Anytime the FHSD Board of Education is being talked about, it seems to always be about the most recent thing they have done wrong. However, as with anything, there are many good and bad things that come out of the BOE, yet it seems that all the student body hears is the bad.

The BOE has hit a communication error that needs to be addressed. Decisions about gender identity, book bannings and final exams continue to feed the idea that the BOE doesn’t hear the comments of students. The BOE needs to adjust its messaging to better acknowledge the student population, and to better inform the students about what decisions are being made.

A new outlet for the BOE to receive feedback from students needs to be opened up in a specialized way that makes it simple and easy for students to have an influence. In return, the BOE also needs to make sure that more communication about BOE policy gets back to students rather than stopping at high levels of administration.

Confusing Decisions

The BOE’s recent decisions have limited the connections that students can have with teachers. Regulation 6116 has prohibited teachers from discussing matters of gender identity with students. The regulation defines discussion of gender identity as a subset of human sexuality, which in turn means that teachers cannot talk to students about those subjects.

These decisions that limit connections between students and teachers make it difficult for people within the building to empathize with the BOE’s decisions. These decisions are things with backing founded in law and policy. 6116 was passed in order to keep the school district from being held liable if a parent decided to sue, yet all that was explained to students was that they could no longer talk to teachers about these things.

This communication breakdown means that to know the actual motives and execution of policy, constituents have to dedicate large swaths of time towards deciphering complex BOE decisions. Instead, it is much easier to take the simple choice and simply blame the decision on politics.

An Issue of Phrasing

One of the major reasons why the BOE appears to be non-responsive to the student body is because the BOE is not designed to respond to the student body. The BOE is designed to be a check on the school district to ensure that it is following the wishes of outside influences like voters and more importantly, state policy.

The phrasing that has defined discussions about the BOE continuously paints them as reactionaries to political agendas. Not only does this misrepresent the BOE a majority of the time, but it also spaces the conversation away from the actual role of the BOE to just being a red versus blue conversation of politics.

The response to an increase in partisanship within the BOE has not led to a new conversation about what the BOE is supposed to do, but instead has been a fight to have ‘our person’ in charge. A BOE is not a place for partisan bickering, it’s a place for careful analysis.

Can’t We Just Talk

One of the biggest reasons why this breakdown of communication has happened is because the messaging between the BOE and the student body is shaky at best. There is no current outlet for students to portray their thoughts about different issues within the district. The only channels that students have access to are the same ones that are available to any member of the public.

One opportunity that students do have is the student board representative. A student board representative is a great opportunity for the student body to have input on the BOE, however, it does not lead to much actual change happening within the BOE. Each student representative only goes to a singular meeting a year where they can, at best, ask questions. These representatives only get to have influence on one meeting which means that they cannot cause lasting change or influence.

Student board representatives have become more so a way to recognize students and student accomplishments rather than actually representing the student body within the BOE. This means that the system does not work to actually show the BOE what the students want.

Over the last summer the Class Officers at North put together a survey in response to the proposed changes to final exam scores. They sent the results to all of the members of the BOE. The district went on to have their own survey produced to gauge the same things. This directly demonstrates the lack of respect the BOE has for movements that come from student-first campaigns.

Strange Interpretations

How people interpret what the BOE says is deeply important because interpretations are what actually get enforced. The BOE does not enforce any policy, it is up to school administration to interpret their policies and enact them properly. As long as there is a divide between how the BOE sees things and how people in the schools interpret them, there will be a misunderstanding of how policy is to be enacted.

Whenever a new BOE policy is proposed, it leaves teachers and students in the dark about how it is actually going to be implemented. This means that rash assumptions can easily form. This is why the BOE needs to have a more direct communication line with the student body. Whether it be through the Class President or the Student Council, the BOE needs to make sure that its motives are being explained to the students.

A more connected BOE can create much greater benefits in all parts of the district. When the BOE listens to students and takes their input, just the act of listening helps to remove the barriers that divide the BOE from the students.

The Wrong Voice

Even still, the BOE is not meant to just be another outlet of students’ wishes. They are meant to keep the district in check by taking the influence of the outside world, voters and law. The BOE should still maintain this position as it is deeply important to the success of the district, however, we have hit a point where politics is a deeply rooted part of the BOE.

The fact that our BOE can be easily divided up into ‘Conservatives’ and ‘Progressives’ is not a good thing. Francis Howell For Families and Francis Howell Forward have taken up arms as practical political parties for our BOE. Our BOE should push back against that and seek to give off an appearance of moderate decision making. As long as our BOE continues to put student voices below political voices, that can not happen.

Now What

The BOE is one of the most misunderstood parts of the school system by students, but the chance to change that always exists. All we need to do is be more willing to communicate and to have discussions. If we can establish channels of communication between students and the BOE, then we can create a better tomorrow for the district and community