Public commenters press board on online misinformation and parental-rights language as state plans inclusive curriculum

During two public-comment periods, multiple speakers addressed the board about local campaign posts they said mischaracterized a candidate’s statements and spread scathing, inaccurate claims. A commenter identified in discussion as Robbie said online posts on a community Facebook thread wrongly attributed statements to a candidate and characterized the posts as defamatory and harmful.

Robbie urged the board and public to stop ‘‘this conversation about this group of divisive people’’ and said written materials circulated online included inaccuracies that rose to the level of defamation. The speaker cited state RCW standards for written defamation and said they had documentation of the alleged false statements.

Separately, members discussed recent legislation described by staff as requiring inclusive curriculum to be developed by OSPI; staff said OSPI will write the curriculum and that districts will later see policies and guidance. Board members requested that staff draft procedural language emphasizing parental-rights considerations in the distribution-of-materials procedure (policy 4060) and return revised procedures at the next meeting for discussion.

Other public commenters urged the board to focus first on foundational academic needs (citing the STAR 360 math results) before adding new curricular requirements. Several speakers also praised volunteer fundraising and literacy programs and suggested improvements to remote audio/video and meeting minutes to increase transparency.

The board directed staff to revise procedures to incorporate board guidance on parental notifications and to post the policy materials through the BoardDocs system for review ahead of the next meeting.