Originally published in the 4/6/18 print edition of Yellowstone County News.
HUNTLEY — Vigilant oversight is the key to ensuring school curriculum is appropriate, school officials said.
The board of trustees for School District 2 in Billings recently fielded a complaint from parents over a high school assignment they said required students to look at objectionable images on a website that compared advertising messages.
Superintended Terry Bouck said at the school board meeting that he found the images offensive.
Superintendents of the Shepherd and Huntley Project school districts both said their districts have curriculum policies in place to evaluate the learning materials used by students. Both said they recalled no objections filed by parents.
Scott Carter, superintendent of the Shepherd School District, said district employees continually evaluate curriculum and work assigned to students by teachers.
“All our curriculum is consistently under review,” Carter said. “The quick answer is, yes, it’s under a constant state of review.”
But, he said, as was the case in the Billings school district, “You can never be 100 percent sure.”
The district employs a curriculum director, and the district also has curriculum committees that meet regularly, Carter said. This year, the district is focusing on math, with intent to purchase a new math curriculum this year.
“If a parent has an issue with a piece of our curriculum,” Carter said, “we’d review it in our curriculum review process,” which is spelled out in district policies.
In a similar vein, the district has a process in place is someone filed a complaint about a library book, Carter said. Carter said he could not recall a challenge to district curriculum or books, but said library books or assigned reading is where parent complaints are most likely to arise.
Mark Wandle, superintendent at Huntley Project Schools, said he also cannot recall an incident where a complaint about curriculum or books came to the school board. Some parents have brought concerns to teachers or principals, he said.
Principals generally review lesson plans that are prepared by teachers, he said.
“Principals don’t go through each lesson plan but they look them over,” Wandle said.
The district follows a Professional Learning Committee model, in which teams of teachers work together to develop lesson plans and overall curriculum, which has a built-in system of curriculum review, Wandle said.
