Board member Judy Justice reiterated that it had been 18 months since the book’s removal and that pushing until the June curriculum meeting “wasn’t really fair to the public.” Her colleague, Tim Merrick, asked why this process was taking so long. They also agreed that they had brought this item up for discussion in March and, according to board policy, it was supposed to be added to the board’s agenda within two months, which would have been the May meeting.
Board member Pete Wildeboer said he didn’t understand Justice and Merrick’s insistence, as Mason had said it would be eventually discussed. Member David Perry chimed in and said this was an attempt to “appease public pressure and news articles” on the subject; however, he later voted with Merrick and Justice because he agreed with their request to hear more information about the book’s status from district staff.
Member Pat Bradford said she wouldn’t bring this item for discussion, because “the last board meeting we had…I don’t want to drum up any more fever in the community than is already out there. I just want to have some peace and not fulfill campaign promises, not build my personal silo; I just want to do the business of teaching children.”
Bradford’s comments represent a change in tone from her appearances at public comment periods before her election in 2022. On some of those occasions, she said the former school board should’ve faced a Numberburg-like trial for mandating masks, claimed the district was sexualizing kids, and read sexually explicit content out of context from books that weren’t being taught. She also said the district needed to stop teaching ‘anti-white, anti-Christian, anti-family curriculum.’”
At an April 2023 meeting, Bradford was still voicing concerns about books, saying that Republican board members had a political mandate to “take care of the books” and to get that “vile stuff out of the school.”
Merrick responded to Bradford that “it could just as easily be said that the banning of a book was a campaign promise. We don’t have control over which part of the public shows up — that’s not our job. If they come and speak, it’s our job to find out why.”
Merrick returned to the proposition at hand, “but bottom line, we do have a policy if it is motioned and seconded, we must bring it to the board in two months — and to send it to curriculum is great, but it does not abrograte the responsibility of this board to pick up something that was motioned and seconded within two sessions.”
A majority ignored the policy and Merrick’s request, and discussion of Stamped will remain on the curriculum committee's agenda in June.
Curriculum committee changes
Bradford said she wanted to make changes to the curriculum committee, modifying it from an advisory to a standing board committee, with three board representatives out of a total of 10 members.
Mason had mentioned that she had a written proposal for the curriculum committee changes, but the public could not view it during the meeting because it had not been uploaded to the district’s website. Other documents the board discussed throughout the meeting, including budget documents, proposed policy changes, and memoranda of understanding, were also unavailable. This appears to be a violation of board policy 2320, which requires that “Any supporting documents must be uploaded prior to the start of the meeting.”
WHQR reached out to the board and the superintendent to ask why these were not visible during the meeting and has yet to hear back.
Mason also said she wanted to dig into the English language arts curriculum, "Wit and Wisdom," because she had heard concerns about it from parents and teachers. She cited the May 2024 climate survey as the source for staff concerns. Perry said that the same survey indicated that teachers don’t want to be micromanaged and want to be trusted by the board to do their jobs; the results showed that about two-thirds of teachers felt the school board did not value their expertise.
Merrick added that board members aren’t experts in pedagogy, like district staff, and said he didn’t want this committee to ignore staff input.
Barnhart and Wildeboer mentioned that part of their job as board members is to approve the curriculum and ensure that it contains “high-quality content” for students.
Ultimately, the board unanimously decided to keep the committee’s advisory status, with two board members present, along with eight other staff and community members. Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes said he wanted the two board members to rotate every year so more of them could be a part of the conversations around curriculum. The board did not vote on who those first members would be. Right now, Mason is the only one listed for this committee.
A collection of community groups is planning a “Hands Off Books” rally before next Tuesday’s board meeting. One of the reasons listed for the event is that the board didn’t take up the status of Stamped.
