Wissahickon board declines MCIU virtual academy renewal after disputed Israel lesson

Wissahickon School Board members voted 8–1 on June 2 to reject approval of the district's blanket agreement with the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit (MCIU) for virtual academy services after a review unearthed a contentious lesson on the creation of the state of Israel.

Board members and public commenters said they were not prepared to sign off on a multi-course virtual provider while that lesson remains under review and urged the MCIU to remove or revise specific material and report back. The district signaled it will seek a written response from the MCIU and may call a special meeting this summer to decide whether a corrected agreement can be approved before the fall semester.

The decision followed public comments from parents and community members who said the disputed lesson had already been used in the MCIU's honors world-studies offering and asked the district to take steps to correct misinformation and to notify or re-educate students who had access to the material. Rachel Granger, a parent and a…