The Carroll County Board of Education has approved a list of meeting topics for its Family Life Advisory Committee to use during the next year.
The 31-member board-appointed committee will address three topics. It will review current and proposed instructional materials used in health lessons for all school levels and make recommendations to the school board; review elementary and secondary lessons and current materials; and review the school system’s permission process for health education.
Recently, the committee recommended that the school board exclude “The Family Book,” by Todd Parr, and “The Great Big Book of Families,” by Mary Hoffman, from the county’s elementary health curriculum. The books depict different family structures, including families with same-sex parents, adopted children, single parents and stepparents, but do not include any discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity.
At its July 10 meeting, the school board followed the committee’s recommendation and rejected the two books, in a 3-2 vote.
The committee is made up of 25 parents of public-school students, as well as educators, healthcare professionals and a Board of Education member. The school board approved a new cohort of members for each of its seven advisory boards and committees on Aug. 14, including the family life committee.
Those selected will serve for only the 2024-2025 school year, though members are typically part of the committee for two years. According to the application, those selected will, “fill several open seats for the second year of the two-year term.” The applications deadline was July 26.
The Family Life Advisory Committee will meet a minimum of four times during the 2024-2025 school year, scheduled for Sept. 26, Nov. 21, Feb. 6, and April 10, in the board room at 125 N Court St., Westminster.
One school board member and up to one alternate also serve on each of the system’s committees. The board on Aug. 14 approved member Donna Sivigny’s continued appointment to Family Life Advisory Committee and allowed board member Steve Whisler to become the committee’s alternate.
Whisler was also added as the alternate for the school system’s Curriculum Council and Special Education Advisory Committee. The board will have another opportunity to assign members to committees in December. The board will have two new members by then, elected during the November general election.
Sivigny and Marsha Herbert, the board’s president, have reached their term limits this year and were unable to run again.
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