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Silver Creek board criticized for lack of accessibility

OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Silver Creek Board of Education President Martha Howard, front, and Vice President Matthew Bogosian, back, listen to comments from Becky Giannini, a Silver Creek parent, during a recent Board of Education meeting.

SILVER CREEK — At a recent Board of Education meeting, Becky Giannini, a parent of a Silver Creek Elementary School student, raised concerns about the board’s accessibility to the public.

Giannini spoke at a previous meeting in December about her opposition to #SameHere programming utilized by the district to educate students about mental health and social and emotional learning. At the previous meeting, Giannini also highlighted what she called a “disturbing lack of transparency,” between the district and parents.

At the most recent meeting, Giannini thanked Superintendent Todd Crandall for his response to her concerns, but criticized the lack of availability of the Board of Education members.

“I find it incredibly concerning that as a parent, I have no way to directly contact the Board of Education except through the superintendent or his assistant,” Giannini said. “The board works for we the people and the administration is supposed to work for the board. That seems to be historically not the case here at Silver Creek.”

In response to Giannini’s criticism of availability to the public, Silver Creek Board of Education President Martha Howard said, “Our board functions as a corporate body. We are all board members, but we only function as board members when we are sitting at this table. When you contact us individually, as much as we might try, it’s very difficult for us to convey to the rest of the board what your problems are or what you’ve said to us. When you contact us through the district, we all get the same information at the same time, so there is no confusion about anything that is going on.”

Since October, Giannini has been contacting members of the district about social and emotional learning being taught within the district. “I asked for curriculum from the teacher and her written response to me was appalling,” Giannini said. She met with administrators and staff members of the district about her concerns.

Reiterating her concerns to the Board of Education, Giannini stated, “Our kids are not to be part of an experiment without our consent or compensation.”

The next Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m.

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