Thread by @WilliamsonStrg

We'll be live tweeting the #wcsb work session tonight at 6pm CST - be patient with us as we're a bit rusty! Agenda & livestream links can be found here: wcs.edu/domain/1164

key items of interest: Safety Planning after the 2020-2021 School Year; 2021-22 budget, Curriculum (not sure what this agenda item entails?)

Word on the street is there's a anti-mask rally in front of the #wcsb work session....looking for updates and will share if we have them.

A quick primer: you can find your district's school board member here (corresponds to the voting district on your voter registration card) and there's a link to email ALL of them at once at the bottom if you so choose. wcs.edu/domain/1163

We'll use last names of the #wcsb members to share quotes/statements and will make every effort to be as 100% accurate and in context as possible! Please DM as anytime for clarification or if we somehow misrepresented something. Here we go....

Looks like 11/12 #wcsb members are present. Jen Aprea D5 is not in the room. (unsure if she's zoom'd in)

Jason Golden's superintendent report agenda: portraits of excellence report on overall status of district, health and safety report coming up, Fostering Healthy Solutions (FHS) update, and curriculum. #wcsb

All 10 WCS high schools are in the top 17% of all TN high schools according to @usnews , with 4 named as the top performing, non-magnet school. All other in top 10 are application-based schools.

49 students earned the AP Capstone diploma from 4 WCS high schools.

(this will all be covered in an inFocus newsletter so will lay low on tweeting out student/school news - although it's all awesome!)...stay tuned for more.

Golden: for so many of our students this was a successful year. It was hard for many, but there were moments of "normalcy" like prom, athletics, traditions.

[I believe I heard #wcsb member Jen Aprea asking a question so she may have entered the room or I just missed her when viewing the screen.]

Golden: We have ~1600 students committed to summer program, skews very heavily towards elementary students. Also Aprea is definitely there. Apologies for missing her earlier.

Golden: Going to have a lot more teacher assistants - higher ratio than in the regular year to teachers - for the summer program.

Moving onto the 2021-22 health & safety plan (aka masks)....

Golden: intend to switch to mask required to mask recommended or encouraged beginning next Friday, May 21st when school lets out.

Golden: biggest on campus adjustment this year was switching from the metrics used at the beginning of the year about school openings to maximize keeping students on campus

Golden: metric is a good look but what's happening in the buildings is better. Change happened in the fall. In spring, outdoor mask req eliminated.

Golden: 2 big reasons we aren't asking Board to vote to extend school reopening plan. 1) summer = 95% students being done and out of school. Can spread out more, better teacher/student ratios for distancing.

Golden: 2) vaccines are now available, including children 12+. Don't expect the need for a safety plan for the fall, but we're not recommending that Board votes for anything related to that.

Golden: finally re: quarantine. Don't know when those guidelines will end, have asked health dept. Not going to do seating charts in summer since no need given limited numbers and expanded distancing.

Golden: however - things are changing fast. CDC just had press conf today discussing masks & vaccines. Gary (Anderson) and his staff reviewing. Could recommend changes before next Friday if needed.

Aprea (D5): We told parents that we would follow CDC guidelines when people were asked to decide in person vs. online back in March. Encouraged that CDC is updating for those vaccinated - but don't think elementary age will have access to vaccines by fall

Aprea: ....so not comfortable saying now that masks will be optional in the fall. Do we have data to say it's safe to make that "masks optional" decision at this fall? Golden: projecting we won't need it by fall, asks Gary Anderson or Mike Fletcher to expand.

Gary Anderson (former #wcsb member/chair now and now district's director of covid response): tracking by school every day. More middle than high school students have covid now which is a change

Anderson: trends are heading in right direction. cleaning in schools will continue. Exceeding CDC requirements for air flow, including filters w/microtechnology which CDC says is most important thing.

Anderson: as of today, whole county only has 244 cases of covid, dropping every day for last 3-4 wks. Since vaccines available, no vaccinated adults in schools have had covid. They work.

Anderson: 32 schools had 0 cases last week. 15 had 1-2 cases, and only 3 schools had over 2. Awesome nursing staff - not every district has a nurse at every school [thank you #wcsb budgeting!]

Anderson: we have 12 of the 26 nationally certified school nurses in the entire state here in @WCSedu

Aprea: question #2: you can explain why we're focusing on making masks optional instead of taking away contact tracing and quarantines which are bigger burdens on teachers and students?

Anderson: contact tracing is a health dept. responsibility. Looking for a mask update from the state or local healthy department but indication that some loosening is coming. Feel very confident what we're doing is good for our kids and staff.

Aprea: can be hard to distinguish between operational (district) and policy (school board): vote isn't needed because a policy change won't be implemented, correct? Golden: understanding of state BOE is that a board vote is required to require masks and policy is recommended

Dana Ausbrooks (county counsel): yes, School Board has authority for a mask mandate & state's reco is to then set that in policy. Since reco from staff is that masks be recommended/optional, legally no req for policy. If numbers chg or staff recs differ, will bring back to board

Wimberly (d9): am confused. masks will be req through this school year unless CDC changes reco in next few days? Golden: Yes. Wimberly: for summer, recommending masks but they're optional. Golden: yes.

Golden: no projection for this fall/back to school. We don't anticipate requiring them, at most anticipate recommending them or making them optional. No one will ever stop someone from wearing a mask.

Wimberly: So as of end of school year next Friday, no masks requirement in WCS. Golden: that's correct. (yes, they are repeating this over and over again.)

Galbreath (D6): sent some questions to health dept, they didn't answer but did send some guidelines. Frustrated at their lack of transparency, they've declined to join us repeatedly.

Galbreath: what do they think about our not following their guidance on this? Anderson: we haven't told them we aren't moving forward, we've only told them about the end of this school year. Not following precisely what they recommend to the letter of the law, we're moving fwd

Galbreath: I'm fine with that but trying to understand rationale b/c all year we've said we're educators and they're health policy experts, despite ineffectiveness of quarantines - we did it b/c we said we were following CDC and health dept until now

Galbreath: what's our stance? Our judgement at the time based on some other criteria, seemingly lack of vaccine, was being used to decide if going to follow their guidelines or not?

Golden: my rationale is we will have finished the school year. Going from full populations to ~5% in summer session, the guidance wasn't intended for that scenario. Goal was to be on campus as much as feasibly could and did what we could in that regard.

Golden: summer is different. Fall we project so many changes, we don't anticipate it will be an issue. Galbreath: what's criteria to base the recommendation on coming back to us? Anderson: things changing daily.

Anderson: can't say right now, just looking at trends. Galbreath: so you'll look at data? Anderson: we make a reco to super and staff using data pts, trends, school by school.

Galbreath: there has to be an objective measure or else it's subjective and based on what feels right at the time. If we aren't going to follow CDC guidelines, that's fine. Golden: we are NOT choosing not to follow their guidelines.

Golden: I'm telling you at this point that we don't project a need for a Board vote to mandate masks this fall. We don't think CDC guidelines will be there this fall, but if they are, that will be significant factor in bringing a vote back to you.

Golden: a few months ago we couldn't project things for this fall. But now, our professionals don't see the need to continue the mask req b/c of numbers and we're out of school....I can't justify bringing a vote to you now for this fall.

Golden: i can speculate - is there a virus variant or a new trigger? I don't know. But w/ vaccines efficacy and 12+ availability, herd immunity discussions, all point to not needing to plan for masks in the fall.

Golden: 1st health event in decades, maybe ever, triggering school response like this. There's some wisdom in us planning for the next time. Get a local advisory board for us for prevention? brainstorming things like that too, not just saying we're done and moving on.

Galbreath: so you're really only making a decision for the summer, projecting CDC guidelines will change, but if they don't you may come back to us. Golden: I know you're looking for a definitive answer but it's the vagaries of health. I can't give you that.

Golden: again, we don't project needing masks but I have to be realistic - like all of this year - and know that this pandemic isn't definitive.

Galbreath: quarantining not required this summer? Anderson: we're still req to tell health dept if there's a positive case. If kids ate lunch together, we won't provide seating info like we do now. Can't say they still won't quarantine but it's out of our hands.

Galbreath: come fall, let's say no mask mandate but quarantine guidelines don't change. Anderson: CDC threw everyone under the bus with the 3 feet but quarantine with 6 feet. [ i'm not 100% clear on this part...]

Galbreath: do we need a policy or board vote to talk about quarantine if we're providing health dept info to address absences, etc? Golden: I'm certainly not going to refuse answering their questions. If they ask, we provide health professionals with info...

Golden: If you as a board don't want that to happen, that might require a board vote as an example of something you might vote on.

Galbreath: so we could vote to restrict our communications to health dept e.g. seating charts. Dana Ausbrooks: if board wants to see that in policy, would need to look at it monthly as things change per @tsba guidance.

Cleveland (D7): a policy would delay making a decision as we'd have to meet and district can't act as fast. With health dept, do we have any data re: quarantines are working or not?

Cleveland: don't think it's working as kids are together before/after school and not social distancing. contact tracing doesn't make sense and don't see any data that it's working.

Anderson: #'s thrown around nationally, but asked health dept and they aren't tracking that data as the students could have gotten it elsewhere.

Cleveland: health dept isn't requiring people to stay home outside of school situations, but we're mandating it. Taking on too much responsibility for what's happening in the county w/out data or proof.

Golden: know it's frustrating but we haven't been quarantining. Health department is doing it, not us. haven't seen any research with data points.

Cleveland: have to weigh quarantine vs. learning loss. Know we all feel that way. Golden: tough to speak sides but health dept has told supers that herd immunity will be somewhere in 70's% of vaccinated vs. smallpox which is in high 90's

Golden: hoping this becomes moot but not sure when that will be.

Cash (D2): when does school opening plan stop? Golden: Friday May 21st. (this has been said multiple times already in this meeting.)

Haugh (D11): quarantine does not apply to those fully vaccinated? Anderson: yes, 2 weeks after their full dosage.

Anderson: and you have to be asymptomatic. Haugh: hope you're relaying to health dept. that quarantines have impacted kids and missed out on so many things.

Haugh: not comfortable saying let's not help with contact tracing, could be setting a precedent that's really harmful in the future with other communicable diseases. Would like to see fewer kid disruptions, but we still need to work with the health dept.

Haugh: we all want absolutes after the uncertainty of the last year, but the specific metric we had early on wasn't popular either so this became a subjective measure. That's just the nature of this, just like with inclement weather - no metric, it's a judgement call.

Haugh: comfortable with what you're saying for the summer and fall, let's take the win. I'm optimistic trends will continue, encouraged that so much of the community has gotten vaccinated.

Anderson: quarantine is biggest issue. WCS has taken on responsibility to track the 7 days come back on 8th day as health dept won't do that, in order to reduce quarantines.

Emerson (D8): kids and families want to get back to something more reasonable. Embrace what we've accomplished, key an eye on it, and do what we need to do so this doesn't happen again. Ppl will be thrilled that mask mandate is gone. Golden: A WEEK FROM TOMORROW.

Emerson: this will allow people to make their own decisions, which has been a major concern for people in my district and my family and it's a great piece of news.

Garrett (D12/board chair): in an evolving situation with pandemic. do we know what changes are coming with quarantines? this health dept law was written in 1800's? are they looking at updating it? Anderson: some legislators have made mention of addressing that.

Anderson: nothing has been mentioned of changing duration of quarantines. Mandy Thompson (head school nurse I think?) Talking to local health dept re: contact tracing streamlining.

Next item: update on Fostering Healthy Solutions (FHS). Golden: You all voted unanimously to approve them as a reminder after months to get to that decision. Wanted to explore ways to make students safer.

Golden: Fosters doing work re: hearing from our community on what needs and fears they have, including using some surveys following board policy including giving parents opp to opt out for their students.

about 250 parents opted out of 17,000 8-12th graders. Had about 7000 student surveys completed.

If survey link was forwarded, technology was designed for it not to be usable the second time. FHS can determine if it was forwarded and noted in the data. Also did employee surveys - 1700 completed, 300 partially completed.

Listen & Learns continue for stakeholders to share, next one is tomorrow at 4:30pm. Links are included inFocus and on WCS website in calendarhttps://www.wcs.edu/domain/1164

reminder those venues are for them to listen and learn. stakeholders to be heard.

Fosters have also gone back and looked at school handbooks to see how they compare to peer district schools. and team of administrators, staff, parents to draft outlines of goals and objectives

Golden: we're not going to jump on something. going to be thoughtful and deliberate based on what they share, based on our local needs and not some national agenda. This is NOT them creating curriculum or us promoting critical race theory and you all are going to be the drivers.

[have to take a quick break to pick up some kids - parenting duty calls! be back soon, sorry...will cover the gaps where possible.]

[back!...will do a blog post at williamsonstrong.org to cover the FHS and Wit & Wisdom materials hopefully tonight/tomorrow]

Golden: showing slides on curriculum selection process to address community questions pertaining to Wit & Wisdom. Dave Allen, head of curriculum & instruction is speaking next

D. Allen: our elementary adoption is the most important one that takes place in our district b/c it's the most complex, and teaching early literacy is difficult and requires systematic & following the research.

Allen: our staff is really excited about the early returns but recognize there are ways we can improve it. Wants to address confusion re: state standards, in scope & sequence which tell us what's expected of students. ELA is kind of vague - main idea, theme, etc.

Allen: textbook adoption process is one of most transparent processes we have per policy, engages more stakeholders than anything else, tells us what textbooks will be used to meet those state standards. They're separate pieces and often get confused.

Allen: these are now content based materials, somewhat a new method but follows most recent research on how students learn to read. Also preferred method by TN Board of Education. Different than how any of us learned to read.

[this is what it sounds like to listen to a true educational curriculum expert, for those listening in.]

Allen: had over 40 parents on the textbook adoption committee, sort of acts like electoral college. We ask every elementary reading teacher which materials they prefer. the committee takes that info and follow that recommendation of staff, almost always.

Allen: teachers who wanted to stay with Wonders materials said it was mostly due to familiarity, but now in speaking with many of them they're seeing great results with Wit & Wisdom. Other TN districts were consulted on their experience to understand student outcomes.

Allen: asked them if there were any content issues. Heard this is tremendous program and seeing great growth. Also heard ZERO comments they had run into any concerns on content, which is suprising based on some 4th grade "heavy" materials which are going to be updated.

Allen: department has only heard 4 concerns. Some on length of civil rights module which is 7 weeks, others on some 4th grade materials that are heavy for that age. Making some modifications to address the latter.

[and by 4 concerns, he actually said his department has only received 4 emails on content concerns from WCS teachers.]

Allen: don't enter into content modifications decisions lightly, and rely on the experts to do so to set the students up for success. It's more complicated than removing a single text, as things build through the modules. Following the research & recs of the experts.

Allen: going to continue to make modifications and improve content without pulling at the fabric of the entire curriculum. Teaching kids to read is THE most important thing we do in this district, to set them up to be successful in reading.

Allen: the department team is doing a great job at listening as teachers, admins, parents and making modifications where they can. Want to continue to "soften" wit & wisdom 4th grade curriculum to make it more uplifting.

Allen: going to teach kids to read at the highest level possible, and continue professional development for teachers to help them navigate curriculum. Offered help at every step of the way.

Golden: new material is constantly being added and that's an ongoing challenge, and we have work to do. We know that, e.g. a video that was brought to our attention. None of our teachers had used it, but restricted app to teachers only while we look further.

Fiscus (D4): met with a family and Dave Allen's team re: the family's concerns, which focus on the age appropriateness of the content. Allen: many of these texts have been taught in these grade levels for years, as historical context.

Allen: we're in conversation with Wit & Wisdom, but will they rewrite the curriculum just for our district? No. Had to twist arms just to get some of our 4th grade concerns met. This new program puts higher lexile level material in front of our students due to reading reasearch

Allen: which shows that putting highest level possible as stretch material in front of students. Now we're struggling on how or if we be the moral compass for these materials - relied on TN Board of Ed and reading experts to say it is appropriate.

Allen: we're struggling. Wit & Wisdom has been responsive and are working on 2.0 for fall os 2022 for it to be ready and we see light at the end of the tunnel.

Allen: in 10 years of doing this, this is different for every family. There's always something in curriculum that could draw criticism and we have to balance all that. Have also received emails that parents are thrilled with the content and their kids are reading more than ever

Cash: are we discussing this now or later? I had it put on the agenda. I have a presentation here and a lot of information and if we're doing it later that's fine.

Garrett: when a board member requests something, it's put on as an item for discussion but if no one objects we can see his presentation now. We also have a request for a break. Taking a 10 minute break.

(after Fiscus asks) are our kids still able to do an accelerated reading program outside of what's being done in class? Allen: yes, buildings still have an option to do that. District office doesn't lead that.

Fiscus: bill passed in legislature, do we see that impacting any other books that Wit & Wisdom has chosen re: civil rights issue? Golden: we'll have to review, items it says we can't do are things we already don't do. Will require constant professional development

and we're back.

Cleveland: Based on an email board received, children's values start at home not in school. All we can do is provide well-rounded education. Parents are very diverse, as are their opinions, and we can't please everyone. She reads from a parent email...

we need to continue on this path because we need to keep our kids learning critical thinking not just in education but in life, or we're doing a disservice to our children.

Mitchell (D3): thx Dr. Allen for reminding us of the goals of the curriculum, which is to teach reading and comprehension. This concern re: content has been there since the beginning of public schools. Tells story of his mother when she was in high school.

Mitchell: been a dark & heavy year. everyone has real concerns about negative impact of pandemic. Take that into consideration when looking at curriculum - the dark & heavy material likely brings additional concern to the table because of it.

Cash: starting school in the fall was a heavy lift w/teachers jumping through unimaginable hoops. "Curriculum didn't have to be put on but was which added another burden to elementary teachers"

Cash: "most of the things there are issues with are in the 2nd grade curriculum which are not age appropriate in some people's eyes". People are paying attention. It's the whole atmosphere and they're getting into this stuff. I had a meeting, gave 10 day notice, had 220 ppl show

Cash: had some emails, some I still don't like and not sure if they've been investigated or not. I had folks out, mentioned 2nd grade and the civil rights act. Thinking about my own kids (grown) and grandkids and thinking who can understand this

Cash: Dave Allen and I don't agree on a lot of stuff but thanks him for his passion, think we've talked for 3 hours on this. Something needs to be done. we're dealing with babies, with kids. Everything is so dark it's unreal.

Cash: going to go through my presentation. Requested this be put on the agenda. Want to state for the record that the concerns that I have don't have anything to do with recent legislation or CRT.

Cash: concerns were from parents, teachers, and admins over inappropriate content in some of the texts being used. not advocating to abandon the adopted curriculum but I do want us to know what's in there that has raised these concerns.

Cash: has nothing to do with politics, CRT concerns, or any TN legislation - they're concerned with developmental appropriateness of reading content we place in front of 5 and 10 year olds. Handed out some sheets with some of the books highlighted.

Cash: you can look up online but they don't give you the big picture. Some I find intriguing for a guy my age, but why can't we let the teachers have discretion? There isn't any - but the structure is awesome according to teachers. There's no room for adjustments.

Cash: teachers having to teach to the script. restating his concern. topics are too confusing, too complex. Person "i've known for years, counselor type" said there's too much stress being put on these children.

Cash: parents are saying "lets the kids alone in elementary school." He's reading from written, prepared remarks...."why not insist on age-appropriate text and stories for our very vulnerable young students. in speaking with teachers and counselors there's a very real concern"

Cash: "all of our elementary students need to feel safe, to be cared for, loved, in our school communities. They'll ultimately face the reality of these topics soon enough."

Cash: opens up the floor for feedback.

Cash: Dave says he hasn't had a lot of feedback that this (curriculum) is bad but I have. Not saying he's not being truthful. Maybe we should consider an anonymous survey for teachers.

Cash: they may have some ideas or changes they would like to see. There are some issues that need to be looked at. What grade level with Wonders?

Golden: in the past? Looking to continue to challenge students in reading. They did well with Wonders, projections we have are this is the next step - we're always pushing to do better.

Golden: the state emphasizes growth more than they emphasize academic performance. You have to find creative ways to push high performers.

Cash: "I don't see where degrading the family unit, there has to be a big deal going on with a family like in Hatchet - mom is having an affair - I want to get the book [hasn't read it??] But why do children have to hear about a dysfunctional family?"

Cash: we have enough issues with divorce and with kids going from one parent to the other, and little kids that tell teachers everything that happens in their life. And then we start reading stuff about mean people being "injected into these kids".

Garrett asks if we can open up to discussion now. Cash: if you don't want to hear from me anymore. I'm explaining what I'm feeling. Do we have to go into suicide? the military troops from Great Britain running the women out naked and killing them?

Cash: ...and using their skin for leggings? And then we look at the River Between Us, talking about prostitution and sexualization of women?

Emerson: I love books. I love reading. Kids are easily captivated by information in text that is of interest to them. [she was a Kindergarten teacher] But some of this is geared to tantalize and get kids thinking in ways that's not healthy. There's wonderful lit out there

Emerson: you don't have to bring sex and all this physical stuff to the kids. It's pornography. It's partly pornography when you're exposing young children who don't have experience to sort and sift through this.

Emerson: especially in these days with things going on with our nation, we've got to be more positive in the way we present information to our students. We're making a destructive decision for these students.

Emerson: It hurts my heart as a teacher. "doggone it, we don't need to expose our children to this and it makes me ashamed as the top county in TN to be exposed to this kind of junk. It's just not right."

Galbreath: can you compare what we used prior to this in terms of subject matter and complexity? Allen: some of these books have been taught before but maybe in a higher grade level. It's an increase in complexity.

Allen: these are books that they can buy anywhere instead of a textbook. Few points of clarification, I've received concerns about 4th grade curriculum and our students have done well in the past compared to other schools but...

Allen: ....2018-19 TCAP data suggests 33% of 3-5 grades were reading below grade levels. So there is room to improve and this curriculum challenges them to do so. We've heard the concerns and are working to address them.

Allen: there's always questionable text at every grade level and was before, but much more heightened this year but isolated to certain portions like 4th grade. Pulling portions out of context will sound bad, yes. I'm a dad too. Theme of Hatchet? there were zero concerns.

Galbreath: frustrates me that all of these texts were chosen by somebody for a reason, obvious they were pushing reading difficulty. Content is meant to desensitize us, like as Dan (Cash) pointed out to the "core traditional family."

Galbreath: I was unaware before Dan's focus on this. You can only pull out or work around so much content before wondering if we should be looking for another solution.

Wimberly: this discussion is one that school board's have been having since the beginning of time. We have professional educators who know this stuff well who are concerned about some of the content. We've established that. We're in agreement.

Wimberly: question becomes what are we going to do about it. Dr. Allen & team are working on it. So to the professionals: what are you going to do.

Wimberly: this is our job to talk about this, but seems to me that a definitive initiative might be in order, could be packaged so all of us including community can understand it.

Garrett: we've had a lot of discussion, have also heard from a lot of parents on the other side that say they like it and not to change it. it's the 1st year of adoption and we need to assess. Can we hear a report from Dr. Allen next month?

Golden: yes, that's a great idea and they've already started that work.

Garrett: this prompted me to order my favorite book from when I was 9 years old at Grassland Elementary, Tuned Out, about a heroin addict. Reads a passage from it about drugs.

Garrett: this IS an issue that has been a constant over time.

Durham (D1): Should we be addressing this from a policy perspective to exclude certain content? Golden: we do have some that describe basic expectations. Best thing would be to include those in June report.

Golden: can't recall a list of prohibitions. Durham: that's what I had in mind, don't want to layer in content that's questionable.

Cash: we've got one of the most well-educated workforces in this country. We created our own science curriculum a few years ago and saved the county millions of dollars. Did the same with social studies. ELA is much bigger, but we can do the same with the specialists we have.

Cash: "I know there are people on the other side, there always is, but in this social agenda today, you're going to have conflict. we can't satisfy everyone but we can look at the majority."

Haugh: multiple things can be true at the same time, and there are concerning topics and at the same time we want to challenge our students. The feedback loop is working but not as quickly as we'd like. What does Wit & Wisdom hear from other districts?

Welch (D10): we have a policy around textbook reconsideration. reads from some of it. It's not as though this is the 1st time this has come up. Would love to know about a time when everyone has been satisfied with curriculum. Wit & Wisdom was one of 3 K-5 options state gave us.

Welch: and 60-70% of our teachers said this was the best...what will we replace it with? One that our teachers didn't choose?

Welch: we're talking about generalities...not exposing kids to violence, etc. Some of the books I enjoyed in 5th grade was about a 12 year old boy who was kidnapped and physically abused by his alcoholic father. Meets up with a slave who's about to be sold off. Huck Finn.

Welch: another - paganism, worshipping animals...Lord of the Flies. keeps going with other book examples - The Outsiders, which has been referenced a few times tonight. Lion, Witch & the Wardrobe.

Welch: The Book Thief, backdrop is nazi germany. It's a great book! Let's look at this holistically, not just holler & scream & stomp about not teaching kids about bad things. There will be nothing for them to read!

Welch: what is the purpose for all of this? It's to have children get that foundational basis to be able to critically read.

Welch: busloads of young children visiting Mt. Vernon, Washington's home, where a lot of these debated topics are presented in context. not to say there aren't issues - we always will have them, as we have a wide array of opinions and views. Look at them in context.

Galbreath: did not know this 4.403 policy was there. we've not used this one so just now reading through it.

Galbreath: as part of the June report, are we soliciting feedback from stakeholders? Golden: we're going to talk about how we can.

Galbreath: would appreciate a survey. think Dan would probably agree that we should follow this policy for reconsideration, granted unsure of what it entails as hasn't had chance to read it in its entirety

Golden: this is the kind of discussion that's super valuable for a Board to have. Encourage you to look at all of those policies, they're valuable reads and often sit quietly for years until coming up again.

Cash: been a great discussion. through whole year, a lot of folks have lost trust in the Board, school system due to pandemic. A lot is riding on this also and we have to earn the trust back.

Garrett: action is asking for a report from staff next month with their recommendations. Next up: operations report. We're signing off for the evening, thanks for sticking with us!!

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