School Board indicates they may follow Title IX rules for restrooms instead of State statutes, moves forward with setting 50% as the minimum grade

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the May 21 School Board of Alachua County meeting, the board indicated that they may delay implementing State statutes on restrooms and changing facilities until the updated federal Title IX rule (which holds that anyone who identifies as a girl must be given access to facilities designated for girls) goes into effect. They also moved forward with a proposal to make 50% the lowest score for any submitted or missing assignment.

Newberry charter school conversion

Although the board has not put the Newberry charter school conversion on an agenda or even had a public discussion about it, several member of the public encouraged the board to “stand firm” during the general public comment period.

Travis Adair said he wanted to “make it very clear that according to any official government entity, all three schools failed their vote.” He said it “was questionable at best” whether the State Board of Education has “any amount of jurisdiction” over the issue and “demand[ed] that [the] board be ready, willing, and able to take all available legal recourse and action to protect our existing schools from being taken over by a very small minority of people that have been pushing this out in Newberry… I hope that you decide to take action.”

Tyler Foerst said he wanted to “thank you for standing by your decision and the ruling that was made, on the day of, that none of those schools converted, according to the Administrative Code, which is empowered by statute… I just want to continue to encourage you to stand by your decision, not waver in the face of an angry mob of – of wonderful people. So please stand firm.”

Brandy Oldman also thanked the board “for standing strong and your assertion that the vote has failed… I really wish y’all would fight this as much as you can.”

Allison Duarte said, “it’s come to my attention recently that the Mayor of Newberry and a small group of individuals are trying to work with the Department of Education to retroactively change the voting rules because they did not like the outcome of the vote. I do not think that is right, and I do not think that we should support that endeavor… I sincerely hope that you all will continue to do the right thing and fight this legally, if necessary, to keep our county public schools.”

Kelly Hersey said, “I just feel like our Mayor ought to be ashamed of himself, the way he’s conducted himself… They lost. It should have stopped there. But he continues to just spread lies… Please stand up for the kids. That’s what y’all do… Stand firm. They lost, and that’s what it is. They need to let it go.”

Injuries to staff from students is the top local cause for worker’s compensation

A presentation on insurance rates for 2024 showed that the top cause for worker’s compensation claims in the district is “struck or injured by a student.” Risk Management Supervisor Bart Brooks said, “That hasn’t been the normal.” He said the incurred cost of $200k (in blue) is high because each incident automatically gets an incurred cost of $5,100, but the actual costs (in yellow) are typically much lower, once the claim is closed out. Brooks later said that a majority of these claims are in ESE centers.

Definition of “defiance”

During a discussion of a proposed amendment to the Code of Student Conduct, Executive Director of Exceptional Student Education Kathy Black presented several changes to rules, including a prohibition of hoodies on school buses, changes to rules about the usage of restrooms and changing facilities to align with State statutes, and a clarification of the definition of “defiance.”

Member Tina Certain made a motion to approve the changes on first reading, and Member Sarah Rockwell seconded the motion. 

During board discussion of the motion, Certain questioned the definition of “defiance, which was changed from “Boldly resisting or openly challenging school authority” to “A verbal or non-verbal refusal to comply with a request from school or district personnel or to follow district, school or classroom expectations of rules, behavior, language, or actions. Defiant behavior can range from non-compliant to boldly confrontational.”

Certain: “Maybe we do something that’s a little bit more concrete”

Certain said that under that definition, “Every kid that does anything wrong can be classified as ‘defiance.’… I wanted to have a conversation about that, and maybe we do something that’s a little bit more concrete, that’s not so subjective.”

Rockwell agreed, “I would want to make it very clear that after the teacher gives a direction twice, the student refuses to do it – something very, very concrete that can’t be open to interpretation, because I know I have a teenager at home, and he often complies while rolling his eyes and grumbling under his breath. And if I punished him every time he did that, he’d be grounded for the rest of his life.”

Restrooms and changing facilities – State statutes or Title IX?

Rockwell was also concerned about the changes regarding restrooms and changing facilities “because the federal government updated their Title IX rules, and if we keep that policy in place and add it to our Student Code of Conduct, we’re then in violation of federal Title IX. And as much as our governor would like to say that we don’t have to follow the federal regulations, we do, just like I can’t say, ‘Oh, I’m just not following what the State says.’… So equally, we, as a State, can’t say we’re not following what the federal government does; we’re risking losing our federal funding.”

During public comment, teachers’ union president Carmen Ward said she had “a big problem with the Code of Conduct, the changing facilities and restrooms… because the Title IX expansion is directly contrary to what this policy says. This would be a bad policy to incorporate at this time… I think we don’t need to do this right now… I hear that this is the statute, and we are living in a state that does not care about the civil rights of some minorities, and that is a problem because all minorities matter.”

Staff Attorney Susan Seigle told Chair Diyonne McGraw that the agenda item was just to accept the rule for advertising and schedule a public hearing for June 18. She said, “There will be amendments made over time… Any input the public has… will be taken into account and presented later.”

The motion passed unanimously; the public hearing on the rule will be at 6:30 p.m. on June 18.

Student Progression Plan: 50% to be the lowest possible grade

The next agenda item was to set a public hearing for a rule change to the Student Progression Plan. Rockwell made a motion to approve advertising a public hearing for the rule change, and Certain seconded the motion.

Member Kay Abbitt asked about a change that makes 50% the lowest possible grade on any submitted or missing assignment: “Why?”

Deputy Superintendent Cathy Atria said the change was “based on decades of research that speak to the psychological impact of zeros in grades, as well as the mathematical inconsistency. When we look at a 100-point scale, we have 59 points that comprise an F, 10 points for a D, 10 points for a C, 10 points for a B, and 10 points for an A, and what we know… is for a student to recover from a zero, even with many good grades following that zero, it’s quite difficult. It also impacts the disenfranchised students to a greater degree than it does others.”

Abbitt responded, “So someone could sit in class and not really do their work and turn it in and have one or two problems answered – and they know they’re going to get at least a 50.”

Atria replied, “That doesn’t change what the letter grade would be. What it does is, it gives them more of an ability to recover from that grade than it would if it were a zero.”

Atria: “Am I being graded on my habit of work? Or am I being graded on my level of proficiency in whatever that content and skill is?”

Atria continued, “We have to think about – what is the purpose of grades? Is the purpose to convey and communicate as students progress towards meeting skills and content that’s being taught? Or is the zero a punitive measure, which we know, again, research tells us it does not work, in terms of encouraging students to do better. Indeed, it does the opposite effect. Or is a grade a representation of a habit of work? So if I don’t do my work, I don’t turn in my work, I’ve turned in my work incomplete – am I being graded on my habit of work? Or am I being graded on my level of proficiency in whatever that content and skill is?”

Abbitt suggested either moving to standards-based grading or changing the grading scale “because it’s not zero to 59. It’s 50 to 59.”

The motion to approve advertising a hearing for the changes to the Student Progression Plan on June 18 passed unanimously.

Changes to book challenge policy

During a discussion about advertising a hearing on June 18 for changes to the policy on challenging books, Rockwell asked Seigle to add language that would allow the district to review all books that were previously removed if the State issues new guidance or clarifications. Seigle agreed to add the language before the public hearing. The motion to approve advertising the policy change passed unanimously.

Slaughterhouse Five kept on shelves

A challenge to Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut was considered, with staff recommending that the book be kept on the shelves, mainly because it is considered a classic that is on the College Board’s Reading List for College-Bound Students. The board voted unanimously to keep the book.