Williamson County School Board members will assemble for their April meeting Tuesday night, but, according to that meeting’s agenda sheet, no one plans to discuss a subject that has generated controversy in the community.
As The Tennessee Star reported, Superintendent Mike Looney implemented a Cultural Competency curriculum that includes “white privilege” training for teachers.
School board members thus far won’t say if they plan to address these matters.
But members of a group that want more information said they plan to send a representative to Tuesday’s meeting. Members of this group, WCS TN Parents Wants Facts, say it’s time for Looney and other school system representatives to show greater transparency.
As reported, the group already has a Facebook page.
“We hope to have transparency on the entire curriculum that is being rolled out. Our overall goal is to have political persuasions and parties not influencing our teachers or the curriculum,” said Stefanie Rose Miles, one of the page’s creators, Monday.
“It is quite interesting that we have around 200 or so followers, but on the other side we get several thousand views per post. Our private messages, well, we can’t answer them all in a timely manner, but we are trying to feed through them. People are coming to us. We are adding membership and insider followers daily. We have had a few team leadership meetings, and we are not done.”
As reported, school board members said last month that news of this curriculum caught them off guard.
The Star contacted all 12 WCS School Board members via email Monday and asked if they plan to discuss these topics Tuesday night. None of them immediately returned our request for comment.
As reported, WCS TN Parents Want Facts, went live last month.
Miles and co-creator Karrie Marren, said they hope the page sparks several conversations about what is happening within the school district.
Miles said last month that issues of “white privilege” and diversity and culture are important — but she also said “those are discussions for the home.”
Marren, meanwhile, said last month that some parents in Williamson County might fear speaking out publicly on the page, for fear of some type of retribution.
The Star has talked to various parents in the county who said they fear speaking out against the “white privilege” training, due to a possible backlash against them either personally or professionally.
The board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Williamson County Administrative Building, 1320 West Main Street, according to the school system’s official website.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
