The 1/28 and 2/11 Board of Education meetings had a few interesting moments. As always, some of the more intriguing topics came up during the public comments period. During the 1/28 meeting, a middle school teacher brought up the concern of teachers’ mental health. She discussed some of the difficulties she was having at that time. She highlighted, however, the good parts of her week, the homeroom activities she did with her sixth graders: washing the bathroom and putting up positive quotes. She pointed out that administrators had no part in planning these homeroom events. Instead, administrators were consistently bringing up how to hold the teachers accountable for their jobs. She felt that this situation was unfair, and when the BoE asked if she had any ideas for possible solutions, it boiled down to being able to sit down and discuss the problems. A few of the comments made were that “administrators should not be making the teachers’ jobs harder” and that the BoE will try to get out and discuss this concern more.
At the 2/11 meeting, the public comments centered around an announcement made over the loudspeaker at Northeast Elementary School regarding gender identity. The message stated that anyone could choose their own gender and no one else could choose for them. Four different Northeast parents brought up their concerns regarding the message that was delivered. Some of them were confused and concerned on how the topic related to Black Lives Matter. They didn’t specifically disagree with the content, but rather the way it was delivered, and overall felt uninformed. For some other parents, they disagreed with the content, feeling that it wasn’t an age-appropriate topic, or that the school was assuming parents don’t teach their kids about morality. To them, this was a political issue, and the school should try to stay out of it, not favoring one side over the other. In response to these statements, the BoE emphasized that this was a complicated and multifaceted issue, and that time would be needed. They also pointed out the difference between Black Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter In School, and how they, although related, are not the same. Black Lives Matter In School targets specific goals and principles of the Black Lives Matter Movement, like teaching black history. The BoE assured the parents that they would be discussing this concern in the days to come, and would include this in upcoming curriculum committee meetings.
On 1/28, Todd Noyes and Steve Weissburg presented on the upcoming fourth annual Morocco trip and its itinerary. The trip is to take place in April with a group of twenty-four kids. They cited the very successful fundraising efforts in lowering the payments so that students with financial aid would only have to pay less than a thousand dollars. This year, the trip will be in a desert and the students will be working with and visiting a school in Marrakech. In response to a question from the BoE regarding the purpose, the teachers stated that the trip provides an opportunity to interact with a Muslim country, and acts like an “antidote to some of the things that kids hear in the media.” In order to prepare, the students taking part in the trip will be taught about Muslim culture and history. Eventually, students from the trip will come in to talk to English classes to promote the next trip and get applications. The trip is open to anyone at IHS, regardless of grade or course selection.
The 2/11 meeting devoted a large portion of its time to a discussion of IEPs, or Individualized Education Plans, largely taking place in elementary and middle schools. IEPs are plans that map out unique paths for students, in order to better address their needs. IEPs existed before, but changes are being made with the goal of involving students as much as possible. The main goal from this change is to hear from the students and how they feel about their own strengths. The BoE cited the book Getting the Most Out of IEPs as providing the reasons for the changes. One of the largest parts of this is shifting from a deficit model to a strengths model, where rather than focusing on the students’ weaknesses, they focus on the students’ strengths. Not only that, they emphasize empowering the students to take control of their own decisions. They provided examples of students across the spectrum of involvement, with some taking full control and others doing so with encouragement. One student, without being asked, provided work from October to January to show their improvement as to better exemplify where they were sitting in terms of knowledge. The BoE acknowledged and pointed out that sometimes students know what they need more than adults and appreciated the student-centered approach.
The 1/28 and 2/11 meetings were especially interesting in terms of the public comments, but otherwise were fairly standard in content, regarding funds and discussion of committee happenings.