Hello my name is Angie Hinojos Yusuf, and I have 3 kids in
the Northshore School District. I’d like
to talk about how the Academic Subcommittee’s work was based on the District
pushing a predetermined outcome to get rid of Challenge, and I’d also like
to address a few of the policy
violations that have taken place with respect to the overall process.
In a memo from the District to the School Board dated
October 2015, the District specifically stated, “The subcommittee began meeting
in June 2015 to begin researching how to provide a challenging curriculum for
all related to the use of heterogeneous
groups.” This subcommittee was
steered to provide you with their final recommendation. They did exactly what the District expected
of them. We know that different points
of view were discouraged. From its
inception, the subcommittee work was
flawed.
I’d like to call out some of the Board Policies that have
been ignored by the District during the past year. Board Policy No. 4200 Shared Decision-making:
"All parties must commit to the use of shared decision-making in
order to foster full participation and genuine involvement of …parents, community members, and students.” The
District has not made any attempt to obtain community input on this issue.
Board Policy No. 2210 Grade
Organization: “A student will be
assigned to an instructional group or classroom, which will best serve the needs of that individual.” Many community members armed with masses of
research and tons of experience and common sense are here to testify that their students are best served in Challenge
classes.
Board Policy No. 2090 Program
Evaluation: “Program evaluations
will include the use of data and best
practices research to provide
high quality instructional services for all students.” The Challenge Program has not been evaluated. The District is trying to force changes that
many of us believe will result in extremely negative outcomes for our students,
and they do not have a good reason for doing it!
Board Policy No 3220 Freedom
of Expression: “Distribution of Materials Publications or other material
written by students may be distributed on school premises in accordance with
procedures...” As you’ll hear tonight,
several of our students were stopped from distributing both a petition and a
survey pertaining to the Challenge Program, and were told that the approval
process could take almost a month—which is after
the board votes. These kids are engaged,
they are curious, they are passionate about school. They have real opinions and deep
thoughts. For me it is inconceivable
that a Principal would stop any student from respectful discourse during
non-instructional time.
Please consider these policy violations. The
whole point of policy is to guide procedure. Without it, the District will be free to make
changes on a whim.
It is very clear that the District had an agenda from day one. Let’s be on the forefront of rational thought, and trust the data, and trust our community when we say please, Save Our
Challenge! Thank you.
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