|
Heads up! Our parent watchdogs have scanned the upcoming agenda for Springfield City. We found 6 items that need your immediate attention before the vote.
| 🚨 HIGH CONCERN (LEVEL 10) |
|
School Officials Coming to Your Home to Teach You How to Parent
| 📅 Vote Scheduled July 14, 2026 |
Under items 7.S and 7.T, the board is entering into agreements with an outside agency to implement a ‘Parents as Teachers’ program. The contracts explicitly state the program will provide ‘home visits for pregnant women and children ages birth to three years old’ and for children ‘ages three to five.’ This positions the school as the expert on raising your children and creates a formal channel for officials to monitor your family life inside your own home, starting from birth.
Recommended Action Plan
PACK THE ROOM: This is a direct intrusion into the family. Call Board President Carol Dunlap at (937) 505-2800 and demand items 7.S and 7.T be pulled from the consent agenda for a full public discussion. Tell her: ‘The government does not belong in our living rooms. Vote NO.’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: Your Family’s Privacy
|
| 🚨 HIGH CONCERN (LEVEL 9) |
|
Paying a Company to Spy on Your Child’s Private Messages
| 📅 Vote Scheduled July 14, 2026 |
The board plans to renew a $36,180 contract with Gaggle.Net (Item 7.I), a company that uses AI to monitor student emails, online chats, and Google Drive files. While marketed for ‘student safety,’ this technology scans your child’s private conversations and flags them for review by school officials, creating a permanent digital record of their thoughts and discussions without a warrant or parental knowledge.
Recommended Action Plan
DEMAND TRANSPARENCY: This surveillance contract is buried in a massive consent agenda. Call Board President Carol Dunlap at (937) 505-2800: ‘I demand Item 7.I be pulled from the Consent Agenda for a separate discussion and roll-call vote. Parents deserve to know why you are spying on our children.’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: $36,180.00
|
| 🚨 HIGH CONCERN (LEVEL 8) |
|
Expanding the School’s On-Site Medical Clinic
| 📅 Vote Scheduled July 14, 2026 |
Item 7.G authorizes an expansion of the ‘School Based Health Center’ operated by Rocking Horse Community Health Center. While this amendment adds dental services, any expansion of an on-campus clinic normalizes the school’s role as a healthcare provider. These clinics can operate without a parent present and are a primary vehicle for providing services that undermine parental authority over their children’s medical care.
Recommended Action Plan
DEMAND TRANSPARENCY: Call Board Vice President Joan Elder at (937) 505-2800 and ask: ‘Pull Item 7.G from the consent agenda. What guardrails are in place to ensure parental consent is required for all services at the School Based Health Center?’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: Parental Authority over Medical Decisions
|
| 🚨 HIGH CONCERN (LEVEL 8) |
|
Turning Guidance Counselors into Mental Health Clinicians
| 📅 Vote Scheduled July 14, 2026 |
The board is approving three separate contracts (Items 7.U, 7.V, 7.W) totaling $83,000 for ‘mental health services,’ ‘mental health therapy,’ and ‘individual and group counseling’ on campus. This massive expansion of psychological services raises serious questions: Will parents be notified before their child is treated? Is this therapy or data-mining? Who owns the sensitive data collected on your child’s mental state?
Recommended Action Plan
DEMAND TRANSPARENCY: Call Superintendent Robert Hill’s office via the district line at (937) 505-2800. Ask: ‘Regarding Items 7.U, 7.V, and 7.W, please provide the specific parental notification and consent forms for each vendor before the board votes. We do not co-parent with the school.’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: $83,000.00
|
| ⚠️ NEEDS REVIEW (LEVEL 7) |
|
New Policy Creates Teams to Intervene with Families Over Absences
| 📅 Vote Scheduled July 14, 2026 |
Under Item 8.B, the board is voting for final adoption of a new truancy policy (JEDA) that establishes ‘absence intervention teams’ to work with families of students who are ‘chronically absent.’ This creates a formal pathway for school officials to investigate and intervene in your family’s life based on attendance records, blurring the line between the school’s authority and your rights as a parent.
Recommended Action Plan
PACK THE ROOM: This is a final vote. Call Board Member Jamie Callan at (937) 505-2800 and state: ‘Vote NO on Policy JEDA. Attendance issues are a family matter, not a reason for the school to create intervention teams to investigate parents.’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: Staff time and resources
|
| ⚠️ NEEDS REVIEW (LEVEL 6) |
|
State ‘Wellness’ Money Funds ‘Wraparound’ Services
| 📅 Report Presented July 14, 2026 |
Item 4.A is the district’s plan for using ‘Student Wellness and Success Funds.’ The report is filled with vague language about ‘wraparound services’ and ‘physical, mental, and social-emotional support.’ This is often a Trojan horse for bringing Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and other non-academic programming into the school, shifting the focus from education to social services.
Recommended Action Plan
OPT-OUT ALERT: Call Treasurer Nicole Cottrell’s office via the district line at (937) 505-2800. Ask: ‘Regarding the report in Item 4.A, please provide a list of all third-party vendors and programs being paid for with Student Wellness funds and the parental opt-out forms for each.’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: State Wellness and Success Funds (Amount Undisclosed)
|
|