Thompson School District board reviews CIC course proposals, flags ‘Controversies in History’ for more detail
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Summary
Administrators presented a slate of teacher-submitted course proposals vetted by the Curriculum Improvement Council (CIC); board members pressed for syllabi and policy alignment for a CU Denver concurrent-enrollment course titled “Controversies in History” and discussed why a proposed ‘unified art’ course was denied.
Tiffany Jones, director of curriculum and learning design, outlined the Curriculum Improvement Council’s process for vetting teacher-submitted course proposals and said the committee is recommending several new or retitled courses for board consideration at the Dec. 17 meeting. “Our role is really to ensure that the process is followed,” Jones said, describing CIC’s checks for principal support, standards alignment and program sustainability.
Among the items the CIC recommended is a retitled science course — Earth and Physical Science Lab — to make clear the course carries a lab credit required for graduation. Jones said the change, prompted by confusion with an older name (“Geofizz”), will help families know the course satisfies lab-credit requirements.
Board members focused most attention on two items that prompted debate at the CIC level. First, a proposal labeled “unified art” was denied by CIC because, Jones said, the submitted course would create a class designed specifically for students with disabilities, an approach the committee judged to be inconsistent with the district’s goal of inclusive placements. She explained that after-school unified activities (peer-buddy programs) differ from a course that would “pull students with disabilities out of our general education classrooms.” Directors asked whether the district could instead create a more inclusive option or consider a club-level offering if proponents wish to preserve peer interaction without segregating instruction.
The other contested item is a concurrent-enrollment course, History 1400, presented as “Controversies in History” through a CU Denver partnership. Jones said the original syllabus included a week focused on critical race theory and that the teacher reworked the syllabus after CIC review to increase parental transparency and to align content with state standards. “When we looked at the very first time the syllabus was given to CIC, one of the weeks was focused all on critical race theory,” Jones said; she added that CIC’s concerns centered on whether the course title and transcript notation would trigger parental concern and whether the course would follow board policy governing controversial issues.
Directors asked several practical questions: whether controversial topics already appear across existing social studies courses; how CU Denver’s concurrent-enrollment competencies and MOU (which requires covering at least 85% of partner competencies) limit local curricular choices; and how parents will be notified and given the opportunity to sign a syllabus where policy requires it. Several board members said they would like to see the most recent syllabus, the draft CU Denver document and the district’s controversial-issues policy before voting. One director suggested the project could be delayed for further refinement; another said that while the course raises important issues, additional specificity about scope and safeguards is necessary.
Jones noted other CIC recommendations that appeared noncontroversial to the board, including business and career-pathway courses, a multi-year JROTC pathway (with 0.5 fitness and 0.5 health credits in a proposed structure and a $10-per-semester fee), and a cleared archery proposal with equipment provided by the Army and appropriately licensed instructors.
The board did not vote on any course tonight; members agreed staff should return to the Dec. 17 meeting with the updated syllabi, the relevant board policy language, the CU Denver syllabus and any other attachments the board requested so members can vote on the full packet as a unit.
