Often there is no one in attendance during the period allotted for public comment before the School District 166 board meeting begins. However, on January 22, 2015, a parent spoke, giving an impassioned plea for the school to observe Martin Luther King Day as a holiday.
Maureen O’Phelan told the board her four children had spent at least part of their schooling at ISD 166. She said her family had been in Cook County for 11 years and each year she has brought forward a request for the school to acknowledge Martin Luther King Day. “Every year I try to say something but nothing ever really changes. I just want to express my extreme disappointment in our school’s decision to have school on this day,” said O’Phelan.
O’Phelan said she understands that teachers incorporate information about Dr. King on that day. “But the truth is, I would put my faith in our teachers to teach our kids about Martin Luther King when it’s appropriate in their class curriculum. That’s when it should be handled anyway,” she said.
“Martin Luther King Day is a federal holiday and it’s a holiday that, especially in light of all the civil rights things that have been going on in the last 6 months, we really should take it off….. We really should step back and take time to really look at who’s in our community…,” said O’Phelan.
She noted that there have been a number of events held at the school with Native American speakers and ceremonies. O’Phelan said she and her husband have never objected, nor would they do so.
“But I happen to have some black kids—one’s from Africa, one’s from the United States. I think not recognizing this holiday is dismissing their culture and what they have,” said O’Phelan, “I’m not asking for special speakers in the school for black kids or anything like that. All I’m asking is that you recognize them.”
School Board Chair Jeanne Anderson asked Superintendent Beth Schwarz when the school calendar would be discussed. Schwarz said the board would talk about it at its school board retreat on January 26. Schwarz said the school board must adopt its calendar for 2015-2016 by April.
Anderson and other board members thanked O’Phelan for her comments and assured her they would talk about the Martin Luther King holiday and the school calendar at a future meeting.
Before giving her report to the school board, Superintendent Schwarz again acknowledged O’Phelan’s comments noting that there are “varying opinions” on whether or not to have school. She said, “There is a lot of tailored instruction about Dr. King when school is in session on Martin Luther King Day. There is also instruction which occurs throughout the year regarding diversity, equality, the global economy and the importance of listening and respecting opinions different from one’s own opinions.”
Schwarz said it was unfortunate that the school had been unable to schedule a special speaker on Martin Luther King Day, but she said Steve Fitzhugh, a former Denver Bronco free safety who is now a motivational speaker would be speaking to students on January 26.
Schwarz said a brief survey was sent out to get feedback from teachers and staff on the question. She said the response was about “2 to 1” on whether school should—or should not—be held. She said some staff share O’Phelan’s opinion and others believe school should be held. Schwarz said across the state some schools allow students to take Martin Luther King Day off and some schools have teachers come in for an in-service, which is a compromise. Schwarz said she respected O’Phelan’s concerns and said it is a “challenging discussion” and repeated that this is something that needs to be looked at when the school board sets the calendar for 2015 – 2016.
School tightens truancy policy
Another difficult issue for the school board is how absences are handled. Board Member Deb White said when she attended the Local Indian Education Committee (LIEC) meeting, she was asked what constitutes an unexcused absence.
Superintendent Schwarz said an unexcused absence is when a student does not report for class and a parent has not provided an excuse. If a student is more than five minutes late to a class, that is also considered an unexcused absence. Likewise, if a student leaves the classroom to go to the restroom and does not return after a reasonable length of time, they can receive an unexcused absence. After seven unexcused class periods (full days or one period on seven different days), a referral is made to the truancy divergence process and the family is called in to talk to a counselor or administrator to develop a plan to make sure the child gets to class on time. If that doesn’t work, a formal truancy petition is filed.
Board Member Terry Collins asked if the five minute tardies were the same as unexcused absences. Schwarz said yes. She said the stricter policy has made a significant difference in the number of students that are in the hallways and/or late for class.
Should there be school on Martin Luther King Day?
A brief survey was sent out to school staff, asking the faculty to respond to the following question: Do you think it is OK for the district to hold school on Dr. Martin Luther King Day?
Of the 54 people who responded, 75 percent said yes.
However, there were a number of staff members who took the opportunity to add comments. Some of those comments follow:
. ONLY if we do something big to celebrate and honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision at elementary and high schools.
. I feel it is disrespectful to have school on that day. I would like to see the school district work with the city and/or county to develop an activity for the community to honor Dr. King.
. We have a lot of teachers who do a great job honoring the memory of Martin Luther King during the school day. He would be less honored if we took the day off and let kids play video games at home or go skiing!
. With all the race issues our country is still having, I think it is important to take a stand and keep this day sacred like the rest of the nation…banks, post offices, etc. I know people like to say that we use this day to talk about Martin Luther King, Jr. at school, but we should be talking about him all week and all month!
. I appreciate the opportunity to educate students about Martin Luther King instead of letting them have a day off.
In other business
. At the start of the meeting, new School Board Member Terry Collins, who is filling the vacant District 2 school board seat, took the oath of office.
. In her report, Principal Gwen Carman announced that Anton Treuer, executive director of the American Indian Resource Center at Bemidji State University and author of a number of books on Ojibwe culture and history, would be speaking to students throughout the day at St. John’s Catholic Church on Friday, February 6. . Superintendent Schwarz said she had received a letter informing her that the school might be eligible for achievement and integration aid because it is a “racially isolated school district.” Schwarz said the school would have to develop a plan to qualify, but if it did, the district could receive approximately $50,000 in revenue for each of the next three years.
Schwarz said she would do further research to see if ISD 166 qualifies for the funding.
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