SEL curriculum, personnel discussed in depth at KCSD voting meeting
By Christopher Miller
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – Keystone Central School District met Thursday night for their October voting meeting. After many visitors addressed the board, the meeting continued as follows below.
Dr. Francine Endler, Executive Director of Central Intermediate Unit 10, gave a presentation to the board regarding the services provided to the district.
“We cover Clinton, Centre, and Clearfield Counties with about 140 employees and serve 12 school districts as well as charter schools and non-public schools,” Dr. Endler said. “We have a board with a representative from each district with Mr. Johnston from Keystone Central as your representative and our president.”
“Our funding is derived from 31% federal allocations, 27% marketplace revenue, and 25% state allocations,” she said. “We serve the community, region, and state, speech support, visually impaired or deaf/hard of hearing, and we also serve adult learners such as those looking to get the GEDs, and we serve educators with curriculum and innovation such as training and professional learning and school improvement plans.”
Under Bills for Payment, board member Chris Scaff asked business manager Joni MacIntyre to give a month-to-month report of what lawsuits are occurring and which lawyers are involved, because, “we should be able to know what is going on behind the scenes.”
Board member Chris Scaff also reiterated what he brought up in last week’s work session as “what could be a case of nepotism with Superintendent Redmon’s son.”
“I heard what Mrs. Redmon had to say, this is nothing personal, it is how people view what we are doing and I know that we have hired people in the past, but it has come back to bite us many times. I have had two employees that will remain unknown that contacted me about it and said that they will quit their job if someone is hired that can run to dad and rat them out, then my question to them was “well what are you doing that you’re worried about?” and they said nothing, it is what things look like, not a good picture, and was told that several people were trying to get a job but it was already filled, so I don’t know why we are voting on things after people are hired anyway.”
Board member Elisabeth Lynch then spoke up, saying “it’s not personal, but I will say this: if I had to work in an office building and my bosses daughter or son was working in the same building as me and the building wasn’t a perfect culture, it would always be in the back of my mind if someone was watching me, or if I said something correctly, no that I am doing anything wrong, it just would add another layer of unnecessary stress to my work environment.” “I hope this does not happen, but if it does, I hope they would report their feelings to the right person and that they would listen, but as long as the chain of command listens to people, I don’t like being in this position as a board member.”
Board member Polly Donahay spoke up in favor of the Superintendent’s son working in the district after hearing from a colleague that works directly with him, saying that “he is very wonderful with the kids, a positive male figure for the kids, works very well with them, and does not see any special treatment given.”
Board member Roger Elling then spoke up, saying that people have reached out to him saying that “they are surprised that this is even an issue because for the $14.75 an hour, he is dealing with the worst of the worst of the kids” and that is hard to find somebody who wants to work this type of job and be good at it.
“What we are doing that really bothers me is that we are questioning the integrity of the superintendent and his son,” board member Jeff Johnston said. “And the fact that you think he is going to run to his father, it is offensive to me to even have this discussion, and he has as much a right to a position here as anyone else in the school district. Those kids he is working with need a good role model and why we are even discussing this is beyond me.”
Personnel items were then voted in favor unanimously.
Lastly, the school board voted and discussed the CharacterStrong: K-12 SEL Curriculum.
“I went on a fact finding expedition this week,” Chris Scaff said. “I met with Christina and we discussed the curriculum and what I was shown was not anything bad, and then the next day I sat in on a class that was a small window to look into, and I did not see anything wrong, but what I did see was kids not discussing any problems of hardships like that, I saw normal conversation that kids have, no push on the program, they hit on it here and there, but what surprised me that what could be done in daily conversation it does not require a $46,000 program. A good counselor could fit the bill. SEL does not have a national standard. I have had multiple emails, phone calls, text messages, and I have heard both good and bad views on SEL in general. I had 18 yes and 61 no’s on having an SEL program. I also had quite a few discussions with professionals in our district and what is evident is that every single one of them cares about the kids and that they come first.”
“I also heard that we (teachers) can push it through at the school as much as we want, but if it is not followed through at home then we are wasting our time,” Scaff reported. “I cannot, with a clear conscience, vote in favor of CharacterStrong. I think we can find another option.”
Elisabeth Lynch is in favor of “reverse engineering” CharacterStrong, by taking key components of it and the district developing their own curriculum similar to CharacterStrong.
“My concern is why did only 66 out of 200 teachers complete the survey asking whether or not an SEL program was needed in the school district, what did they not like about it,” board member Tom Cannon posed the question. “What is the negative? There has to be negatives about this. This tells me that 75% of this did not respond for a reason and if they truly wanted it then they would have spoken up.”
“I do not think that is a fair assumption or assessment to make,” Christina Manning said.
Roger Elling then spoke up with a statement regarding the SEL program up for a vote.
“The comment made about the lawsuits is because those schools did not allow for an opt out option. Our district does allow for an opt out option where a parent can come in and opt out of it,” Elling said. “Second, when the vote was taken previously, yes it was voted down, but the majority of us requested for it to go through the proper chapters: the curricular and co-curricular committees. Continuing on, I understand the concerns like concepts like CRT might be influencing this, it is important for us to make sure that the curriculum is aligned with our communities’ shared values and support students’ growth in a positive and non-divisive way. Secondly, CharacterStrong is about helping students build emotional social skills and to respect the experiences of others in creating a supportive environment. Also, at its core, it is about respect, empathy and responsibility. We are open to working with parents who have special concerns and can adjust certain activities to make sure they align with the values of all families. We believe that parents are the primary educators of their children’s values.
Board members Elisabeth Lynch, Chris Scaff, Dr. William Baldino, and Tom Cannon voted against the CharacterStrong curriculum, causing the motion to fail.
Superintendent Frank Redmon reminded the board that since the board did not adopt CharacterStrong, then they would like the board to approve repurchasing Second Step to continue the work that was being done with the program.
Board member Dr. William Baldino voted against the motion.
