RIVER FALLS – At the Aug. 21 meeting, the River Falls School Board passed a revised policy which allows for more parent participation in handling public complaints about instructional/library media center materials by adding another parent slot to the review committee.

Superintendent Jamie Benson said the board wanted to provide a better balance on the review committee process.

“Where we made a purposeful effort to provide better weight and balance to the committee and review committee process was to have more community parent representation and less school representation in the committee process to try to weight that and provide a better balance to the representation on the committee,” Benson said.

If a staff member receives a complaint about a book or materials, and cannot resolve the issue, the building principal will schedule a meeting between staff members involved, the principal and the complainant to discuss concerns, the policy states. The complainant must verify they have read the entire material (textbook, poem, literature, etc.) that is the focus of their complaint.

If the matter isn’t resolved during the meeting, the complainant must submit a “request for reconsideration” form to the principal within 14 days. The principal must then schedule an open meeting of a committee to review the complaint form and material in question. The eight-member committee will consist of the building principal, one staff member who is using the material in question, an appropriate department and/or unit representative, the Director of Academic Services or designee, one staff member not a member of the department/unit involved in selecting the material in question, two parents (one selected by the principal, the other selected by the complainant; both must be residents of the school district with a child currently enrolled in the district), and the complainant.

The committee will be required to read the entire material under review. Staff members must provide the review committee a written document that provides insight into how the literature/instructional material is used in the classroom (for example, how the literature/material is used in the curriculum, essential

learning targets, instructional strategies, how controversial issues are addressed with students, strengths/benefits of the material and feedback from students). The committee members, after discussion, will complete a blind survey giving their recommendation from these three options:

(1) Remove the material from the classroom/library.

(2) Maintain material under its current use.

(3) Use the material as an educational option for interested learners

The committee’s decision, based on the survey results, will be shared with the superintendent. In the event of a tie vote, the superintendent, Director of Academics, and principal will make a final decision.

If the committee decision is appealed, the school board will determine if the Review Committee followed policy. If so, the board will uphold that committee decision. If they decide the committee did not follow policy, they can ask for more information or ask the superintendent to make the final decision.

Before the board voted, attendees addressed the policy in public comment. One person spoke out against complainants having to read the entire selection they object to, calling it “a hurdle.”

Commenter Jackie Niccum said some of the books in the school libraries contain porn, including one recently in question, “Poet X.”

“You hid behind policy and none of you had to state your real position on the porn that’s in the books, that’s in the libraries and that’s also being available in some of the classrooms,” Niccum said. “The endorsement of pornography to be assigned and available to students, even to grade school level, is not acceptable. The endorsement of, which may be coming, of teenage boys and girls showering together is also not acceptable. What happened at the last school board meeting is not an accurate reflection, at least I don’t believe it is, of the greater amount of people in our community. What you saw was the squeaky wheel showing up.”

Another woman asked the board to post links to classroom curriculum on the website. She also asked that parents be given the opportunity at the beginning of the year to read books that will be taught.

UW-River Falls professor Jennifer Willis Rivera thanked the board for requiring people to read things in their entirety before objecting to them.

“I think it’s very important to instill critical thinking in everyone in this community and as someone who teaches at the university, I know how frustrating it is sometimes when people think they know the content of the thing but they haven’t read it,” she said. “It becomes clearer once they read the entire content of the book or the poem or the piece. We can’t work in 30-second soundbites. We need to get context.”

The board passed the revised policy’s second reading unanimously, minus President Stacy Johnson Myers, who was absent.

Project Oversight Committee

Benson said the Project Oversight Committee has been working with the architect looking at a facility assessment and narrowing down a list of facility wants and needs.

“We’re at the crossroads now where it’s time to distribute a community survey, which will be done in mid-September,” Benson said. “The survey is an opportunity for the board to hear from community members about facility needs in the district and where we are at with our operational budgetary needs moving forward.”

The district is looking at a $3 million budgetary deficit just to pay for ongoing, normal, day-to-day operations in the district. The survey will gauge the public’s perspective on the possibility of two referenda appearing on the February 2024 ballot: One for facility needs and the other for the operating budget.

The board will get the survey results in early October and will have two months to decide what will be on the referendum ballot in February. The survey will be available online and by paper.  

Personnel

The board approved the following personnel decisions:

• Hiring of Hillary Gilles as an art teacher at Greenwood effective Aug. 23, 2023 (replaces Emily Gregory). Gilles earned her bachelor’s degree from UW-River Falls and has two years of experience (St. Bridget and Hammond).
• Hiring Julie Webb as a part-time reading teacher at River Falls Public Montessori Elementary effective Aug. 23, 2023 (replaces Ruthie Jilk). Webb earned both her bachelor’s degree and her master’s degree from UW-Stout and has six years of experience (Durand).
• Hiring Kim Bruesewitz as a school counselor at River Falls High School effective Aug. 23, 2023 (new position). Bruesewitz earned her bachelor’s degree from Metropolitan State University and her master’s degree from Capella University and has five years of experience (Ellsworth).
• Hiring Tim LaVold as a business education teacher at RFHS effective Aug. 23, 2023 (replaces Kris Thompson). LaVold earned his bachelor’s degree from St. Cloud State University has two years of experience (River Falls).
• Hiring Hannah Gagnelius as a long-term substitute second grade teacher at Greenwood effective Aug. 28 through Nov. 1 (for Anna Clark).
• Hiring Annabel Reimers as a long-term substitute kindergarten teacher at Westside Sept. 14 through Dec. 1 (for Tori Koskineimi).
• Hiring Jamie Mills as part-time long-term substitute vocal music teacher at Meyer Middle School Aug. 28 through Oct. 6 (for Sarah Plum).
• Hiring Daniel Baumgartner as a long-term substitute choir teacher at MMS Aug. 28 through Oct. 27 (for Jacy Walker).
• Resignation of Rachel Mader as full-time instructional coach at Rocky Branch effective July 19, 2023.