During their meeting Tuesday, the Anderson School District One Board of Trustees approved four policies regarding concerns and complaints about instructional resources and selection of library materials and two policies regarding parental leave. They also agreed to join a class action lawsuit against social media companies.
During public comment, one community member and two Wren High students addressed the Board with comments on instructional resources and library materials. Revisions to both policies were on the agenda for final reading and have been the source of a number of comments at previous Board meetings.
Kasey DiPasquale addressed the Board with concerns of Marxist ideology – which promotes the greater good of the collective, being incorporated into programs within District One. DiPasquale pointed out the “Leader In Me program” which she said includes wording such as “psychological safety” and “a collective community”, is in conflict with the District’s stated goal of meeting “individual needs of each student”.
She also pointed out that a trophy for PLC, has been placed in the District office and that (Professional Learning Community) is “a collective program”. She expressed other concerns with inappropriate materials, language being recommended by the State and addressing concerns of the community. She urged the Board to vote no on one of the policies.
Wren student Dylan Goodrich expressed support for AD1 and “my librarian” regarding materials in the library which are of interest to the teen community and address challenging topics.
He gave examples of “sexual content”, which have been brought up by speakers at previous Board meetings, as including teen pregnancy and sexual assault. Goodrich expressed support for allowing teen access to diverse information and opportunity for education and understanding. “I trust in the system,” he said.
Wren High student Ella Sudbeck said, “I am an advocate for myself” and for the “freedom of a book”, to learn and be exposed to certain things. Sudbeck said people should look at the entirety of a book and not just excerpts which can be taken out of context. She pointed out that parents can “protect your children” with book restrictions or by removing that child, but restrictions should “not be on the group as a whole”.
During the business portion of the meeting, Finance Director Travis Thomas reported that the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) brought $6,183,470 to Anderson County during February and March. Anderson School District One received payments for both months in May in the amount of $2,058,737. Of that $411,747 will go to property tax relief and $1,646,990 will go to Capital projects. The LOST fund balance is currently at $12,907,365.
Superintendent Robbie Binnicker announced that District One, and five schools in the District, are now recognized as national models for Professional Learning Community concept. Binnicker said District One is a “National Model PLC District” and Spearman Elementary has recently been named a “National Model PLC School”, joining Concrete Primary, Powdersville Elementary, Palmetto Middle and Palmetto High.
A professional learning community, or PLC, is a group of educators that meets regularly, shares expertise, and works collaboratively to improve teaching skills and the academic performance of students. The term is also applied to schools or teaching faculties that use small-group collaboration as a form of professional development.
The Board unanimously approved final reading on revisions to four policies regarding concerns and complaints about instructional resources and selection of library materials.
Regarding policy KEC – Public Concerns and Complaints about Instructional Resources, Binnicker said the Board, parents, community and District staff had put in a lot of time and recommendations on the policy, which he said is very similar to the State Board of Education policy.
Regarding policy AR KEC-R – Public Concerns and Complaints about Instructional Resources, Board member David Merritt made a motion to add a parent to the three member school level evaluation committee in the policy. Under the revision, a parent of a District 1 student, will join a teacher, administrator and the school librarian in evaluating a complaint regarding a book in the school library. Their decision will then go to the District level for evaluation.
Binnicker said that policy KEC-E – Concerns and Complaint Form for concerns with a book or materials, had very little comment.
IJL – Library Materials Selection and Adoption is word for word the recommended State Department of Education policy.
The Board held first reading on revisions to policy GSCC – Paid Parental Leave which will allow paid leave for births, adoptions or fostering throughout the year, not just during the contract period of the employee, but into the summer.
The Board also unanimously gave their approval for Anderson School District One to enter into a class action lawsuit against social media companies.
Superintendent Binnicker said he has been in communication with District One attorneys regarding the devastating effect that social media such as Facebook/Meta, Instagram, Tik Tok, SnapChat and others pays in the mental health of kids.
“I am convinced that students’ use of social media has by far the greatest negative impact on their mental health,” he said. “Even of the suit is unsuccessful, I believe we draw needed attention and may force some of the comanies to consider making changes to their algorithms and platforms.” Binnicker said there is no cost to the District. “We don’t want money. We want social media companies to fix the problem.”
The Board unanimously agreed to extend the contract with Craig Galden Davis Architects through the current building program. Craig Galden Davis was the architect for the 2019 building program and “designs functional buildings and additions while being very cost conscious,” Binnicker said. “They have also spent the last year working with the district and school design teams at Concrete and Powdersville Elementary to begin programming for our new elementary school in Powdersville.”
