In a nutshell
According to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, a SHAC is a group appointed by the school district to serve at the district level on topics relating to health issues.
"The School Health Advisory Council was created to assist the district in ensuring that local community values and health issues are reflected in the district’s health and physical education instruction," according to the district's website.
Prior to the meeting, bylaws were presented to the board for comment.
Among the provisions of the new bylaws, they state the council will consist of 21 members—two appointed by each board member and seven by the superintendent each year. The bylaws also eliminate public comment at SHAC meetings.
The draft of the new bylaws is included in the materials for the May 14 meeting.
According to meeting documents, the board is not bound by any SHAC recommendation, but it must consider SHAC recommendations when adopting instructional materials on topics such as human sexuality, child abuse, dating violence and sex trafficking.
What they're saying
"There has been a lot of discussion on what SHAC should be doing and what should we be focusing on," CISD board President Skeeter Hubert said. "This will help because one of the things that is in here is that they'll take direction from the board as far as what agenda items they should be taking on."
"Why is it that every single thing that has changed has cut out the parents? It limits it now to 21 members, and when we came in August and September we [talked about] that we never turn anyone away, and we increased it to [47 people], and now we're cutting it to 21," trustee Misty Odenweller said.
