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Public commenters press board on pronouns and paraprofessional shortages
Summary
Two public commenters addressed the board: one argued requiring pronoun responses in classroom activities amounts to compelled speech; another described her medically fragile daughter's injury and urged more trained paraprofessionals and better IEP notification when staffing is reduced.
Several community members used the public comment period to raise concerns about student rights and staffing.
Eric Udin told the board he came “to talk about speech, compelled speech and beliefs and freedoms,” saying activities that display a student’s name and pronoun improperly pressure children to answer and can harm those who decline. “Compelling answers from students is not free speech,” he said, arguing students should be protected from being required to state beliefs or pronouns.
Catherine Hobbs praised special education staff but described a serious incident involving her medically fragile daughter on the second day of school. Hobbs said staff response was “perfect” but urged a smoother transition between early childhood programming and elementary school and more trained paraprofessionals to keep vulnerable students safe. “I really shouldn’t have to put into our IEP that I’m notified when they’re short staffed so that I can keep her home,” she said, adding concern about budget priorities and asking the district to reallocate funds toward paras.
Board members acknowledged the comments and thanked the speakers; no formal action was taken during public comment. Chair Sherman read the board’s expectations for public testimony, including limits on naming individual staff or students and a three-minute time limit per speaker.
