The full board met on Monday (11/18).
During public comment, a number of people brought up concerns that elementary children are not getting enough recess time. They made some good points and backed up their position with several scientific studies. Superintendent Golden indicated that this issue requires state-level attention.
For several meetings now, both students and parents have commented that fine arts teachers such as music and drama teachers are not being properly compensated for all of the extra hours spent working on plays and musicals. You can listen to all of the public comments starting at approximately 29:25.
Discussion of changing the head lice policy was removed from the agenda due to public concern and to avoid confusion.
The five-year capital plan for $878,984,665 (see agenda packet) was voted on and passed. Some newly-elected members had questions regarding how these numbers were determined and wanted clarity prior to voting. Some of the members who have been on the board, including Dan Cash and Josh Brown, explained that this is a living document that can be changed and updated, with further approval being required. The document is part of the process of forecasting and securing funding. Tony Bostic voted “No” and Donna Clements and Margie Johnson abstained. Discussion on this starts at approximately 1:23:36.
The WCS Employment policy generated a lot of discussion at the November school board meeting. School Board Member Claire Reeves proposed an amendment to remove the subset listings of pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression because they all fall under “sex” as defined by federal law. As clarification, the applicable laws would be cited at the end of the policy. This simplifies the process going forward because, as federal law changes around these protected classes, only the legal citations would need to be changed. The policy verbiage would remain the same. Eric Welch argued against the amendment. He favored keeping the listed verbiage as part of the policy. In the end, the amendment was approved by a vote of 9 to 3. Members Drason Beasley, Eric Welch, and Melissa Wyatt voted against the amendment. Discussion starts at approximately 2:18:43.
