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School psychologists urge "Spread the Word" inclusion campaign; board expresses support
Summary
Two district school psychologists described a Spread the Word campaign to promote respect and inclusion for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Central High piloted the campaign; staff asked the board to consider expanding it districtwide. Board members expressed support and asked staff to follow up.
Jennifer Negrete and Curtis Middleton, both school psychologists with Rapid City Area Schools, told the board during open forum about a district pilot of the Spread the Word campaign, which seeks to reduce derogatory language, confront bullying and promote inclusive action for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. "Inclusion is more than just a concept. It's an action," Negrete said.
Negrete and Middleton described an event at Central High School where students signed a banner, made pledges and participated in dress‑up days. Middleton shared social‑media statistics his team had gathered: he said surveys and analytics show a large proportion of posts about people with intellectual disabilities are negative and that many contain slurs. "When social media users are posting about people with intellectual disabilities, 7 in every 10 of those posts are negative with 6 in 10 containing a slur," he said.
Board response: Board members thanked the presenters and discussed expansion. Board member Jamie Clapham said she would like to reach out and work with the presenters to consider districtwide adoption. President Troy Carr and other trustees expressed support and asked staff to follow up on whether the program could be extended to more schools. Dr. Strasser noted Central was a pilot this year and staff would provide additional information to the board about scaling the effort.
Ending: Presenters asked the board to consider the campaign as a regular district effort to increase inclusion, and trustees requested follow‑up details on expansion options and implementation support.
