In recent years, there has been a growing trend in Lexington Public Schools towards implementing what is known as the “Serious Talk Curriculum.” This approach aims to engage students in challenging and often emotionally charged discussions about complex societal issues. While the intention behind such a curriculum is to foster critical thinking and promote social awareness, there are concerns regarding rolling out this curriculum, causing some divide in the community.
The last school committee meeting about the “Serious Talk Curriculum” was to address the concerns of parents about introducing concepts of gender ideologies, especially for kids in elementary level. Instead of focusing more on the curriculum itself, the meeting left many concerned parents more confused than ever. The presentation shown during the meeting mostly discussed global statistics on mental health and suicide rates related to the issue of gender and rarely covered the curriculum itself.
Further fueling the confusion, the meeting left a vacuum, thus creating more tensions and division between those who are in support of the curriculum and those who are concerned about it.
In order to avoid any further division in the community, what we really need from our school administration is to focus on bringing everyone on board by being open and transparent with parents about the curriculum. They should be open to understanding different perspectives, clear away parents doubts and concerns, look for areas of agreement and build on them, and become a true model of “inclusiveness” in our beautiful town of Lexington, in hopes that we all can be united and feel safe, seen and heard.
Hi Amber,
I am actively trying to build these bridges and help folks understand the curriculum that have questions. I too am worried that there is a growing divide in the community. I understand the confusion, but it’s very hard to address it when I cannot understand the crux of it.
What questions do you have still?
I think asking them directly is how they are best addressed. I’m eager to figure this out. I don’t think there’s a lot of places where we’d disagree once the facts are clearly defined.
If you’d prefer to take this conversation offline, you can find my email on my website (linked in my profile here). I’d love to hear from you.
All the best,
Andrew Harris
Thank you Andrew. I sent you an email. Looking forward to chatting with you more
Amber’s letter gets to the heart of the problem. The cancel crowd continues to claim lack of transparency and lack of public input. The only problem is, that’s incorrect. Anyone who has followed Serious Talks for the many years it has been under development knows that the LPS administration and the School Committee have been fully transparent about the curriculum. Development has been an open process with opportunities for residents to provide opinions. My daughter was at Bowman from 2009-2015, the period when the curriculum was developed. I don’t recall any confusion either from parents or students as they observed and participated in the curriculum.
Very well written prière to shed light on the views of parents who have concerns. Many parents at LPS have concerns but very few had the chance to voice their concern in a safe and welcoming space. I commend Amber for writing this. I agree that this should a community partnership to find middle ground and not what we are witnessing a divide in our community.
Here are just three of many examples of Lexington Public Schools being open and transparent about its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion curriculum, including Serious Talks:
• A presentation to the community at the August 29, 2023, School Committee meeting. Here LexMedia’s recording of the meeting: https://videoplayer.telvue.com/player/c0gKv9ZUF0uiidDafFfESDZA5EkkJp7L/media/820583?autostart=false&showtabssearch=true&fullscreen=false . The presentation starts around the 1:24:19 timestamp. Examples of two Serious Talks lessons start around 2:01:09.
• A written description of Serious Talks in this public report from the Superintendent to the School Committee: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_M_oFr2wevUW_IH6qt8-BHhI7Gn1gGLwZWHv2Oo8TEg/edit
• This example presentation of Serious Talks to elementary school parents: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VzrSvfB-9R1Oye7-R6hVRRzSQkFLwt0M/edit#slide=id.p1
The Superintendent’s report (link above) also describes the numerous additional ways that Lexington Public Schools keeps parents informed about Serious Talks and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion curriculum.
I am curious what specific questions some parents who express concern still have about the Serious Talks curriculum.
Well said👌
Thank you Amber
This is exactly the goal of « inclusivity »= students & their parents should feel heard and safe. Parents’ concerns are justified and need to be addressed through communication to reach middle grounds. We all work towards guiding our students academically and socially into becoming active members in the community in which they feel they belong & are proud of.