School Board Attorney Says New State Law Banning Teaching Of "Critical Race Theory" Has No Bearing On What Is Now Taught In The County Schools

  • Monday, May 10, 2021

County School Board attorney Scott Bennett said a new state law banning the teaching of "Critical Race Theory" "really doesn't affect anything that Hamilton County teaches."

The attorney said there would be no issue "as long as we take an even-handed approach."

He said it "does not mean that we cannot teach academic concepts" about race.

Attorney Bennett added, "And it has no impact whatsoever" on a recent school board directive that the administration report back on why some student segments are not doing as well as others and what can be done to get them more on par.

Board member Tiffanie Robinson said she has "multiple concerns" about the new law, saying she is alarmed that the state "could take away our funding" over the issue.

She said, "Our funding could be put on pause while we fight it out" on whether the school system was actually in violation of the law.

Also, the school board heard a report from SSC, which in March was approved for a four-year contract. The ABM firm had the contract for many years, but had received a number of recent complaints about cleanliness of the schools.

A SSC official said the hiring goal was 336 fulltime personnel. He said that was exceeded at 355. He said 334 of those came from ABM.

The goal for grounds was 20. It is currently at 15, but will be met, he said.

 

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