to this course, we opted when I came to you guys a year ago, we opted to not take this step during that year because we knew the state would not have their
060final guidance. So, we really awaited it to even start this process from the beginning. So, we we kind of knew anticipatorily that that this was going to be an important one and we needed to know what DOE's final say was going to be on what books would be able to be looked at because we were so concerned with taking people's time for things that may not end up on the list at the very end. So, we did do we did do our due diligence with that and I want to thank you guys for that because I think that's um that's how we were able to to make it here. But all of the points are so valid and I will look at my calendar and um get with you all about some potential dates and
061then if um I don't know who >> you can have a spokesman uh David for your group or a contact person. All right. >> Perfect. >> And get your main information. >> I'm going to get your information. Perfect. >> That's who they need to hear from. You know, >> let me >> thank y'all so much. >> That's the only part I like this. There we go. Gender choice. You were born what you were born. >> It is sad that you have to worry about this. We got more constitutionally approved student le prayer in our public schools in Putnham County than probably anybody in Southeast. I I don't I don't know. that you know we I go off the rails talking sometimes but I I don't think anybody wants this silly stuff you know >> and
062one last thing Mr. Yes, ma'am. Um, Miss Biggin, >> the uh that policy 2471 is >> 247 >> 17 was updated just so we know it's not an outdated policy. It's 202. >> We discussed this when that was updated or I don't >> Yeah. and and you know for the group I I think that you know the board agrees with you know what you're saying and and uh I do think that the legislature has been working on a number of things over the years and that um obviously for McGraw Hill to to change and you know adapt to that because it means a lot of money for the the purchasing of their uh materials uh by 67 districts in in the state. So um um and you know I for one think that you know
063the proof is in the pudding in here and obviously in Gwynette County they've been very successful. Now we're mandated. That's all we can teach. Um it'd be interesting to find out how they got these results with you know the same the same abstinence process and um and and then look at some of the demographics too. That that that would be very interesting to me from that standpoint. So, okay. Um, Jen, is that it for the staff? >> That is it. >> Okay. All right. Um, any other questions or comments by the board? Okay. We'll adjourn this workshop, take a fivem minute recess, and then we will start our next workshop.