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Teacher raises workload concerns about AR 1005.03 parental-involvement rule at Bellevue Public Schools meeting
Summary
Andrew Bowen, speaking as an individual and listed as president of the W Education Association, told the board he supports the need for AR 1005.03 but worries the regulation could increase teachers' workloads, and he asked who would be responsible for notifications and for providing alternative instruction when parents opt students out of state-mad
Andrew Bowen, who identified himself at the podium as president of the W Education Association and gave an address on the record, told the Bellevue Board of Education during public comment on July 7 that he supports the need for the proposed administrative regulation AR 1005.03 but is concerned about its operational impact on teachers.
"My primary concern is on behalf of teachers in our district and how this policy can negatively impact their current workloads," Bowen said. He described situations in which teachers create and keep essential-objective tests for instructional use and said the regulation, as written in the redlined draft he reviewed, appeared to allow parents access to materials that teachers do not currently send home.
Bowen asked where the responsibility for notification would fall — the teacher, the school, or the district — and raised an example in science instruction: if a parent opts a student out of a unit (he used evolution as an example), who provides an alternative curriculum or instruction and whether the student would be excused from the state standard.
Bowen closed by reiterating that he recognizes the regulation was written in response to recent legislation and that he understands the need for it, but he urged the board to clarify operational details such as burden of notification and how opt-outs would be implemented.
Board members replied that staff would follow up and Bowen said he would provide the exact section he had reviewed via email.
