North Scott school board members hold a special forum 6:45 p.m. today at the junior high to hear public concerns about racial bullying and responses at the junior high, and a separate complaint involving one teacher's diversity curriculum at the high school.
Superintendent Joe Stutting said he’s also heard that some residents also have concerns about COVID masking wearing, and the district’s proposed student-built home sites south of the junior high.
The forum follows new public disclosures of weeks of racial bullying by about a dozen white junior high students against an African-American girl. Some parents complained to board members about principal John Hawley and staff's presentations to students about the bullying.
Board members also said they got complaints about high school English teacher Jennifer Sambdman’s diversity curriculum. Stutting said parents objected to the specific curriculum she offered as an option to high schoolers.
Stutting said the junior high staff acted because the bullying went on for weeks, "until one of the students finally asked for help."
"Based on lack of emathy and racist types of comments and social media posts, we needed to do something to get more empathy and understanding on behalf of our seventh graders. Everyone agrees we need to do those kinds of things. But means and types of lesson became debatable," he said.
"When you combine those two incidents together, some people went on social media to ask if there’s a liberal agenda at the North Scott school district," Stutting said Monday.
Board members convene at 6:30 p.m. at the administration center for a brief public hearing on next year's budget, then move to the Junior High for the 6:45 p.m. forum.
Stutting’s April 7 memo to parents outlined some concerns and the district’s responses.
Throughout the past several weeks, there have been two instances in which concern was expressed about separate lessons at the Junior and High School. The purpose of this email is to communicate with our families regarding these concerns and clear up any misinformation that may be circulating.
The lesson at the High School was carried out in a college-level composition class for Juniors and Seniors. The lesson, Oatmeal Essay, was designed to meet writing standards and critical thinking skills. Part of the lesson included the students reading through a list of statements that caused them to explore their beliefs on certain topics; beliefs that may get in the way of processing information from sources that do not parallel their own beliefs. The assignment raised concern among some of our families. In looking into this situation further, we found that the list used in the assignment was not appropriate. In hindsight, we should have also provided parent notification proactively before the lesson started. The high school administration has worked with the department to ensure this lesson will meet our expectations in the future.
The Junior High lesson was with our 7th-grade students and was carried on Monday, April, 5th. The lesson contained three presentations. The theme of the presentations revolved around harassment at school and online, real-world implications of harassment in the workplace, and building empathy for others. The Junior High Student Service Team recognized a need to address the aforementioned topics based on problems they have experienced this year involving harassment at the 7th-grade level. Additionally, they wanted to take the opportunity to reinforce our “See Something, Say Something’ expectation as several situations had gone unreported for months of time this school year. It is our job as professionals to make sure all students feel safe and welcomed at school.
The following bullets go into detail about each presentation.
Harassment at School and Online: Retired police officer, Hank Jacobsen, presented information on harassment, bullying, and the law. Topics discussed included social media presence, the impact of words in person and online. Mr. Jacobsen explained to what extent the treatment of others is tolerated and at what point it becomes an issue of harassment according to the law. He stressed to the students that everything you put online, whether it is on social media, on your phone, or computer is permanent and public. The most common thing that adolescents get in trouble with when it comes to the law is harassment and threats.
Real-World Implications: John Deere representatives Adam Fahrenkrog and Charlie O’Neil spoke about bias and harassment in the workplace. They stressed how harassment matters in the workplace and that there is a zero-tolerance to the point of termination. Charlie O’Neill shared personal experiences to give students a broader perspective on racial matters and the importance of treating others kindly despite beliefs and biases. An important message that was shared is that we all have bias - we are not responsible for our first thought, but we are responsible for our second thought and our first action after that second thought.
Empathy and Respectful Behavior: School Counselors, Sarah Riley and Holly Leinhauser, and Principal John Hawley held a session on empathy and respectful behavior. During this session, students learned the importance of demonstrating respectful behavior to all students and staff regardless of personal beliefs and biases. Mr. Hawley shared that we all come from different backgrounds, have different talents and gifts, and are exposed to different opportunities. The students were given a series of life situations to understand the concept of advantages different people have as a result of their circumstances and how this learning might impact the way we treat others. Students took part in small group discussions around how understanding other people’s situations may help us treat one another better because when we know better, we do better.
We encourage anyone who may have questions or concerns regarding any lessons carried out in the North Scott Community Schools to reach out to teachers, building principals, or our central office administrators. We would welcome the opportunity to address any questions or engage in a conversation. We value the perspective of all of our students, their families, and our community members.
Joe Stutting, Superintendent