Board debates bringing cursive back to elementary classrooms; committee review planned

Several trustees urged the district to reintroduce cursive instruction beyond the current second-grade introduction and to embed practice in later grades so students can write signatures and other handwriting tasks. One trustee said, "We need cursive back into the school," arguing that students leave without adequate handwriting skills.

District leaders and other trustees cautioned that reintroducing cursive would reduce ELA instructional time unless the curriculum is adjusted; staff reported second grade already introduces the cursive alphabet but teachers flagged limited classroom time to provide ongoing practice. Board members considered three procedural options: call a special CIRA (curriculum) meeting, have the CIRA committee study it and return a recommendation, or place the topic on the January board agenda as a directive for action. Trustees favored committee review in January to work through instruction tradeoffs and implementation details before any board vote.

No formal policy change or vote occurred during the caucus; the matter will be routed through the curriculum committee for a recommendation or placed on the January agenda depending on committee timing.