See You In Court! CABE Monthly Column
“See You In Court!” is written by Thomas Mooney and appears in the CABE Journal, a publication of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.
The Nutmeg Board of Education can be its own worst enemy. Such was the case decades ago when the Board adopted a Public Complaints policy. This policy acknowledges that parents and others with complaints should go through the chain of command, but a complaining party who is not satisfied can appeal at each step, up to and including the Board itself. To make matters worse, the policy does not define or limit what a “complaint” is, and Nutmeg residents can file a complaint pursuant to the policy on just about anything.
That all said, the Public Complaints policy sat quietly in the policy book, ignored for many years. Sadly, that changed recently when Pamela Parent ran across the Public Complaints policy and promptly filed a complaint about the biology curriculum. Pamela stated in her complaint that she and her family are very “traditional” and that she and her children are adherents to the religion of Creationism. Pamela’s concern is that her children are exposed to the theory of evolution in biology class, which conflicts with her religious beliefs.
To her credit, Pamela followed the chain of command, asking that her children be excused from classes in which evolution will be taught, starting with the biology teacher, then moving on to the principal, the assistant superintendent, and finally Mr. Superintendent. Pamela did not ask for alternative instruction, and she said that her children could just hang out in the school office during such instruction. However, educators at every level denied her request for accommodation. Her last hope, she explained in her appeal, is action by the Board granting her request that her children be excused from instruction on the theory of evolution.
In accordance with the Public Complaints policy, the Board met last evening to hear Pamela’s complaint in executive session. Pamela thanked Ms. Chairperson and the Board for the opportunity to be heard. She professed her deep religious belief that the world and the creatures that inhabit it are simply too wonderful to have been created by natural processes, and, accordingly, the only reasonable explanation is that the world was created by the divine hand of God. Evolution, Pamela went on, is just a theory that just doesn’t hold up under scrutiny, and she does not want her children to learn about it.
Veteran Board member Bob Bombast asked Pamela whether she was saying that Nutmeg shouldn’t be teaching evolution, and Pamela responded, “I leave to the Board and the Administration whether to teach evolution. That is up to you. My request relates only to my children, and I ask simply that I be notified when a lesson on evolution will be taught and that my children will be excused from that lesson. What’s so hard about that? Besides, according to the United States Supreme Court, this Board must grant my request.”
Mr. Superintendent then spoke. “I don’t know what Pamela is talking about with respect to the Supreme Court, but I do respect Pamela’s right to follow whatever religion she wants. However, it would be highly disruptive of our instructional program if parents could identify subjects in the curriculum to which they object and then require that teachers keep track of their objections and excuse their children from that instruction.”
Is the Nutmeg Board obligated to grant this request?
