By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall
Thanks to the Ohio Register for this article on our local Riverside School District. We know believe that the Riverside School District will be moving in a positive direction. We now expect that the new majority on the board will get privacy and security for the children in their respective bathrooms.
https://www.theohioregister.com/riverside-votes-to-end-sel
Riverside Votes to End SEL
OhioRegister
Aug 25, 2024 — 2 min read
PAINESVILLE – It was a last minute addition to the Riverside school board agenda that finally ended a years long battle over Social Emotional Learning at the district.
Riverside school board member Scott Fishel proposed a resolution at the August 15 meeting during new business to remove Social Emotional Learning materials of all kinds from the district, much to the consternation of board members Belinda Grassi and Board President Lori Krenisky.
The fight over the program had boiled beneath the service of many meetings since Fishel had joined the board several years ago. In one memorable meeting, Fishel read an excerpt from an online article which detailed the potential occult roots of the SEL programs inception, cementing the topic as a firebrand talking point that often left the school board, at the time split 3-2 on the more liberal side, in contention.
At the August 15 board meeting, In an unexpected move during the new business section, Fishel proposed a resolution that he claimed he had “been working on for some time.” Krenisky, who was visibly flummoxed by the introduction voiced reservation about introducing new resolutions at the meetings themselves, rather than in discussion prior to. The proposed resolution would remove all training and educational materials related to Social Emotional Learning curriculum from the district classrooms, effectively ending the years long debate among the board.
Due to the recent appointment of board member Dennis Keeney, the board now had an effective majority in conservative leaning seats to sway the vote in favor of it’s removal.
Currently, the district uses a staff training curriculum that incorporates some components of social emotional learning which has led to the controversy. Debate swung hard during the discussion portion just prior to the vote between President Krenisky and Belinda Grassi arguing impotently the introduction flew in the face of board decorum, while board members Brewster and Keeney argued the emphasis on SEL has stolen the focus away from academics.
“Parents have a right to know what is happening in the classroom with their child and when I speak with parents they have no idea,” Board member Denise Brewster said.
The board voted 3-2 to pass the resolution, effectively ending the use of the Social Emotional Learning curriculum at the district, with Brewster, Fishel and Keeney voting for and Grassi and Krenisky against. The district will now begin removing all materials related to Social Emotional Learning from the district and will be working to replace their morning meetings, which have been heavily influenced by the program, to an alternative.
Updated by Lake County resident August 20, 2024 at 7:00 pm
“The district will now begin removing all materials related to Social Emotional Learning from the district and will be working to replace their morning meetings, which have been heavily influenced by the program to an alternative.”
“The morning meetings will have an academic focus.”
Categories: Riverside S.D.