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Carmel board rejects proposal to add 'culture' as seventh graduate-profile 'C' after heated debate
Summary
Trustee Kim Wise's motion to add a seventh "C" for culture as a core district value failed on a 1–6 roll call after hours of debate and public comment arguing the change would signal respect for students of color. Trustees said culture is already reflected in existing goals and strategic plans.
Trustee Kim Wise moved on Oct. 8 that the Carmel Central School District adopt a seventh graduate-profile competency — "Culture" — to reflect culturally responsive education and to route wording through the district's shared-decision process. The proposal prompted an extended discussion among board members, staff and members of the public.
Supporters, including Trustee Wise, said formal recognition would respond to comments from students and parents who told the district they do not feel seen. "We heard parent after parent and student after student...that they don't feel recognized," Wise said, arguing that a distinct seventh C would send an unmistakable message of inclusion.
Opponents said the district's existing graduate profile, strategic plan and core values already encompass respect for culture and warned that adding a seventh C could duplicate prior work and create measurement challenges. "I cannot and will not vote for a 7 C in any way, shape, or form," Trustee Douglas said, calling the six competencies robust and the product of extensive community input.
A public commenter told the board the defeat felt personal and urged trustees to consider how students of color experience the district: "People that look like me need to matter," the commenter said. Trustees debated where cultural priorities should appear — as a separate competency, in core values, or as part of implementation work — and whether the added language would meaningfully change practice.
On a roll-call vote, the motion failed, 1–6 (Trustee Wise voting yes; President Orser, Vice President Dole/Dahl, Trustees Curzio, Douglas and Paraskeva voting no). Trustees said the discussion would inform future work and the strategic-planning cycle, but the board took no further action that night to change the graduate profile.
The board chair said the conversation would be fed back into district processes; proponents urged quicker follow-through to restore trust with families who said they feel excluded. The question of where and how culture is represented in curriculum and public events remained unresolved at the meeting's close.
