North East ISD trustees met Nov. 14 to get one step closer toward advancing changes spelling out how members are appointed to the district’s School Health Advisory Council, which among other things guides sex education curriculum districtwide.
An ad hoc committee made up of Trustees Terri Williams, Steve Hilliard and Diane Villarreal developed recommendations for SHAC bylaw revisions and protocols for appointing NEISD residents to the 50-member council.
The board agreed to delay voting on a final version of SHAC rules until district attorneys could vet the draft document. NEISD officials said they are hopeful of finalizing new procedures before the end of November—the time when the reconstituted SHAC is slated to convene.
District officials said they were partially spurred to overhaul the advisory council after the board voted Sept. 19 to cancel this school year’s sex education offerings as board members and administrators said more time was needed to revise the curriculum to ensure compliance with new state requirements.
Bylaw revisions include the addition of the following SHAC responsibility: “To assist the district in ensuring that local community values are reflected in the district’s health education instruction, and gather input from other parents and community members, and make decisions based on what is best for the children attending NEISD schools and their families.”
Some trustees reiterated their stance that they feel it important to have a member-appointment process where most if not all SHAC members reflect both the district’s demographics but prevailing sociopolitical beliefs.
But many school board members also said they wanted to take this opportunity to get new viewpoints and fresh faces onto the advisory council, or to replace some standing members who moved out of their single-member district.
Additionally, some trustees such as Hilliard and Villarreal wanted NEISD parents to have greater say who serves on the SHAC.
If approved by the school board, new SHAC rules enable each of the seven trustees to appoint four parents and two other residents from their single-member district. Appointees may serve for two years, but could be removed and replaced by their respective trustee at any time.
The new rules do reduce how campus principals and district staff make SHAC appointments; district staff is now allowed to make seven appointments who work in relevant fields, such as physical education and health, and guidance services.
A 50th SHAC position is given a one-year term on the council, appointed by a different trustee each year, according to the pending council revisions.
NEISD volunteer Karen Leonhardt addressed the school board, expressing concern that some language used by trustees pushing for overhauling the SHAC might inadvertently alienate residents who have spent years volunteering within the school district, especially in their neighborhood campus.
“I encourage you to volunteer at your campus, take an active role in student activities, and see what parents must to do to get on campus and volunteer, but don’t brush away those who have been working hard to invest in our schools,” Leonhardt said.
