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Committee hears student-group sustainability, curriculum and safety concerns at community corner

Frederick County Public Schools Racial Equity / Community Corner Committee · November 14, 2025
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Summary

Members urged stronger curriculum-review participation, proposed making SOCA/Soka an extracurricular for sustainability, proposed media-literacy/AI curriculum, and raised safety concerns about student drop-off at Tuscarora High; staff said some issues had been raised with law enforcement and school administration.

During the committee's community corner, members raised a mix of school-level and districtwide concerns: inactive curriculum subcommittees, sustainability for student-affinity groups (SOCA/Soka), curriculum gaps in media literacy and AI, and hazardous drop-off behavior at Tuscarora High.

Curriculum engagement and SOCA/Soka: A committee member (Speaker 8) said they had been placed on a curriculum review subcommittee that never met and urged the committee to create functioning subcommittees for curricular input. Dr. Dyson recommended revisiting Policy and Regulation 117 (anti-racism) to clarify the committee’s role and suggested narrowing the committee’s KPIs to yearlong studies (for example chronic absenteeism or suspension) where it could make focused recommendations. Dyson also suggested considering SOCA/Soka as a formal extracurricular to secure sponsorship and funding at each school to ensure sustainability.

Media literacy and AI: Speaker 12 proposed adopting Finland-style media-literacy curricula that teach students to identify misinformation and AI influences even at early grades; committee members noted a need for dedicated digital-literacy courses at the college/postsecondary level as well.

Tuscarora student-safety concerns: Speaker 7 described dangerous drop-off conditions on Ballinger Creek Pike, with blocked lanes and near-misses. Committee members explained that drop-off/pick-up procedures vary by school and that safety responses typically require school-level action, PTA engagement, and cooperation with SROs or the sheriff’s office; staff said the specific Tuscarora situation had been brought to system staff and law enforcement previously.

Next steps: The committee agreed to explore practical follow-ups (coordination with school administration and PTAs, identifying whether the curriculum subcommittee can be reactivated, and working with student leaders and the superintendent on SOCA/Soka sustainability).