What have I learned?
Everyday we work hard to make a living for our families but fail to pay attention to the “public servants” to whom we entrust our children. Due to public school overreach on Covid protocols, I now attend most Dublin City School board meetings with a group of engaged parents. As I listen to the meetings, I am appalled by what has been occurring in the District under the cover of noble concepts like diversity, inclusion, equity and mental health:
- Sexualization in our curriculum
- Political ideologies invading academics
- Schools promoting and administering Covid vaccines
The link below is the most comprehensive guide on the current events occurring in Dublin City Schools (make sure you check out Part 2).
When parents question the District’s agenda, they are met with silence, excuses and/or claims of misunderstandings. There is little transparency and no accountability. For example, when I asked my child’s principal why schools were administering Covid vaccines, I was told such procedures are considered “normal” because the schools also administer seasonal flu shots.
But why is a school utilizing its limited resources to administer and push any vaccines? This is a private health decision made between parents and their children’s doctor. The schools’ focus and resources need to be on academics and core curriculum.
I've worked on a lot of big projects in my career. Big projects are huge investments so we have to clearly explain what is a MUST and what is a WANT. One of many jaw-dropping moments at the Dublin City School Board meetings was on October 11, 2021 when I heard the newly hired SEL director (180K+ worth of total salary and benefits) attempt to justify the new SEL initiatives. Watch the video below.
If a brand new SEL program – which steals precious time, money and resources from academics - is so important to the mental health of our children, why is the example chosen, one of a child dropping a salad and behaving rudely? What are the pressing student mental health problems that we MUST solve? What are the ones we WANT solved? WHO should be the ones to do the solving? And at WHAT price?
If an individual levy for an SEL program with associated costs was put on the ballot, would the community vote for it - when they are given no concrete examples of actual necessity or proven effectiveness? And no measurement as to how much time and resources would be taken away from academics in order to implement it?