Summary of Public Comment from October 28, 2020 School Board Meeting

Commenters at the meeting, both in person and over the phone, focused on three main concerns for the Board’s consideration.

First, community members confronted the Board about attempts to limit public comment in both the October 5th meeting and the October 28th meeting. In the October 5th meeting, the Board limited the number of callers who could speak. At the October 28th meeting, after much pressure from the community prior to the meeting, the Board leadership went from their original plan of only accepting comments from in person speakers, to limitations of one hour of in person speakers and one hour of call in speakers. The public also confronted the Board about the lack of transparency about voting items and attempts to bring forward motions for major changes at the end of long meetings, after public comment had already been cut off and without informing the public of these possible voting items ahead of time.

Second, students and parents voiced concerns about the District’s new grading policy on the Secondary level, which requires teachers to calculate grades with 70% of grades determined from summative assessments (tests, quizzes, etc.) and the remaining 30% of grades determined by formative assessments. Primary concerns with this decision included academic dishonesty issues, the timing of the decision given the many changes students are already encountering this year, and student mental health with the high stakes nature of summative assessments. It was also pointed out by a professor from Carnegie Mellon that this is the opposite of the grading standards that have been implemented at this high-ranking university. 

Third, other community members demanded more transparency around the safety plan, citing changes in implementation of the plan and a lack of clarity around those changes. Callers cited issues with air filtration as well as requesting definitive information about which health experts would be considered as the district navigates between full in person instruction, hybrid instruction, and full remote instruction. Callers requested transparency around the plan similar to the district’s Covid tracker, which updates regularly as positive cases occur.