Public commenter urges board to remove SEL and critical race theory, reduce testing

An unidentified speaker from District 3 used the public-comment period to urge the Blount County Board of Education to reduce standardized testing and to remove social-emotional learning (SEL) and “critical race theory” from district curriculum.

The commenter said too much classroom time is devoted to testing and preparation and argued the district should focus on curriculum that promotes academic study instead of SEL. “Also, critical critical race theory needs to be removed from all the curriculum no matter how they address it,” the speaker said. The commenter also called for replacing common core math, saying it creates confusion.

The remarks were made during the allotted public-comment period; no board action on the issues was taken during the meeting. Board procedure read at the start of public comment reminded speakers to avoid personal complaints about employees and to limit comments to three minutes.

What happens next: The comments were recorded in the meeting minutes; any formal policy change would require board agenda action and vote at a future meeting.