Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Comment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public commenter urges mandatory reading of George Orwell and calls to remove DEI policies
Summary
A resident urged the board to require George Orwell's 1984 and to remove diversity, equity and inclusion policies from district practices; he also asked for follow-up on AP African American Studies curriculum.
Chad Bishop, a resident of Sioux Falls, addressed the board during the public-comment period and urged the district to require George Orwell’s novel 1984 for juniors and seniors and to add a unit studying propaganda to the social studies curriculum.
“I would like to once again request that you make George Orwell's 1984 and [Aldous] Huxley's Brave New World required reading across the district for all juniors and seniors,” Bishop said. (Transcript: applicant requested 1984 explicitly; the transcript also referenced related material and a study of propaganda.) He framed the request around concerns about modern information manipulation and media influence and asked for a courtesy follow-up from the board.
Bishop also urged the board to consider removing language and policies he described as “DEI” (diversity, equity and inclusion), saying in his view those policies have led to discriminatory practices elsewhere. He asked whether the district’s AP African American Studies curriculum mirrored curricula that had been subject to bans in other jurisdictions and requested a district resolution striking “social justice” language from district policy.
Board members did not take action on Bishop’s requests during the meeting; the comments were part of the public-comment record and the board did not schedule follow-up action during the session.
