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Continued from pg. 1 learning, or the continued need for a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The focus of this meeting was the board sitting down and discussing these and other issues that have been weighing on everyone’s minds. But while the four board members at the meeting (see story about Joe Walters’ resignation on 1A) held plenty of discussion during the meeting and indicated plans that seemed to have general support, they did not take any offi cial votes or actions.

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Critical race theory

In recent months, those who are opposed to any use of critical race theory (CRT) in schools have requested the school board members to issue a complete ban of its use in Powhatan County Public Schools (PCPS). Those calls for action continued at the July 13 meeting.

Of the 32 people who spoke at the beginning and end of the meeting, 16 of them referenced not wanting critical race theory in Powhatan schools or a related topic. Objections continued to be raised about CRT being divisive, creating hate and anger among children, making children pay for the sins of the past, being a “cult,” and not belonging in K-12 education. Some pointed to other states and institutions that are already banning CRT in their public schools. Some charged the schools to stop teaching lessons that should be taught in the home and focus on core subjects and basic life skills.

Of those same 32 people, 12 asked the school board to continue to show support for diversity, tolerance, and inclusion in Powhatan schools. Several people talked about the school division’s role to prepare students for life after high school in a world where they will have to know how to work alongside people with different backgrounds and ideas. Some called the information being spread by “extremists” in the community misinformation and fear-based rhetoric. Some called for academic integrity by being inclusive of many voices.

There were people on both sides of the argument who offered praise and support to teachers.

School board and staff members have stated repeatedly that CRT is not in use in the school division and asked for anyone who had evidence to the contrary to bring it to them so it could be addressed. And in reference to an outright ban, there were requests to approach the issue with caution and a clear defi nition of what was being banned.

Last week, the school board actually began discussing what, if any, offi cial stance they want to take on CRT. Rick Cole, who represents District 1, said rather than starting with a strict ban of CRT, the school board should start with its mission.

“I think each of us at some point has stated that we are not endorsing critical race theory. It is not appropriate for high schools students, at least what I understand as critical race theory. But I want to make sure when we do say that publically and take a vote on it that we also reaffi rm our commitment to our mission statement on diversity, equity, and inclusion and, as part of that, we clearly defi ne what those items are,” he said.

Chairwoman Kim Hymel, District 5, agreed with Cole’s suggestion and said she would like to also include the Anti-Racism Resolution the school board adopted on June 16, 2020.

Dr. Eric Jones, superintendent, said staff would use those two documents as a start and draft something for the school board to review at its next meeting.

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Virginia Inquiry Collaborative

During the June 22 joint meeting with the board of supervisors, the school board was questioned heavily about its involvement in a group called the Virginia Inquiry Collaborative (VIC). Board members were questioned about its purpose, its methods, and how it could impact Powhatan students.

Some of the questions about VIC were present again during public comments at last week’s meeting, with emphasis on stating the goal of the organization is to create curriculum, which is contrary to what the public was being told.

During the meeting, Dr. Eric Jones, superintendent, said the collaborative is not a pilot program but a “professional development learning group of several school divisions that came together to try to learn how to teach history using inquiry based methods.” Each year the group took a different topic and each school division’s participants built their own sample lessons and then brought them back to their school divisions, mainly in the area of history.

PCPS joined the collaborative after a Powhatan High School teacher received an invitation to participate and accepted with approval from the division. Other teachers participated as well and the participation was made public in previous board meetings, Jones said. He said it was approved “because it was based on inquiry-based learning, which is something that we are working on in history to bring history more alive, to have students delve deeply into it, to ask essential questions about history, to look at primary sources and to review them and look at history from different perspectives. Those are all things we are trying to do instead of just lecturing and memorizing names and dates.”

After the June 22 meeting, in which Jones said the school division was “blindsided” by the board of supervisors on the topic, there was also plenty of community feedback questioning Powhatan’s participation in the collaborative.

Since the collaborative had become a fl ashpoint for the community and, based on the knowledge that the school division had already learned what it needed to about the inquiry-based model the collaborative was offering, PCPS decided to pull out of VIC, Jones said. He said the school division will “continue to do the important work of looking at essential questions and history through primary sources.”

Susan Smith, District 2, asked about the continued use of the inquiry-based model with age appropriateness in mind so students aren’t pushed too fast.

Jones pointed out that two third-grade inquiry-based lessons developed as part of the division’s participation in VIC are posted on the school division’s website. He said there is nothing in either lesson dealing with race, which is a concern for some in the community, and they are age appropriate. The two lessons can be viewed at www.powhatan.k12.va.us/groups/66646/instruction/ instruction.

“We will have better control over that if it is done in house with our staff, and, certainly, everything we want to do is age appropriate and within our standards and our curriculum,” he said.

Professional development

Discussion about the collaborative naturally fl owed into a conversation about professional development. Teachers are required to complete 270 professional development points for renewal of their 10-year teaching license in Virginia.

Jones pointed out that the school division does offer a robust amount of in-house activities that teachers can do, but it also allows them to fi nd outside opportunities that interest them, especially if they are in a specialized subject.

PCPS does have teachers that attend conferences in their content area where they have professional development, special seminars, opportunities provided by associations, and many more. There are hundreds of opportunities that they may choose to pursue, he said.

“Our teachers put in request to do that. Sometimes that request is led by the specialist in that area where they go and ask teachers to participate because they have reviewed the conference and think it is a good conference. … Sometimes the teachers come to us that is something they fi nd and they want to do and then there is an approval process that goes through the principal,” he said.

Chairwoman Kim Hymel, District 5, pointed out that if teachers pursue a professional development opportunity on their own time and at their own expense, they are not required to let the school division know.

Social emotional learning

Hymel specifi cally brought up the topic of social emotional learning (SEL) because she said many peo-

see BOARD pg. 6

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