BOE sparks conversation about banned books, start times
WESTPORT — Later start times, coupled with a shortage of drivers have created several issues, parents recently told school officials.
Parents said they’re noticing delays in their children getting picked up for school and dropped off, especially at the elementary level, as the buses complete their routes for the various levels.
It was one of the issues brought up this week at a community conversation with the Board of Education.
One parent said that she’s for children sleeping more in the morning, but they’re getting out late, specifically at King’s Highway Elementary School. This in turn means they’re no longer able to do afterschool programs in other towns. She also asked what the board plans to do about the transportation issues.
BOE member Dorie Hordon noted her fifth grade student sometimes gets home on the bus at 4:30 p.m.
Hordon said it’s hard to solve the issue because there is a shortage of drivers.
There is a transportation study currently in the works, she said, which may involve looking at the start and end times.
Board of Education Chair Lee Goldstein said end times also affect high schoolers, specifically athletes who are pulled out of class early.
The board is looking at creating longer times between the bus runs, which will be part of the transportation study, Goldstein said.
Community member Jonathan Alloy proposed a raise in wages for bus drivers, which could make Westport a more desirable employer than other districts.
But Goldstein said it’s not just the pay.
“It’s whether we contract people for full time and then pay health insurance,” she said.
“Then let’s do it,” Alloy said.
Another big part of the discussion focused on gender, sexuality and banned books, particularly a display that was at the Staples library.
In October, some parents expressed concerned about a banned book display at Staples High School showing the year’s most challenged books across the country. Some community members said the books were pornographic.
Goldstein said the American Library Association puts out a list of the 10 most challenged books for each year.
“I think it’s a discussion each community needs to have as to what they think should be represented in a school library,” Hordon said. “I would want to know the education value per book.”
Alloy said it was important to include these books.
“I ask you to focus on educating our children holistically and honestly, which includes teaching candid history and celebrating history in all its forms, including racial, ethnic and gender identity,” he said.
He said he went to the library and asked for all of the banned books so he could give them to his children.
“My friend’s trans son was suicidal and reading books like ‘Gender Queer’ literally saved their life,” he said.
Some audience members applauded Alloy’s comments.
Another topic focused on the learning loss from the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition students experience going to the higher levels.
Resident Patra Kanchanagom said current high school students have had “fragmented, crazy — for lack of a better word — middle school experiences,” and asked if there’s any study skills that can be taught in school.
Kanchanagom said she notices that time management and ineffective studying strategies are something her child struggles with and wondered if other students do too.
Superintendent Thomas Scarice said he had a conversation with the PTA about this topic, and noted that public schools struggle with these study skills across grades.
“A generation ago didn’t have the kind of distractions these kids have right now,” he said.
Scarice said the schools can be part of the solution, but not the total solution, and common trends need to be looked at.
“I’m not quite sure how much the lives of kids are impacted outside of school like they might have been even four or five years ago,” he said.
Becky Martin, co-chair of the PTA, brought up a point about bullying in schools, particularly with special education students in the middle and high school.
She said that being an upstander is a “guiding principal” in elementary education, but not as much in middle and high school.
“Are there new ways of talking about bullying to our high school and middle school students,” she asked.
Goldstein said they will be talking about equity planning in a workshop session in the coming weeks.
“What more can we do sooner for special needs kids, for marginalized kids, for girls?” Goldstein asked. “I would like that to be an urgent question.”
One community member said, “I do not want to see the kids separated into oppressors and perpetual victims because it does not solve the problem, it actually creates more animosity.”
The meeting ran out of time before all topics could be discussed, so the board may hold another community meeting.
“It has been a very great pleasure to be with all of
you, to listen to a variety of opinions, to have a dialogue about some controversial issues, but mostly about issues that concern the welfare of our kids,”
moderator Velma Heller said at the end of the discussion.