NC school district wanted to pre-approve all class materials. Then teachers complained.
One of North Carolina’s largest school systems has backed off from requiring teachers to get Central Office approval to use material that’s not in the approved curriculum.
Citing the state’s Parents’ Bill of Rights law, Johnston County told teachers last week that they would need district-level approval to use any supplemental instructional resources.
But following a wave of teacher complaints, the district emailed staff this week to provide “clarification.”
“There is no need for staff members to submit any additional curriculum resources for district-level approval at this time,” Anna Kuykendal, the district’s chief academic officer, said in Monday’s email.
“I recognize that that this time of year is demanding, with many critical tasks requiring your attention. Our priority is, and always will be, our students.”
The district did not respond to a request for comment from The News & Observer.
The Johnston County fight comes amid a heated debate across the nation about what’s taught in classrooms. Those concerns from conservative groups helped fuel passage of laws such as the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
Pre-approval for supplemental material
Johnston County is the state’s seventh-largest school district. It has more than 37,000 students.
Teachers reported back last week to prepare for the start of classes on Aug. 26. They were told about a new form that teachers would need to submit before using any supplemental instructional materials.
Supplemental materials are items that teachers think will help improve student learning that aren’t in the district’s approved curriculum. Examples could include websites, videos, articles and books.
The request form required teachers to submit a detailed information on the resource.
If the principal signed off on the request, it would be submitted for review by the district’s Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum Committee. The form said the committee would review all requests within 30 days of submission.
Connected to Parents’ Bill of Rights
Elementary school teachers would have to say on the form if the requested resource references topics mentioned in the district’s Parental Involvement policy.
The school board revised the Parental Involvement policy to comply with the Parents’ Bill of Rights law, also called Senate Bill 49.
The law bans instruction in the curriculum on sexuality, sexual activity or gender identity in kindergarten through fourth-grade classrooms.
The law also guarantees parents the right to review the supplementary instructional material used in their child’s classroom.
“ I have never encountered an instance where a teacher was trying to secretly teach concepts, texts, or ideologies,” Vicki Heath wrote in comment on a Facebook post about the new request process.
“I have had parent inquiry about a text or resource approximately five times in 23 years of teaching in Johnston County. The mandate to get prior approval for any resource is not truly coming from the parents.”
Process would ‘hamstring teachers’
April Lee, a Johnston County school board candidate and former district teacher, said many teachers contacted her to voice their concerns, Lee said teachers were worried the district committee might only meet once a month, making it difficult to get requests approved in a timely manner.
She said the request form showed a lack of trust in teachers and would hamper the ability of educators to adjust on the fly.
“It was going to hamstring teachers and their ability to meet the needs of students,” Lee said in an interview Monday. “It was going to demoralize teachers.”
District drops new requirement
Teachers emailed school board members and administrators to complain about the change.
The teacher backlash led the district to send an email Monday to address the “confusion regarding Senate Bill 49 and the submission of curriculum resources to central office.”
Kuykendal, the district’s chief academic officer, said the only resources that need central office review are “alternative comprehensive curricula” to replace what’s used in math, language arts, social studies or science classes. She said all other instructional resources don’t require district-level approval.
Lee said the district’s reversal shows what happens when teachers work together. Lee used to be president of the Johnston County chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators.
“This is a win for teachers in Johnston County,” Lee said. “Teachers used their voice.”
