Gilman school board votes to keep challenged curriculum

At the school board meeting in Gilman on Monday night, the board voted to follow the recommendation of the complaint procedure committee to leave the Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) curriculum in tact without removing the sections that touch on religion.

The board voted in response to a complaint from a local couple, Jacob and Emily Doro, which they submitted in writing this past fall. The Doros’ original complaint was based upon a lesson that took place in second grade. That lesson introduced children to Buddhism and Hinduism as a part of world culture studies involving the indigenous people of the Indus River Valley, India.

During the citizens forum section of the meeting, the Doros stood up to reiterate that they did not feel as though their concerns about the age appropriateness of the CKLA curriculum had been addressed by the board or by the complaint procedure committee.

“Our main complaint, which is age appropriateness, was not mentioned one time during the deliberations amongst the subcommittee,” said Jacob Doro.

“There is enough of the purchased domains to get through the entire year if these are taken out,” said Emily Doro of removing the lessons that touch on other religions.

Jump River resident Clayton Skabroud also stood up during the citizens forum, questioning whether or not the complaint procedure committee had been given adequate instruction as to some it did not appear as though all members did enough research to cast an educated vote.

“Was there proper leadership for this committee?” Skabroud asked.

Five Gilman teachers spoke during the meeting with all of them reporting that religion is a brief topic during these discussions and is only brought up because of the influence these religions had on the cultures being studied.

The teachers who spoke were kindergarten teacher Kim Quinnell, first grade teacher Tiffany Partridge, second grade teacher Victoria Noonan, third grade teacher Stephanie Siok, and fourth grade teacher Stacy Syryczuk.

Partridge spoke first, providing insight into the CKLA lesson plan. She stated that CKLA curriculum has two strands; skills and knowledge. The domain within that curriculum that is relevant in her classroom is the study of the ancient civilizations Mesopotamia and Egypt. Students learn that those civilizations are made of five key things; farming, writing, cities, leaders, and religions.

“The practices of the religion are not taught,” Partridge said. “It’s mainly presented as this was their beliefs, and the religion is a practice that’s shared by a group of people that helped them shape their society.”

Partridge stated that her students have not questioned her on the topic of religion, and if they had, she would have directed them to their guardians, stating that she would tell her students, “‘That is a wonderful question for you to ask your grownups at home about.’ It would not be a question that I would answer in class.”

School board member Phillip Grunseth asked Partridge if she felt like the curriculum was culture-based, to which Partridge responded, “Yes.”

“It’s basically history?” Grunseth questioned.

“100%,” she replied. “Theres no value judgment given, its very basic bullet point facts.”

Quinnell, Noonan, Siok, and Syryczuk offered similar opinions, reporting that their students were excited to participate in world culture studies.

“They don’t really see a lot of other ethnicities and cultures and religions,” said Quinnell of students in the district. “We want them to look out the window through literature and see there are people that are not the same as us,” she continued.

“My class’ very favorite part is when we got to talk about the Roman gods and goddesses,” said Siok. “We talked very specifically that that’s a myth. I was very clear with my students about that.”

“Your concerns are valued by all of us,” said Noonan. “Its not about how to practice religion,” she continued.

Syryczuk said, “It was very general, it was more of a fairytale to them.” She reported that her students are enjoying the studies. “They are just eating this curriculum up.”

Grunseth, who voted not to accept the recommendation of the complaint procedure committee at the last board meeting, said that the teachers’ opinions made a difference for him.

“Listening to what the meeting was on all the information didn’t seem like it shook out fair to me,” he said of the previous meetings. “But hearing all the staff members talk about it means more to me.”

“I just want to say I respect our parents who are bringing their concerns before the board, thank you for being advocates for your kids because if you don’t, who will?” Quinnell said.

Board member Lynn Rosemeyer said, “The person that was on the committee that voted no, I think that would have been nice to have that person here tonight too.” Rosemeyer is referencing middle and high school social studies teacher Lori Brenner who was on the complaint procedure committee and voted in favor of the Doros. The committee gathered on December 11 and January 6. Brenner was not present during Monday’s meeting.

“That individual has made it clear that they agree with the complainant,” said district administrator Walter Leipart.

Rosemeyer asked if the curriculum had been piloted prior to implementation within the school with Quinnell reported that they went to observe a neighboring district who was using CKLA. Leipart reported that the school piloted the curriculum for nearly a full semester.

“We did very extensive research before we chose it,” Quinnell said.

Rosemeyer reported that she’s done research and has noticed multiple complaints from parents across the country regarding this curriculum.

“We addressed that even before purchasing CKLA,” said Leipart. He stated that he wasn’t sure which complaints Rosemeyer was referencing specifically, but he did know of complaints that were based upon Native American depictions of history in version one.

“We have version two, which addressed those complaints,” he said. Leipart reported that those concerns were valid and attended to.

Grunseth, Darrell Thompson, Jessica Wisocky, Cheryl Ustianowski, Lauren Zach, and Valerie Kulesa voted to take the complaint procedure committee’s recommendation to leave the topic of religion in the CKLA curriculum with Lynn Rosemeyer voting no.

Upon the completion of the meeting, Jacob Doro thanked the board for their time and shook each members’ hand before departing.

The next board meeting will take place on April 28 rather than earlier in the month in order to accommodate the transition of board members leaving and those being voted in.

In other business:

• The board heard from Leipart that he is working to provide Taylor County law enforcement with fobs and keys for the school building so they have access in the event of an emergency, as well as collaborating on safety plans.

• The board also heard from Leipart regarding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies which have been changing as the government continues to make alterations. Leipart stated that these policies are in place to create a diverse opportunity for children to have access to appropriate services and options. He’s concerned about making sure that Gilman still has access to funding related to DEI policies. “We have always focused on doing what’s best for kids,” said Leipart. He encourages parents and district citizens to talk to legislators and ask specific questions, such as: What do you mean by creating more opportunities for choice?

What is the impact on public schools that have been receiving these funds?

What do you expect school districts to do when they don’t get the funds that they used to get?

“Do it in a respectful way because we’re all trying to find solutions,” Leipart said.

• Leipart said that the contract the school is implementing with Dark Horse CDL School located in Lake Holcombe has hit a snag as students can no longer hold a commercial driver’s permit until they are 18 years old rather than 17 and 1/2. Leipart is continuing to work on this.

• The board heard that the solar panels will be delivered shortly with installation to take place soon after.

• -Principal Tallman reported that the ACT and pre-ACT tests were given to students grades nine through 11 on March 18. Seniors were able to get assistance with scholarship applications the same day. Tallman also stated that Aimsweb testing for students grades pre-k through third will take place on March 31. Students in grades three through eight will take the Forward exam on April 7 and 14. Tenth grade will take the social studies portion of the Forward exam at the same time.

• Leipart reported that high school math teacher Michael Gingras will be retiring at the end of the school year. Due to declining enrollment, Leipart does not have plans to hire for that position at this time as the other math teacher is willing to adapt to the loss.

• The board voted in favor of giving a 2.5% wage increase to teachers, custodial staff, the director of business services, kitchen staff, paraprofessionals, secretary staff and the district administrator for the 2025-2026 school year. Even with an increase in wages, with the retirement of Gingras the district will save $37,585 in next year’s budget. Substitute teacher and coaching rates will also see increases.

• The board also intends to go ahead with Riteway Transportation to supplement bus routes as the school is struggling to find replacements as current drivers retire out. The board made it clear that the drivers will not be pushed out in favor of Riteway.