Educational bureaucrats who want to see LGBTQ classes introduced in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District will make another push for their ideologically driven curriculum on election day.
On Nov. 3, as Alaskans head to the polls, the Fairbanks School Board will meet at 6 p.m. to hear from district leaders about the latest curriculum proposals. This will include a long-planned scheme to introduce an LGBTQ-focused literature class which 11th and 12th graders can take to fulfill a graduation requirement in English.
The highly controversial class received hundreds of written and oral comments when it was first introduced earlier this year. District officials ultimately pulled the class from a larger curriculum overhaul, deciding to save it for reintroduction this fall.
Since then the school board has added two new conservative members (April Smith and Maggie Matheson) in the October election, but the liberal block still enjoys a narrow 4-3 majority.
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
Melanie Hadaway, the district’s director of teaching and learning, will make a final appeal for the curriculum update which includes the LGBT class.
A description of the elective class states that it takes a “thematic approach” to the study of social issues so that students can “gain an understanding of diverse people, experiences, contributions of the many voices that make up our global community, and a deeper awareness and appreciation for their own and other’s cultures.” It claims to give students personalized exposure to historically underrepresented peoples such as LGBTQ and an assortment of minority groups.
The class allows students to create reading lists that focus on one or more cultural groups, including exploration of LGBT lifestyles, politics and social agendas.
TAKING ACTION
The school board meeting begins at 6 p.m. but the public is not allowed to attend in person due to COVID restrictions imposed by the school district. Click here for information on how to participate and provide testimony remotely.
