Forest Hills board adopts social-studies course of study after contentious public comments

The Forest Hills Local School District Board of Education voted to approve its social-studies course of study, including the resource list of textbooks, after an extended public-comment period and discussion among trustees.

The motion to approve item 11.3 on the agenda passed after trustees voted on the full course of study and its listed resources. Board member Dr. Simmons voted yes, Board member Dr. Strickler voted yes, Board member Sarah Jonas voted no, Board member Mrs. Stewart voted no, and Board member Mr. Bibb voted yes.

The vote came after more than a dozen members of the public addressed the board during the meeting's public-comment period. Tamara Winters, who identified herself as a Forest Hills parent, urged the board "that education cannot and must not be one-sided, especially as we study American history." Jeff Nye, another speaker, reminded the board that a recent federal "Dear Colleague" letter is not law and warned of legal costs if the district adopts changes that provoke litigation.

Several parents described specific assignments and family histories to argue that excluding or sanitizing certain materials would harm students' ability to learn from difficult historical events. Jen Ciolino said allowing students to explore family stories 'even if uncomfortable' matters: "Allowing the children to explore this type of real family story may be uncomfortable. Suppressing it sends the message their experiences aren't welcome."

Other speakers criticized board members who had publicized district materials on social media. Colleen Berliner told the board she believed some claims about textbook adoptions had been inflated and called for accuracy in public statements. Board member Sarah Jonas defended her social-media posts during the meeting, saying, "I'm just sharing information," as she answered questions from colleagues about whether she had circulated excerpts from resource candidates.

During the board discussion, trustees and staff described the district process for course-of-study development: teams of content-area leaders and outside review, alignment with state standards and AP College Board expectations where applicable, and attention to professional development and implementation costs. Teaching-and-learning staff also told the board that some titles had been reviewed and, where appropriate, alternatives proposed to reduce duplication across the district's two high schools.

The board split its votes on curriculum items: the multilingual course of study (11.2) was approved earlier as part of the consent agenda; social studies (11.3) was pulled from consent and voted on separately after the public comments and trustee debate.

Trustees acknowledged the difficulty of balancing district-wide alignment and local teacher choice; several members said they trusted teachers to use the course-of-study standards and select pages or chapters appropriate for classroom instruction. Speakers on both sides of the debate urged clearer community involvement in future adoptions.

The board approved the social-studies course of study as listed on the agenda, with the recorded votes noted above. The district said resources and implementation guidance would be shared with teachers and parents and that staff would continue to refine the resource list in response to teacher feedback and alignment work.

Minor procedural votes earlier in the meeting (approval of the consent agenda, multilingual course of study, minutes and routine personnel actions) were taken separately and passed as part of consent votes recorded later in the meeting.