At the June 13 HSE Board Meeting, President Julie Chambers read a statement about the HSE Microaggression policy. Parents were not allowed to speak on the topic; Ms. Chambers evidently does not like to hear from parents, as she has denied my last two agenda requests.
You can hear her statement (together with a subsequent statement from Suzanne Thomas) in this clip:
First, Ms. Chambers said that the recently passed microaggressions policy
…does not include punitive punishments associated with these behaviors, and any suggestion to the contrary is inaccurate.
Puzzlingly, Ms. Chambers went on to read the policy in full, and in particular she read the part that says:
Habitual occurrences could lead to consequences applicable to inappropriate conduct as defined in Section 28.
Section 28 lists a bunch of inappropriate behaviors—cheating, cursing, fighting, intoxication, breaking federal law, etc.—and says that students who engage in such behaviors will be subject to “reasonable disciplinary action”. Such “disciplinary action” is obviously punitive. Maybe they could try to draw a distinction between “reasonable disciplinary action” and “punitive punishment”? If so, they certainly aren’t willing to elaborate—I’ve repeatedly asked the district leaders what “disciplinary action” would be pursued for a habitual offender of the new microaggressions policy, and they have so far refused to answer me.
So what’s going on here? It’s hard to believe, but she seems to have contradicted herself. Ms. Chambers is the president of a Board that spends $250 million a year overseeing the education of tens of thousands of children. It is disturbing to see someone in such an important position esentially assert to the public that 2 + 2 = 5. But I guess that’s what we’ve got here.
I reached out for clarification, and I’ll tell you if she responds.
Ms. Chambers is running for re-election in November. Ben Orr is running against her, and among his many virtues, he knows that 2 + 2 = 4. Vote for Ben!