From left: Jefferson School Committee Chair Walter Greene-Morse talks with AOS 93 Superintendent Lynsey Johnston while Assistant Superintendent Tara McKechnie, Jefferson Village School Facilities Director John Carroll, Principal Janet Delmar, and Assistant Principal Laura Mewa study materials at the Jefferson School Committee’s Monday, April 1 meeting. (Molly Rains photo)
In a continuation of a discussion ongoing since October 2023, the Jefferson School Committee voted to ban “sexually explicit” material from the school library during its meeting on Monday, April 1.
Committee member Danielle Bernier said she was concerned that the policy was subjective. The definition of “sexually explicit” content depends on the age and identity of the reader, she said.
At the suggestion of committee member Maria Solorzano, the committee added a definition of “sexually explicit” to the policy in an attempt to make it more objective. Based on that definition, the school library will not contain any materials with pictoral depictions of sexual acts.
Material that falls within the categories of news or informational materials will still be allowed.
This distinction, said Solorzano, would help ensure that informational materials, like instructional resources for health class, would not be affected by the policy change.
Jefferson School Committee Chair Walter Greene-Morse said he thought the review process was important to prevent books and materials with “no place in education” from finding their way to the school library’s shelves.
He also suggested that community members, including students accompanied by their parents, could access books without restriction at the Jefferson Public Library, which is located inside the school.
The motion to amend the policy, including the definition, passed 4-1, with Danielle Bernier voting in opposition.
Another possible policy change discussed by the committee on April 1 would require instructional materials to be approved by the school committee or superintendent before they are used in classrooms.
AOS 93 Superintendent Lynsey Johnston said she was concerned that such a requirement would hamper teachers’ ability to create flexible, adaptable curricula and integrate new materials as necessary to address student needs. Ultimately, the committee did not decide to require committee or superintendent approval before teachers could use new materials, though the materials that teachers use must abide by the existing standards.
Also during the meeting, the Jefferson School Committee received a draft version of an agreement that would establish an educational service center among the schools currently in AOS 93.
Currently, AOS 93 Business Manager Peter Nielsen said, the plan is to have the educational service center cover administrative functions for the district. Creating an educational service center would allow the district to recoup additional subsidy from the government, he said, and also open up possibilities for schools to have greater control over what services they receive from the center versus what services they provide on their own.
Greene-Morse said he was more open to the idea of utilizing the educational service center for select services than using it to replace the AOS.
“I think it is something that we really should consider, because it’s just the business office aspect,” he said.
School committee member Wayne Parlin said he was worried that the subsidy was a “siren song” and that transitioning to an educational service center would backfire if the state were to amend the structure.
“ESCs have been around for about 10 years,” said Johnston, suggesting that such a change would be unlikely.
While the proposal would initially allocate only business office services to the educational service center, additional services could be added as time goes on.
Nielsen said that the draft agreement was very preliminary and “almost boilerplate,” but asked that the committee submit feedback and comments to continue the process.
In other business, the committee discussed the approval schedule for the 2024-2025 education budget. The committee will wait until its next meeting to approve the budget, said Greene-Morse, since its exact amount depends on a question that will be on the warrant during Jefferson’s annual town meeting by referendum, which is set for April 16.
The question concerns the transfer of up to $100,000 from the school’s long-term maintenance fund to be used for the construction of special education facilities at JVS.
The school must develop its own behavioral and life-skills program for the upcoming academic year, as AOS 93 has chosen to discontinue its previous contracts with providers of those services. Such programs require special facilities, which the JVS committee must now find funding to construct.
The school budget will be affected by the outcome of this warrant item, said Parlin, because if it is voted down by townspeople, the committee must adjust the budget to fund the project.
The next meeting of the Jefferson School Committee will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, May 6 in the school library. For more information, call 549-7401 or go to aos93.org/o/jvs.
