Parent urges public statement on federal executive order over fears for special-education funding

A parent who identified herself as a mother of five and a clinical professional counselor addressed the board during public comment on Feb. 26, asking the board to make a public statement about the executive order titled "Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families." The commenter said she had emailed the board two days earlier and expressed concern about protections and funding for special education.

"It scares me as a parent," she said, describing that her children range from pre-K to ninth grade and that many are in special education. She asked the board to make a public statement to reassure families and educators about how special-education services and staff funding would be preserved amid threats she described from other jurisdictions when boards or health departments face retaliatory measures.

The board had read its public-comment guidelines before taking comments and made clear it would "listen and consider, but not comment" during the public-comment period. The transcript shows no board response to the parent’s request during public comment; the board’s standard practice, as read aloud before public comment, is to refer concerns about individual staff or students to the superintendent and to refrain from commenting on matters that could be the subject of appeals.

The parent asked the board to "at least make a public statement so that it alleviates parents like me, educators like me, and many other people who aren't here today." The record does not show the board taking immediate action in response; any formal response would require subsequent board or staff action outside the public-comment period.