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Public commenters urge curriculum review under parental-rights framework and question appointment process for Freeport seat
Summary
At public comment, a state organizer urged RSU 5 to apply parental-rights notice and opt-out practices to a district curriculum book club; a local resident criticized the process and communication around the town council appointment to a vacant Freeport board seat.
Two members of the public addressed the RSU 5 board during the public-comment period with requests for review and clearer communication.
Alan Sarvinas identified himself as “state director and organizer for Parents Rights and Education” and said he and his group have met with families in RSU 5 about parental-notice rights. Sarvinas urged the board to review the district’s “curriculum social issues book club” and to adopt notice and opt-out procedures consistent with parental-rights principles, referencing the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (federal) and a recent federal court decision in October 2024 that he said affirmed parents’ rights to advance notice and opt-out on “sensitive issues.” Sarvinas said his organization would distribute PPRA-based forms and urged the board to ensure parents have “reasonable and realistic advance notice and ability to opt their children out of sensitive issues.” Sarvinas said he lives in Topsail and that a local Freeport Community Services board member attended his organization’s event without objection.
Janice Flynn of Freeport spoke separately about the town-council appointment of a replacement to a vacant Freeport seat on the school board. Flynn said she learned about the appointment only after the vote and criticized the lack of broader community outreach around the selection process for an elected position. “For an elected position, I just think there should have been a broader net to include more parents,” Flynn said, and she said she will send a letter to the superintendent requesting details on how the nominating committee was formed and how the appointment was publicized. She acknowledged the town council acted within the law but said the community should have a larger opportunity for input when an elected board seat is filled by appointment.
The board chair noted there would be an additional public-comment opportunity at the end of the agenda and thanked the speakers.
