School Board approves ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights’
The Parents’ Bill of Rights was among one of the eight agenda items the School Board of Lee County approved during its public hearings Tuesday night.
The Parents’ Bill of Rights states that the “board recognizes the rights and its obligation to reinforce the fundamental rights of parents to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of their children. The board is committed to honoring the rights of parents and promoting parental involvement in the district.” The policy includes such areas as parental rights, promoting parent involvement, parent requests for information and what the district will inform parents how to do.
During public comment a member of the audience addressed verbiage that concerned notifying parents if there is a change in their child’s services or monitoring “related to their mental health, emotional health, physical health, or well-being.”
Board Attorney Kathy Dupuy-Bruno said the verbiage is directly from state statute, so it would be difficult to add “prior” to the language.
“It will be difficult to put ‘prior’ because you need to have a change in service first,” she said.
Other policies approved included the Student Progression Plan, Student Parent Rights, Curriculum Development, Program of Instruction and Student Publications.
There was discussion for the Program of Instruction policy, specifically relating to instruction in sexual orientation/gender identity, as a member of the public had concern regarding the language concerning age and developmental appropriateness.
Bruno said they are waiting for guidelines for age and developmentally appropriate instruction from the Department of Education.
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