By J. Graber
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Committees designed to advise Scottsdale Unified School District officials on curriculum and textbook choices could soon be moved out from under the authority of the superintendent’s office and placed under the governing board’s purview.

The moves could increase transparency and improve parent and guardian participation, according to board member Amy Carney, who is championing them.

However, others on the board feel the moves would fix nonexistent problems and would open the committees’ work up to the political views held by the board members.

The board, which is supposed to be nonpartisan, is strictly split between Republicans Carney and Carine Werner and Democrats Dr. Matthew Pittinsky, board vice president Mike Sharkey and board president Dr. Donna Lewis.

The first change would move the curriculum advisory committee under the board and require Superintendent Dr. Scott Menzel to notify the board of his intent to form any committees related to curriculum .

This would improve transparency because the board members often don’t know about these committees, Carney said.

“The board has never known when a committee is starting,” Carney said during the board’s Aug. 5 meeting. “I’ve found curriculum committees when I would just happen to go on the website and find them. This policy now would be that the committee has to come to the board before it begins.”

Sharkey noted the committees and their formations are listed on the district’s public website and felt moving the committee over to the board could have “downstream consequences.”

“If the problem we’re trying to solve is, we’re trying to let more people know a committee is being formed, that seems to me to be just a process change, not a whole (policy) change,” he said.

Pittinsky said Menzel has done a good job of communicating when boards are being formed.

“I’m concerned about political influence over curriculum decisions,” Pittinsky said. “Arguably, this would provide elected officials more ability to influence curriculum recommendations than the current process.”

Menzel also noted the change would allow two board members voting positions on the committee while the current process does not.

“By shifting it this way, it would also allow actual board members who are approving the final recommendation of the committee to be voting members of the committee itself,” he said.

Carney responded, “I’m not looking for the board to be more involved or any agenda or whatever you’re saying. What I am looking for is transparency out the gate, and we should know when a committee is happening and approve that.”

She noted she had no idea a math curriculum committee was being formed recently until she found it on the district’s website

“If I as a board member don’t know, I can guarantee no one knows, no parents know,” Carney said.

Dr. Pittinsky noted, “This does more than address a concern over notification of committees. It changes the level of authority the board has over control of curriculum committees.”

The second change would move textbook and supplementary materials advisory committees out from under Menzel’s authority and move them to the board. It also removes students from being allowed to serve on such committees and replaces them with parents and legal guardians. Finally, it would also make the district’s headquarters the place where textbooks are be displayed.

“Removing students and putting (in) parents and legal guardians is nothing against students, it’s just that, that has not been part of our practice.” Carney said.
She also said there were no parents or legal guardians on the past U.S. history and social sciences textbook committees because they didn’t know about it.

Menzel said the current process is to post the creation of new committees on the district’s website, send it to parent councils and others such as principals. They are mentioned in board meetings that are posted on YouTube and the district has recently added the requirement that the information be sent out on to all parents on ParentSquare.

When asked by Pittinsky, Carney said she didn’t know if parents are being dissuaded to serve on textbook committee but said they simply aren’t and it’s a problem that dates back to 2021, before she was on the board.

Sharkey again said the change should be an addressed process, not policy, and Pittinsky said he felt the lack of parents on textbook committees has more to do with the time commitment than a lack of awareness.

Menzel said most textbook selection committees have had parents and guardians on them historically.

“We have invited, encouraged and embraced parent participation in the process,” he said. “Not only are they able to participate if they apply to be on the committee, but there is a 60-day public review period where (parents not on the committee’s) comments are invited and taken into consideration by the committee.

“There are multiple opportunities provided for the parents to provide feedback on the textbooks that are being considered for adoption so I respectfully disagree that we don’t have and haven’t invited parents because you can see their names listed on our website. ”

And again, Pittinsky expressed concerns that future board members could use their sway to enforce their political views.

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