There are two politically charged bills making their way through legislation at the moment, and some school administrators are keeping watch.

Both the Senate and the House are working on a bill that would prohibit gender ideology and sexual orientation from being covered in school curriculums. The House bill would prohibit it for kindergarten through 3rd grade, and the Senate bill would do the same for kindergarten through 8th grade. Some school administrators have started comparing the bills to transparency policies. West Central Valley Schools Superintendent Rusty Shockley tells Raccoon Valley Radio about policies the district already has in place.

“We have policies that allow us to be as transparent as possible. So if a parent comes in and objects to a curriculum, we have a process we go through. And if a parent wants to look at a curriculum, they’re more than welcome to come in and look at it. I think it’s just about schools being as transparent as they can be. Everybody’s on a side politically on this one, but from a district standpoint, curriculum issues and the questions that may come up. The district’s got to be transparent, allow the parents that are wanting to see what it is we’re teaching to show them that curriculum.”

Shockley adds that something he has heard about, and sees being used in the future, is a regulation for schools to post their curriculums online, which would make things more transparent for parents.