FUHSD Board approves advisory course curriculum

The Fallbrook Union High School District Board of Trustees Monday, Nov. 9 had further public comment and staff discussion about an advisory course offered by Fallbrook High before ultimately approving the course for the spring semester with a 3-2 vote.

The discussion came after several residents expressed concerns about the course as well as the continuation of distance learning through the end of the first semester of the school year.

“I just wanted to share from a parent's perspective just urging you guys to help get these kids back to in person and also addressing the advisory class,” Becky Daily said. “I read an article from the Union Tribune stating experts and school leaders overwhelmingly agree that the harms of school closures, which have deprived children of in-person learning, social interaction and health and emotional support will have ripple effects on children for years to come. I’ve seen firsthand how it's affecting my student and I just urge you guys to please consider starting in-person learning sooner and please follow through on getting started in January.

“I also want to ask you to not continue with the advisory class or at least to explain more if it would be a mandatory class. When I asked the teacher for a syllabus, I was told there wasn't one. So, I was able to find the course description through your agenda here and reading more through that. I feel that there are issues in this that if parents were given an option, I would certainly want to opt out. There are SAT prep, but some of it I feel is not appropriate.”

Student Rachel Rodrick took issue with the continuation of distance learning as well.

“One thing that I really found to be offensive is one of our advisory classes had a mental health check as an exit ticket,” she said. “And it's been about three weeks since and no follow ups or check-ins have been done with those who are struggling.”

“I want to say this in the nicest way possible, but please stop acting like you guys care for the students. Lastly, I want to leave you with this thought, what happened to the freedom of choice? Why can’t we make the option to go to school or stay at home? Because trust me, those who want to stay at home said that they would, they wouldn't want to get in the way of those who want to go to school.”

“We're not doing what's best for kids by continuing to protect, I guess, our teachers from returning our students to school,” Tim Biland said. “I just encourage you to have the courage to do what some neighboring districts have done and do what's best for kids. And if you're not going to do that, do some things dramatically different with how kids are sitting in front of the computer, just Zooming they're their brains out of their heads, staring at the computer screen. That's not the solution that's best for kids.”

Board president Diane Summers thanked everyone for the comments.

“It’s good to hear everybody's opinion,” she said. “Always know, community, that the board does listen.”

Emily Toone, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, clarified the objectives of the advisory course and answered some previously asked questions about the course.

“This advisor course has been incorporated into the 2020-2021learning model as part of our learning continuity and attendance plan to address the social and emotional requirement to deal with the coping skills that the pandemic and the current events have brought on for our students and our families,” she said. “This course also hits the Senate Bill 98 and Fair Education Act under Senate Bill 48, and also adheres to superintendent Tony Thurmond and the California Department of Education's initiative to end hate. Designed to empower educators and students to confront the hate, bigotry and racism rising in communities across the state and nation. The course currently is 60 minutes on Fridays and is part of our 240 a minute instructional requirement.

“It is elective credit. However, the elective credits do not get calculated into the student's GPA. And those elective credits are given on a pass fail basis. And the pass or fail is given solely based on the attendance of the student in the advisory course. Additionally, the course and the goal of the course is to introduce students to the core social, emotional competencies.”

She then explained some of the competencies, including self-awareness, thoughts and values and how they influence behavior across contexts, self-management, understanding the perspectives of and empathizing with others, and context relationship skills.

“Our district has a very diverse student population, and this course allows our students an opportunity to voluntarily have a voice and address critical issues under the supervision and guidance of a certificated teacher in the common core standards that are addressed are the common core standards that are at cross all subject areas and content areas,” Toone reported.

“We did hear a couple of the parents who are concerned about some of the political content,” Board member Lee De Meo said. “I have to say that I'm kind of troubled by it. There are certain great things here. My own experience in junior high school and high school, I did get a lot of presentations about bias and things like that in school. And a lot of that did basically help build and formulate my own personal feelings about not being racist, not being biased of any kind. And I think that's a good thing. So the anti-bias, anti-bullying is a great place to be.

“I'm kind of concerned particularly when I see things like we're going to talk about athletes and their ability to affect history, et cetera. That's fine. But are we going to make someone like Colin Kaepernick a hero, or is this going to be taught balanced? For one thing, yes, Colin Kaepernick started, basically, the kneeling movement that brought attention supposedly to police brutality. But he’s taken it so far as to complain to the company he was representing, Nike, when they put out a 4th of July sneaker with the Betsy Ross flag (saying) that was offensive. Now, I'm hoping we're not going to be teaching things like this in this course. I'm hoping if you teach bias from a biased position, you get more hate instead of clarifying.”

Toone answered.

“There is a variety of resources that have been put into the advisory course, including our college and career curriculum,” she said. “That is part of the Apex courses that all teachers have access to. Our current ASB director pulls information from a variety of different areas. And some of it is grade level alike, depending on what different grade levels are (being taught). We've just been looking at financial aid and things for our 11th graders. So, the curriculum has been pulled from an approved core aligned curriculum from the Anti-Defamation League Apex. Then she takes the lessons and she adapts them to fit teachers so that the teachers can disseminate the lessons as easily as possible.”

There were also questions about HIPAA rules and teacher training in regard to mental health.

“Our students are not forced to share any information that they choose not to,’ Toone said. “Our teachers have been through restorative justice training. Students have the option to pass if they are uncomfortable or choose not to share. I know that Lauren Gardner, who is creating the curriculum, has also developed ways for students to share virtually so that if they want to share directly to the teacher, that there are opportunities for them to do so without sharing to the entire class. So it is at the discretion of the student, what they choose to share with them.

“Our teachers have been through suicide prevention training. So if there are issues that arise that are beyond the capability of our teachers to handle, they are to refer those particular scenarios to the counselors to address. The teacher's role in the advisory course is to maintain respect and tolerance and dialogue and equitable sharing of perspectives and opinions.”

Summers offered her perspective on the course.

“I’ve read through this whole curriculum and I was a teacher myself and, in fact, I taught this,” she said. “I taught at the community college level and the high school level. I was trained in it 30 years ago, anti-bias curriculum. That was 30 years ago and we’ve come a long way. Our legislature, as far as I can see from reading as much of the curriculum that I was allowed to see, I think it’s time. I can see why some people would have some concerns, but it’s been well thought out.”

Summers then referenced a fight on campus last school year that garnered a lot of attention from the media and in the community.

“Things like this happen when kids don’t have a chance to discuss these things with their teachers that they trust,” Summers said. “I think it’s for the best.”

Trustee Sharon Koehler asked if the course was one that parents could opt their children out of.

“At this time, it is not,” Garza-Gonzalez said.

De Meo and Koehler voted no on the course with Summers, Trustees Tabish and Sterling voting in favor. The new course passed 3-2.

The board also approved a revised agreement regarding benefits between FUHSD and the Fallbrook High School Teachers Association, Service Employee International Union Local 221, and the Unrepresented Employees, compensation between FUHSD and the above-mentioned groups, and salary schedules for unrepresented employees.

The board also approved the second reading of the Advisory, The Write of Your L!fe, and APEX Statistics (for IVY High) courses.

They also approved consent agenda items that included a personnel report, an organizational meeting for Dec. 14, and a performance agreement with Dr. Howard Taras.

The board will meet next on Dec. 14.

Jeff Pack can be reached by email at [email protected].