School board delays approval of academic standards policy

    Health standards proposed by the NE Department of Education have been a regular topic at recent CCS board meetings.
    That was the case again last week when several proposed school policies, 16 in all, were before the board.
    And, last week’s agenda found a new notice under the “public comment” section—a time limit of 3 minutes per person.
    While the board approved most of the policy changes at the Aug. 10 meeting, a few of them were held back for further review.
    One of those was on academic content standards. Others on standing board committees and board organization were also held up.
    Supt. Adam Lambert said changes in policy 6212 on academic standards made him and board members a bit hesitant.
    “We were nervous that it’s a blanket approval of state standards,” he said.
    He said the policy is being researched further and will be brought back at the Sept. 14 meeting.
    Lambert explained that CCS hires a law firm to update its school policies in all areas after each Nebraska legislative session, applying new law to the policies.
    Board members must then approve changes or new policies.
    The update to policy 6212 deals with adopting academic content standards of the State Board of Education.  
    However, Lambert said board members were concerned that it appears to give a “blanket” approval of any standards the state board might send to schools.
    That could include health standards which have been a hot topic across Nebraska since a controversial draft was put forth by the NE Department of Education.
    CCS’s current policy 6212 specifically lists language arts, math, science and social studies as standards from the state they adopt each year.
    However, the updated policy sent from the law firm reads, “the Board of Education may vote to adopt the academic content standards recommended by the State Board.”
    The four specific academic areas listed currently were deleted.
    If the local board does not adopt the policy, it adds the board will then “adopt a standard equal to or excess in rigor of the standard recommended by the State Board.”
    Lambert said the board likes the current policy which specifies the four academic areas.
    “We want to make sure we are in full control of our curriculum,” Lambert said.
    One policy that was approved last week deals with classroom environment.
    Policy 6111 states classrooms should be free of distractions to student learning.
    New wording adds, “Staff members may not hang posters, flags, banners or other displays in the classroom that are 1) unrelated to the curriculum and 2) may otherwise result in a disruption to the learning environment.”
    Lambert said the intent is “probably geared toward political stuff.”
    There have been no issues with such displays or posters at CCS, he said.
    Lawyers indicated the 6111 wording was added after other school districts in the state struggled with staff who displayed controversial flags or political posters in classrooms.
    Sheila Stromberger, a former CCS board member, attended last week’s meeting and asked three things of the board, which included the wording changes in 6212.
    Stromberger also asked the board to consider again a resolution sent to the board from State Sen. Dan Hughes, which  encouraged rejection of the proposed health standards.
    The CCS board has taken no action on that resolution.
    In other action, the board approved teacher, student-parent, classified and the new activity handbook for 2021-22.
    The board will wait until next summer to resurface the west playground, Lambert said. They will also be budgeting for new playground equipment.
Three minutes to talk
    Board President Karl Meeske said this week his intent of establishing a 3-minute per person time limit for public comment at meetings was to get a precedent set.
    The agenda’s public comment section now reads: “Public comment is a time for the public to voice their opinion to the board of education. Public comment is not considered a discussion item. Any comments or questions addressed to the board will not get a response. The purpose of public comment is for the board of education to listen to their patrons. The board president has set aside a maximum of 3 minutes per person for public comment.”
    Before the agenda addition last week, Meeske said the board had no way to limit someone who came in and wanted to give public comment for “an hour or two.”
    However, he agreed that CCS has not had an issue with long-winded testimony in the past.
    He said he’s willing to increase the time limit to 5 or 10 minutes if someone has an issue with 3 minutes.
    “I simply want all to get the opportunity to speak and do the business of the board, too,” he said.    
    Lawyers have suggested this clause, he added, and public comment time limits are always a workshop topic at NE Association of School Board meetings.
    He noted state law precludes board members from responding to patrons during the public comment time.
    However, board members can call on a patron during the rest of the meeting to discuss an agenda item, he said.
    He  said all board members are open to visiting with patrons before or after meetings, but if a patron wants to be on record during the meeting, the time limit will be in place.