On Sept. 25, teachers, staff, and community members came together at the district office to provide comments on the newly rewritten controversial issues policy. 

     Outside of the meeting room was a signup sheet for public comment. Once the meeting started, board members called up one person at a time from the list to provide a three-minute statement on their thoughts on the new policy.

     The recent draft provided to the public doesn’t specify what many of the terms mean. Many parents and staff brought this up with concerns that the policy hadn’t been well thought out.
    “Who is society? What is honest disagreement? What is the process of debating? When does the debate end?” Annelie Haberman expressed her concerns that in the policy, there weren’t any distinct guidelines on what is controversial and how to approach the issues.

     Once everyone from the list spoke, there was still plenty of time before the meeting adjourned, so board members opened the conversation to everyone in the room. Anyone was allowed to come up to the podium and say their thoughts on the policy. 

     “I want to congratulate the community, [and] express my appreciation for the dialog that occurred [during the meeting].” -Superintendent Andy Gardner