I voted for our school board members because I was excited about the policies and approaches that I believed they all would bring to the district. At the October 8th board meeting there was a rigorous and honest discussion about our curriculum at the high school level and I wanted to publicly thank the board for taking the positions that they did.
Piedmont went through a period where we drifted away from rigorous academic standards and having high expectations for our kids. I am glad to see us shifting back in the other direction and I believe the last board vote was an important step in the right direction.
As echo’d by many of our board members — and very appropriately named by Max Roman, Ruchi Medhekar and Lindsey Thomasson — we should work hard to push against the soft bigotry of low expectations, believe that our kids can do hard things, and help them prepare for a competitive and (unfortunately) unforgiving adult world. If we don’t, they’ll be significantly disadvantaged when they get to college and when they get into the workforce. Just ask anyone who teaches college students or hires recent grads and you will hear them lament the general unpreparedness of these young adults.
I also wanted to say that Ruchi’s comments at the end were some of the most thoughtful, cogent and authentic commentary that I’ve heard from a public figure (especially an unpaid, volunteer one!). Her point about stress and challenge growing over time is one I wholeheartedly support. We should let our kids experience manageable stress and challenge now when the stakes are significantly lower than they ever will be in their lives.
I have never been more excited about the direction our district is headed in. The decisions, leadership and community outreach from Dr. Hawn and Ariel Dolowich demonstrate they are a team that is seeking the best for our students, our families, and trying to make it work with our teachers.
I know these positions are often difficult to take because there are so many constituents to balance in the district so a big THANK YOU to them for taking a principled, logical and appropriate approach to our kids’ futures.
Above all else I appreciate the swiftness with which they make decisions and the humility they have to understand if those decisions need to be reversed or changed.
It is clear that these are not universally popular decisions. Nothing worth deciding ever is. There are a myriad of ways we can address concerns such as caps on APs or limiting the weighted grades. But denying choice is not the right solution.
I stand by the board’s vote on Wednesday.
I agree with you Adam. I was very happy to see the Board deliberate so meaningfullyand impartially and come to a reasonable decision. Seeing our elected representatives ponder all the difficult aspects of a decision such as this one and come to a reasonable conclusion gives me much hope for the future of our community. Thank you to all the school board members.