Curriculum changes weren’t on the agenda at the Tuesday night, Sept. 3 school board meeting. In fact, they won’t be through the committee and public input process until spring. But many impassioned commenters, thought it was already a done deal.
“I’m here to, uh, address the, uh, the gay foreplay videos being introduced and mandated into the schools,” said Frances Wozniak.
“My testimony tonight is regarding the new high school required course as written about in the Watchman article of 28 August 2024, depicting videos showing various LGBTQ actors making out, undressing, and preparing for various forms of gay and heterosexual activity,” said Sally Duncan.
“I want to tell you that this is called ‘queering the classroom," said Ryan Purucker.
Five elements of the district’s curriculum are up for review this year. Art, Health, Music, Physical Education and World Language. They are posted on the Curriculum Commitee's webpage. The committee met Thursday night for the first time this school year and will continue meeting monthly to take public comments and review all the material before presenting curricula to the board for their final approval. Approved lessons will be implemented next school year.
The Health curriculum includes information about sex education. It lists possible resources for teachers, including some that are online.
To dispel some mis-information in the article in the Alaska Watchman publication, board members, like Melissa Burnett, asked commenters like Gail McBride, if they read the draft that was released to the public in August.
“So, if you click through it, then you're aware that those videos are not in our curriculum,” asked Burnett.
“The videos?” asked McBride.
“Correct,” said Burnett.
“Well, yes, the website is there,” said McBride.
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Apart from the health curriculum testimony, Rita Trometter asked for the resignation of board member Bobby Burgess, because a photo showing his nude backside was circulated on social media last week.
“In case any member does not know what I am referring to, I have printed copies for each of you to view this evening. And I also have the large, oversized, to show what is being…”
Trometter held up an enlarged photo to the cameras in the room, showing Burgess cooking in an apron, and nothing else.
In an interview after the school board meeting, Trometter said she received the photo from someone who sent it to her, but she would not say who.
She thought Burgess should not be on the board if he allowed the photo to circulate.
“The picture should have not been there for me to even be able to receive it and print it off," she said.
"My main thing is that somebody with no moral standards and cannot discern what are good moral standards, should not be on our school board.”
At the end of the meeting, Burgess said the photo was shared by his wife to friends only, but not publicly, three years ago, before he ran for school board.
"My family experienced a violation of our privacy last week. A photo that was shared by my wife, three years ago. Three years ago, long before I was on the board, it was shared by my wife amongst her Facebook friends. Not publicly,” Burgess said.
“To be clear, the picture shows me cooking bacon in minimal personal protective equipment,” he said.
“It was a warm morning. The kids were gone. My wife and I were having a fun time, being comfortable and silly. It was a moment of mirth. The screenshot was taken in 2021 and you can tell that because it says at the top ‘posted six days ago.’ Okay, so think of the implications there. Someone saved this photo and sat on it for three years.”
Burgess, who chairs the Curriculum Committee, said he didn’t think people circulating the photo cared about his service on the board, but were targeting his family.
“If you think that it is inappropriate to share a photo like this, why would you present it in a public meeting for the school board when there are children in the room?” Burgess asked.
Trometter said later she considered the photo public.
“I don’t see a problem with it because it was on social media, so why can't I not show it?" she asked.
"Basically, I guess you could say I reposted it, I just blew it up.”
In her concluding comments, board member Melissa Burnett asked public members to do better homework before they testify at meetings.
“I do ask the community to remember that we are all people up here. Please remember kindness and respect and a better decorum. Remember that you are speaking and showing things, not only in front of us, but many of our students, our staff, our public community, and small children.”
A public comment period on the five curriculum sections being reviewed will open again on Monday, September 9 for one week. Ways to give feedback are listed on the district’s curriculum webpage.
