Ballard school board to get vendor’s help with parental rights policy

By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

The Ballard School Board has decided to get some outside help with its parental rights policy in the aftermath of a recent controversy in the fourth-grade classroom.

The board voted unanimously during a special meeting March 22 to contract with Gamut, an outside vendor, to update school board policies as a whole. That includes but is not limited to the parental rights policy.

Pam Rennick, principal at Ballard Elementary School and the single-school district’s superintendent, said the nearby Solvang School District also recently contracted with Gamut to update its policies.

Board President Tracey Cassidy made a motion not to amend the current language of the parental rights policy until such time as the board can consult with Gamut, legal staff, teachers, and interested community members. The motion passed 2-1 with board member Art Kaslow voting in opposition.

Ms. Rennick discussed the current parental rights policy at the board meeting.

“Under the current policy, you have the right to come observe in a classroom and inspect the curriculum,” she said. “You have the right to a parent conference. You have the right to talk to me. You have the right to a report card and a progress report. All of these rights are guaranteed by the state of California.

“You have the right to opt out of a few very specific things,” Ms.

USS Santa Barbara commissioning ceremony set for Saturday

PORT HUENEME — The USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32), a Littoral Combat Ship, will be commissioned at 10 a.m. Saturday at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme.

Afterward, the ship will return to its home port in San Diego.

On Oct. 10, 2018, Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer announced the LCS 32 would be named Santa Barbara, and the keel was laid Oct. 28, 2020.

The USS Santa Barbara was christened and launched on Oct. 16, 2021, and delivered on July 21, 2022.

Rennick said. “There are just four of them: sex education, HIV prevention education, any survey asking about family life and state testing.”

The staff also read a statement on the issue.

Three letters were read in support of modifying the parental rights’ policy. The letters were read on behalf of those who were unable to be in attendance. The first letter was from a Ballard family, and the second was from Rosanne Crawford who ran in the fall for the county board of education trustee area 1, but was defeated. The third letter was from Tyrone Smith.

“Compassion takes effort; it takes focus. It takes commitment…We must acknowledge the following, those adversely affected by this decision and the unintended consequences,” said Ms. Crawford in her letter. “The child themselves, openly known as their identity was not protected in the way it was handled in the class announcement or in the Board of Education meeting. The teacher who was not included in the decision, (who) in fact wanted to pause to evaluate a path of action. Her authority (was) usurped by the principal.

“The other students in the classroom were left in confusion due to a lack of preparation to process the situation,” Ms. Crawford said. “The parents of the children in the classroom, who were blindsighted, had to try to find out from their children what had transpired, resulting in questions they were not prepared to handle.”

The Navy said Littoral Combat Ships are fast, optimallymanned, mission-tailored surface combatants that operate in near-shore and open-ocean environments, winning against 21st-century coastal threats. LCS integrate with joint, combined, manned and unmanned teams to support forward presence, maritime security, sea control, and deterrence missions around the globe, according to the Navy.

— Katherine Zehnder