PARENT ALERT-IUSD BOARD VOTING TONIGHT TO CODIFY INTEGRATION OF EQUITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE STANDARDS INTO CURRICULUM & CULTURE
Board Vote To Take Place As Part Of Agenda Item Of Business 16(c) "IUSD Continuous Improvement Efforts"
The Social Justice agenda and how it has taken seed within IUSD is something I’ve been following closely for the past two-and-a-half years. Tonight’s Board meeting will have the annual read out on the Continuous Improvement Council which is the inception point of the Social Justice agenda being pushed within IUSD. Tonight’s read out will be given by the Assistant Superintendent of Education Services as per usual. I encourage all who can to review, in its entirety agenda item 16(c) for tonight’s meeting. Please review the PDF file attached to the agenda item to get a clear understanding on what the Board will be voting to approve. Specifically, the Board is being asked to approve the Continuous Improvement Efforts for 2023-2024, as presented in the PDF attachment to the agenda item. Here’s the direct link to tonight’s agenda:
https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/SB_Meetings/ViewMeeting.aspx?S=36030267&MID=22739
You’ll need to click on item 16(c) after clicking on the link above. You’ll notice a lengthy body of text preceding the attached PDF file describing the history of the Continuous Improvement Council and the associated Continuous Improvement efforts. Towards the bottom of this body of text is where you’ll find the timeline for when this Council made a pivot towards Social Justice. The Social Justice Standards mentioned in the body of text are derived from Learning For Justice, an arm of the Southern Poverty Law Center that takes an openly progressive stance on Social Justice. Ironically (or maybe not) there was no direct hyperlink to the Social Justice Standards this year as there was in last July’s body of text for this agenda item. It’s also worth noting that only one very subtle change has been made to the document the Board is being asked to approve from last year’s version. The subtle change entails replacing references to “marginalized groups” with “underrepresented groups” on the top half of page 2 in the PDF file. Neither “marginalized groups” nor “underrepresented groups” is defined anywhere in the document or text body for the agenda item. This subtle change in semantics is not mentioned anywhere in the text for the agenda item- only noticeable upon comparing last year’s version of the file (which Board approved) side by side with this year’s version of the PDF.
I encourage those who can to attend the meeting in person tonight and share your public comments in support of or disapproval of this agenda item. If you aren’t able to attend in person, I encourage you to call, email or send a letter to the members of the IUSD Board of Education to express your sentiments about this agenda item. Board Member contact information can be found here. Sharing your feedback goes a long way towards holding our elected officials to account. You can watch the meeting via live stream & replay is usually available within 24-48 hours of meeting. Click here to watch the livestream of the meeting which will start at 6:30pm.
I’m not able to attend the meeting this evening but I have emailed the Board my comments and have already received a reply from the Board President acknowledging receipt. The contents of my public comments are pasted below. Feel free to use the data points from my comments as they come directly from IUSD documents. Several of the data points come from internal documents not posted publicly only available via public records request. I have indicated which data points come from the internal documents with *** at the end of the particular data point.
Public Comments from Submitted to IUSD Board of Education on July 11 In response to Item 16(c) IUSD Continuous Improvement Efforts
I respectfully object to the abrupt shift of focus, by the Continuous Improvement Council, towards equity and integrating Social Justice Standards into "both curriculum and culture" which was initiated in March of 2020 and was supposedly motivated by the "disproportionate impact that the pandemic had on students of color". I expressed this same objection at the July 12, 2022 Board meeting and prepared a packet of evidence in support of my objection for each Board member to review that accompanied my public comments shared last July. My concerns have only heightened since my initial objection.
Additionally, I respectfully and specifically object to the section with header "Inside IUSD: Guiding Principles & Practices" on the top of p. 2 of DRAFT Irvine Unified School District Continuous Improvement Efforts 2023-2024 Ensuring Success for Each Student document attached to the online agenda and included in your agenda packet. In my opinion, this section should be removed from the document entirely. There is no need for it as it does not fit with the rest of the contents nor does it fold into the overarching spirit of the document or the LCAP priorities. This section with required goals at District, School and Teacher levels compels School Sites and teachers to embrace a premise that they must do more than they already have and are doing to create welcoming and inclusive school environments. Such forced goals put additional pressure on school sites and teachers to comply with social policies and edicts that do not necessarily produce higher academic achievement and results and can even serve as a distraction to learning. Aside from the section I have noted- the rest of the document is great and I'm in support of its adoption.
The reasons and supporting data for my objections articulated above are as follows:
Students are now being compelled to abandon traditional social norms in favor of embracing the use of preferred pronouns, gender support plans....etc for fear that they may be deemed/declared "unsafe" for non adherence to new social norms. This has the opposite effect of creating a more inclusive and welcoming school environment.***
There has been a significant increase in the number of referrals to IUSD Mental Health Specialists from 2020-2021 to 2022-2023 at the elementary, middle and high school levels related to behavioral concerns/anxiety/depression/relationship issues (1a "P&I Mental Health Data Request" Two On Two Mental Health March 2023 Binder).***
Figure 1- Screen shot of printed sheet in Two On Two Mental Health March 2023 Binder obtained from Public Records Request specific to Middle School & High School referrals to IUSD Mental Health Specialists
Figure 2- Screen shot of printed sheet in Two On Two Mental Health March 2023 Binder obtained from Public Records Request specific to referrals to Elementary Resource Counselors at the Elementary School level
Only 57% of students agree or strongly agree that they feel comfortable sharing ideas and participating in classroom discussions (p. 13 Irvine Unified School District 2022-2023 Annual Survey Data Supplement). This figure is down from 62% reported in the 2021-2022 results (p. 14 Mistakes, Active Participation, & Stress section of Executive Summary-IUSD Annual Survey-2021-22) ***
2022-2023 LCAP (p.45-49) and CASSP results for IUSD through 2021-2022 school year show that results for most academic performance metrics have declined from the baseline levels rather than improved relative to intended goals since the abrupt shift in focus towards integrating Social Justice Standards into curriculum and culture per the Continuous Improvement Council was made {AP Exam scores above 3 are one of the positive exceptions indicating that students can perform at optimal levels when given the opportunity to focus on academics}
Figure 3- CAASPP Results for IUSD 2017-2018
Figure 2- CAASPP Results for IUSD 2018-2019
No Data are available for 2020-2021 due to suspension of testing as a result of “the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).”
Figure 4- CAASPP Results for IUSD 2021-2022
No data have been publicly released yet for 2022-2023 but the data is available and obtained via a Public Records request in the interim until published to the California Department of Education Website
Number of student discipline cases reached a 5 year high in 2022-2023
Only 52% of staff agree OR Strongly Agree that they "feel supported or believe that their input on district decisions is solicited and valued" (p. 39 2022-2023 Annual Survey Data Supplement annual climate survey 2022-2023 Staff Satisfaction). ***
Top themes and priority areas for IUSD as indicated by the LCAP process do not match up with Continuous Improvement Council's priority areas of "integrating EEDI goals into comprehensive school plans" and creating collective goals to "challenge inequity, raise consciousness, and improve conditions for marginalized groups"
I cordially request the Board take a step back before unanimously approving the Continuous Improvement Council's efforts and the draft document on July 11 and reflect on the following:
The strides and progress the Continuous Improvement Council & Continuous Improvement efforts made from inception through 2018 (prior to the abrupt shift of focus) and the metrics tied to that progress
The trends that are emerging since the abrupt shift of focus- a sampling of which are noted above
Is the parental involvement in the Continuous Improvement Efforts really at a level where IUSD can say with confidence that parents have been partners in improving student achievement as enabled by Continuous Improvement Efforts?
I recommend that EITHER the Continuous Improvement Council be disbanded completely and the LCAP team lead the charge on Continuous Improvement from hereon OR that The Continuous Improvement Council revert its focus back towards the tenets of strong instruction, supporting intellectual risk taking and improving the learning experiences for all students. In either case, the Council's meeting agendas, meeting minutes, supporting documents and materials produced should be made available for public access on the IUSD website. Read outs should be provided to the Board after each Council meeting not merely once a year each July. By not requiring regular read outs from the Continuous Improvement Council and not posting meeting information on the IUSD website, it gives the impression to the community that decisions are being made behind closed doors with no regard for parental input or consent. This goes against the spirit of "Inviting parents to be our partners in improving student achievement" stated at the bottom of p.3 in the DRAFT Irvine Unified School District Continuous Improvement Efforts 2023-2024 Ensuring Success for Each Student document.
Please understand that while our family left IUSD in January 2023 out of concern that the district environment is no longer conducive to academic and social emotional success because of its focus on ideology above academics and abandonment of traditional social norms, we still love Irvine and remain engaged locally. We continue to have a vested interest in the success of Irvine Unified School District. When we work together as a community to enable academic success, our district will perform at peak levels and everyone benefits. We are not the only family that has made the difficult decision to exit the district for the reasons noted above. I believe you will see many more families following our lead in the coming year- particularly at the elementary and early elementary level. I remain hopeful that these comments will be taken to heart. Thank you again for your consideration.