Parents and activists urge civic and classical curriculum priorities; some seek Christian readings in schools

During the public input portion of the School Board meeting, speakers addressed curriculum and civic-education topics. Jennifer Pippen, who identified herself as chairman of Moms for Liberty in Indian River County, praised the curriculum-adoption process for classical curriculum materials and said the committee saw strong parent participation.

"It was a pleasure to see the strong participation from parents, especially those with children currently enrolled in our schools," Pippen said. She also said her group donated pocket constitutions to all middle schools in the district and that they will be distributed to eighth-grade students for Constitution Day on Sept. 17.

Pippen said a public records request showed "not a single family in our district opted out" of the Florida standards for African American history last school year. She described the finding to the board as a reminder "that sometimes the loudest voices... don't necessarily represent the majority of our county and that facts matter."

A separate speaker who did not identify themself asked the board to expand Christian content in schools, including readings from the Bible and the Lord's Prayer, and criticized what they called secular humanism and "critical race theory." The speaker referenced a prior meeting and cited religious texts and the Declaration of Independence in arguing for inclusion of Christian content in classroom routines.

Board members did not take action on the public comments during the meeting; the public input segment is governed by School Board Policy 169.1, which the chair read aloud and which limits speakers to three minutes each and outlines decorum for the meeting.

The board did not adopt any changes to curriculum policy at the meeting; comments were recorded as part of the public input portion of the agenda.