The FHSD 5’s fixation on culture war topics continues as the district faces soaring staff turn over and an operating fund balance projected to plunge 16% over the next three years. The collective theme of these policies (and Director Puszkar’s July remarks) show that in the quest to override parent/community input with their political overreach, the financial health of the district has taken a back seat. It's hard to miss the irony that this group's rally cries for fiscal responsibility and parents’ rights led us to a lack of both.
Policies 2116 and 6116 pose the greatest threat and most immediate danger to our students, but be aware that policies 6310, 6241, and 6341 combined will increase the potential for book challenges and expand board authority. An update on each policies can be found below.
Please contact your board members and ask them to VOTE NO on the policies up for second read tonight! Just use our button below to send a message to every board member.
Policy Details
Policy 0380 Restricts political canvassing on school property. [Did not advanced to second read in August.]
Policy 6114 Requires district leaders to present the board with any curriculum before allowing teachers to pilot/test that curriculum in the classroom.
Policy 2116 (Resurrected from its first read last October with no revisions. Has not been through the policy committee.) Mandates students use the bathroom or locker room of their assigned gender at birth. In addition to the discriminatory nature of this policy, its enforcement poses significant risk to student well being and leaves the district vulnerable to expensive legal battles. [Removed from August agenda.]
Policy 6116 Inappropriately over sexualizes LGBTQ students by confusing gender identity and expression with sexuality. Censors teachers by restricting acknowledgement regarding gender identity, limiting their ability to create a safe, inclusive environment.
Policies 6310 Addresses our library materials collection. Subjectively attempts to define and expand the scope of inappropriate content. Also expands management of the library collection to teachers' personal classroom collections as well.
Policies 6241 and 6341 (with additional regulation revisions) Govern library and instructional materials. These have been improved with the inclusion of an LMS on the challenge committee and more specificity about parents/community members being chosen from a pool of volunteers. Language allows the board to override any decisions by the challenge committee. Overreach concerns remain.
Comments