misterc

The general legal principal that governs how schools and educators is "en loco parentis". What this means is that schools and educators to a certain extent take the place of parents while students are in schools. Now clearly there are specific laws that protect student and parent rights in schools however I do feel it is important that schools offer exposure to important topics of the day and various points of view around those topics. Students, particularly high school students, should not be sheltered to such an extent that they are not given opportunity to learn about controversial topics and create educated opinions about these topics. Obviously,  in any situation like that,  where a student would be exposed to such topics,  we would make parents completely aware of the presentaion, book, speaker etc. If a parent chooses to opt their child out of the presentaion we might honor that request, if the presentation was not an approved part of the course curriculum. In the case of a specific book or movie we would certainly work with a parent to help them understand the purpose of exposure. The problem would lie if the book or subject was approved and part of the intended and established curriculum of the Board of Ed and the State Department of Education. The district would need to work closely with our attorneys and the parents to do what is best for the student yet at the same time maintain integrity of our curriculum. For instance if a parent decided that they did not want their child to learn about evolution or dinosaurs because they don't believe in the concept or that dinosaurs existed(this has happened) we would have to tread carefully. These concepts are an approved part of the SED curriculum and students would be held accountable for this info on a regents exam.