Guest speakers policy under review
The Coeur d’Alene School District will review its policies on controversial issues and guest speakers after complaints from parents about not having access to classroom presentations and guest lectures before they are given to students in class.
The school board voted unanimously Monday to send the matter to the policy review committee, a group of school principals, district administrators and board members charged with making policy recommendations to the school board.
The move came after parents Mary Jo Finney and Debbie Morris spoke at several board meetings about their struggles to review the health class curriculum at Lake City High.
The two allege the district is violating federal education law by denying them access to course materials like presentations from guest speakers. Assistant Superintendent Hazel Bauman said the law covers only written curriculum like course syllabi but that the district is willing to look at its own policies in response to Finney and Morris’ concerns.
Finney said her concern for what’s being taught in health class stems from her disgust with the sex and violence in books available in school libraries and offered in classes.
Some of them read like “smut books,” she said, leaving her and Morris to wonder what students are being taught about sex in health class. Five books – “Fallen Angels” by Walter Dean Myers, “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou, “Snow Falling on Cedars” by David Guterson and “Beloved” by Toni Morrison are under review by a committee of school administrators, teachers and librarians for possible restrictions on student access, per the request of Finney.
“You don’t understand the struggle we’ve gone through just to try to see the curriculum materials,” Morris told the board. “Repeatedly we were told ‘We don’t have the material to provide you,’ ” Morris said.
Policies regarding controversial issues and guest speakers leave it up to the principal to decide what’s suitable and what isn’t. The superintendent handles conflicts between the principal and teachers. The district’s policy on guest speakers calls for appearances to be approved by the school principal. Parents are to be notified if a guest speaker could be controversial so they can opt out their children if desired.
Providing parents with previews of the presentations would mean requiring classroom speakers to provide audio or video recordings of what they plan to say, something district officials have said the women are requesting. Finney suggested hosting a parent night each year for parents to review the entire curriculum.
Rosie Astorquia, director of secondary education, said the policy review process will take at least two months. The board also directed that both policies be reviewed by the district lawyer to ensure they comply with all laws.