In addition, the district said its curriculum will not include the following topics that are sometimes associated with CRT:
- Teaching from a perspective that the United States and/or its legal system is systematically racist and designed to create and maintain inequalities between genders, ethnicities, different religious heritages, or races;
- Teaching that socialism and communism are morally superior to democracy, capitalism, and a free market economy;
- That any gender, ethnicity, religious heritage, or race should feel superior or inferior’
- That one should feel guilt or shame due to their ethnicity, religious heritage, race, or gender.
The statement said that Springboro schools follows the Ohio Department of Education’s (ODE) Learning Standards. Those standards for social studies were reviewed and adopted in 2018, and do not include CRT.
“As standards are updated and released, the superintendent will make recommendations to the Board of Education on whether or not to adopt them. Springboro schools would not recommend the support of the aforementioned curriculum items that are outlined above,” the statement said.
Scott Marshall, district communications coordinator, said the district’s administration released the statement due to a number of calls from parents and other residents asking questions.
Marshall said the district wanted to make it clear that CRT wasn’t in the curriculum being taught to students.
He said the statement was not voted on by the Springboro Board of Education and they may address the issue at an upcoming meeting.
The board of education’s next meeting is at 6 p.m. tonight at the Springboro High School Media Center.
The district’s statement also clarified the work of the district’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee.
The D&I Committee’s focus is on improving the learning environment within Springboro schools, in order to ensure that every student, regardless of ethnicity, religious heritage, gender, or race, feels welcome, safe, and ready to learn, the statement said.
The statement said, “The D&I Committee is not responsible for the district’s curriculum, nor does it have the authority to implement any changes to it; only the superintendent and the board of education hold that authority. Report-outs and recommendations from the D&I Committee will continue to be public and are still subject to approval by the superintendent and board of education. This is consistent with all other superintendent committees.”
A July Dayton Daily News investigation found schools in the greater Dayton area largely don’t require discussion of current events related to racial justice or teach history related to racial equality from the last five decades.
Most schools’ curriculum doesn’t address modern systemic racism at all, according to a Dayton Daily News analysis of hundreds of curriculum documents. Only one local school said it teaches critical race theory (in a language arts class that teaches many theories). But schools acknowledge that individual teachers’ approaches can vary significantly.
Editor’s note: This story has been update to correct a sentence that should have said “CRT wasn’t in the curriculum being taught to students.”
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