BOE Minutes, Excerpt, 5/14/13

 Board of Education Minutes 

 May 14, 2013

p. 28

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 RESOLUTION NO. 248-13 

Re: CHANGES IN COMAR REQUIREMENTS FOR CURRICULUM ADVISORIES

On motion of Mrs. O’Neill and seconded by Dr. Docca, the following resolution, as amended, was adopted unanimously by members present:

WHEREAS, In 1970, the Montgomery County Board of Education convened a Citizens Advisory Committee on Family Life and Human Development, to advise on Comprehensive Health Education in the district; and

WHEREAS, Many community members have shown dedication and commitment spanning 43 years as they served as members of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Family Life and Human Development on behalf of students in the district; and

WHEREAS, The Maryland State Board of Education has changed requirements for local review of Comprehensive Health Education; and

WHEREAS, The Montgomery County Board of Education approved Policy IFA, Curriculum, and Policy IIB, Evaluation and Selection; and

WHEREAS, The superintendent of schools has developed regulations IFA-RA, Curriculum, and IIB-RA, Evaluation and Selection of Instructional Materials and Library Books; and

WHEREAS, All content area teams engage parents, community members and educators in review of curriculum, instruction, and assessment resources and all content area teams engage educators in evaluation and selection of instructional materials in accordance with district policies and regulations; and

WHEREAS, Board of Education Policy IFA, Curriculum, calls for a systematic and ongoing program of curriculum review and development, and requires that each subject's curriculum will be reviewed on a cycle every five years; and

WHEREAS, When the Grade 8 and Grade 10 Health Education Curriculum was last revised and adopted on June 12, 2007, there was a requirement that teachers follow a scripted lesson; and

WHEREAS, On September 13, 2011, the Citizens Advisory Committee on Family Life and Human Development issued several recommendations in their annual report including continued support to revise the curriculum (see attached); now therefore be it

Resolved, That the Montgomery County Board of Education dissolves the Board- appointed Citizens Advisory Committee on Family Life and Human Development; and be it further

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Resolved, That the superintendent of schools directs the Health Education team to convene a Curriculum Advisory Committee comprising community members and educators, as articulated in Regulation IFA-RA, Curriculum; and be it further

Resolved, That the superintendent of schools directs staff to notify members of the 2013–2014 Citizens Advisory Committee on Family Life and Human Development about the decision and to express Board members’ appreciation for their service; and be it further

Resolved, That the superintendent and his staff perform a comprehensive review of the Grade 8 and Grade 10 Health Education curriculum, benchmarking with other districts, reconsider the requirement for the scripted lessons and the recommendations from Citizens Advisory Committee on Family Life and Human Development report, and bring to the Board of Education proposed changes so that they may be in place no later than Fall 2014.