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Heads up! Our parent watchdogs have scanned the upcoming agenda for Berkshire Local. We found 5 items that need your immediate attention before the vote.
| 🚨 HIGH CONCERN (LEVEL 9) |
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Placing Outside Therapists in Schools Without Public Contracts
The board is approving two contracts with Ravenwood, a mental health agency, to place a “Social Worker” and a “TBS Worker” in our schools under Item 4.6. The actual contracts (Memorandums of Understanding) are not available for public review in the agenda. This creates a “black box” where outside therapists can work with students, potentially on sensitive topics like gender identity, without parents knowing the rules of engagement or what ideologies they follow.
Recommended Action Plan
DEMAND TRANSPARENCY: Email Superintendent John Stoddard at john.stoddard@berkshireschools.org: ‘I demand the Ravenwood contracts under Item 4.6 be pulled for a separate discussion. The public must be able to review these MOUs before outside mental health providers are given access to our children.’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: Undisclosed
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| 🚨 HIGH CONCERN (LEVEL 8) |
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Approving Student Surveillance Software Without a Public Contract
Under Item 4.6, the board is approving a contract for “Securly Software,” a program that monitors students’ online activity on school devices, including their emails and documents. This is a massive digital surveillance system. The district has not provided the contract for public review, so parents have no way of knowing the cost, what specific data is being collected, who has access to it, or how it will be used.
Recommended Action Plan
DEMAND TRANSPARENCY: Email Superintendent John Stoddard at john.stoddard@berkshireschools.org: ‘Parents have a right to know the full scope of student surveillance. Post the full Securly contract from Item 4.6 for public review and explain the data privacy protections before any vote.’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: Undisclosed
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| ⚠️ NEEDS REVIEW (LEVEL 7) |
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Hiding Social-Emotional Programming Inside a Literacy Plan
The district is approving a new “Literacy Plan” (Item 4.8) that sounds good on the surface, focusing on the “Science of Reading.” However, buried inside is the implementation of a “Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS).” MTSS is a framework often used to collect data on students’ behavior and emotions and deliver social-emotional interventions, sometimes without parental knowledge or consent. This plan uses academics as a cover to build the infrastructure for social-emotional engineering.
Recommended Action Plan
ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS: Call Board President John Manfredi at (440) 834-3380 and ask: ‘Regarding the Literacy Plan in Item 4.8, what specific social-emotional learning curriculum will be delivered through the MTSS framework? Will parents have the right to opt their children out of all MTSS-related behavioral screening and interventions?’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: Staff time and resources diverted from academics to MTSS implementation.
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| ⚠️ NEEDS REVIEW (LEVEL 6) |
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Creating a Vague Student Speech Code
The board is fast-tracking a new policy on Artificial Intelligence (Policy 7540.09) in a single meeting under Item 4.5. While addressing AI is necessary, this policy contains a vague new speech code. It prohibits students from creating AI content that is “reasonably interpreted as… objectionable to a reasonable person.” This subjective language could easily be used by administrators to punish students for creating political satire, memes, or any content that is critical of the school board, chilling free speech.
Recommended Action Plan
PROTECT FREE SPEECH: Call any board member at (440) 834-3380 and state: ‘Vote NO on Policy 7540.09 in Item 4.5. The “objectionable” language is too vague and creates a student speech code. Send this policy back for revision with clear, objective standards.’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: Potential legal challenges and suppression of student First Amendment rights.
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| ⚠️ NEEDS REVIEW (LEVEL 4) |
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Using Truancy Rules to Threaten Families with Juvenile Court
Under Item 4.5, the board is passing a revised attendance policy (5200) that gives the district the power to file a complaint in juvenile court against a “habitually truant” student. The policy states this can be avoided if the family is making “satisfactory progress” as determined by the school. This gives the school subjective power to decide if a family’s efforts are “good enough,” creating a tool that could be used to intimidate and control families.
Recommended Action Plan
MONITOR: This policy gives the district significant leverage over families. While it may be based on state law, we must watch how it is implemented. No immediate action required, but be aware of this new tool in the district’s hands.
💰 Taxpayer Impact: Loss of family autonomy and potential for legal entanglement with the juvenile court system.
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