School Board Meeting

I attended the Richland School Board meeting tonight. The topics of discussion were PLC's and Policy 2311 on Instructional Materials (specifically literary works in English classes). One board member, Phyllis Strickler, is an ultra-conservative fundamentalist who has been pushing for specific language in course syllabi which flags novels which might contain objectionable language or content. Her claim is that busy parents don't have time to read every novel on the list so teachers should alert them to which novels are objectionable.

Don't get me started on how wrong her idea is. It's the first step down the road to censorship.

But, what impressed me tonight was another board member, Rick Donahoe. Before the discussion of 2311 began, he asked to make a statement. He said the board has been arguing over the language of the policy for several weeks now and he can't go any further without saying what's on his mind. He then said in a few words what so many of us have been feeling. He turned to face Strickler and said, "What you want to do is put the school in the business of teaching, preaching, and promoting morality. You want to take the responsibility of raising children from the parents and put it in the laps of the teachers. That is just wrong. It's wrong. Where do draw the line? Let's put a line in the policy that says 'some novels might contain some objectionable material to some people. Parents are encouraged to review the novels used in this class to see if they are appropriate for their child' and let's leave it at that.

At the moment he finished, three of the other board members said they liked that suggestion. Strickler said she was obviously outnumbered. The board then hammered out some minor tweaks to the language and were done.

Mr. Donahoe demonstrated that courage is often a simple thing. It's saying what needs to be said when it needs to be said. He was polite and respectful, but said a difficult thing in a difficult forum....but he said it. And it effectively ended the weeks long discussion/debate between the board and the district English teachers.

Thank you Mr. Donahoe.