March 29, 2024

New ‘guest speaker’ policies approved for Newton schools

The second reading of three board policies became official at Monday’s Newton Community School District Board of Education meeting.

With the modifications made during the reading of the policies, the board altered two policies that hadn’t been reviewed since 2007 and one that hadn’t been touched since 2011.

Board Policy 603.7 is about the use of outside resources, such as guest speakers, in the classroom and says that teachers have to notify building principals well in advance if they plan on using an outside resource in their classroom and the principal has the right to deny this request.

This policy also indicates that some potential outside resources may have to undergo a criminal history background check.

A policy within this policy, 603.5, states that teachers have to notify parents of the context of the outside resources visit by either a note sent home, campus or teacher newsletter or the school’s webpage or Facebook page.

Other changes to the policy say that parents would need to opt-out for non-controversial matters and opt-in for controversial speakers. Whether or not a subject is determined to be controversial is based on the judgment of the classroom teacher and the building principal.

Superintendent Bob Callaghan said Newton Senior High School is the only campus within the district he could see having an outside resource person that would be considered controversial.

Bill Peters, principal of NHS, said the only things his teachers have lined up that could be considered controversial occur in the health classes. He said the three teachers within that department use between 15 to 20 guest speakers, and that one of the teachers meets with each of those speakers to ensure their message aligns with the school’s curriculum.

In past meetings while discussing this particular policy, several board members have asked what would happen if the scheduled speaker wasn’t able to make it and sent an alternate instead.

“Whenever a presenter changes, and it does, it does throw a bit of a wild card in there. Although they still represent the same organization, we still want to know before they get there an outline of what they are going to talk about so that we don’t get that surprise,” Peters said. Board Policy 603.8 is specifically written to identify topics the could be considered controversial. This policy states that it is up to the building principal and classroom teacher to determine if a subject is controversial.

If a subject is determined to be controversial, parents must chose to opt-in to have their child take part in this lesson.

Before voting was conducted, board member Donna Cook asked that teachers and building principals ensure that an appropriate alternative learning environment be provided for students whose parents chose not to allow them to participate.

Another addition to this policy states that if a parent believes a matter that wasn’t deemed controversial is indeed controversial after the fact, they can formally file a complaint by utilizing forms found in Board Policies 603.6, 603.6F2 and 603.6R.

The final policy the board approved was 1003.5 citizen assistance to school personnel and this policy regulates 603.8.

Contact Senior Staff Writer Ty Rushing at (641) 792-3121 Ext. 6532 or trushing@newtondailynews.com