Wissahickon School District. Photo by James Short.
The Wissahickon School Board recently conducted a board meeting to vote on the approval of a contract with the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit (MCIU) to provide virtual academy services to select Wissahickon students for next school year.
On Thursday, June 12, the board officially voted to approve the contract with MCIU, however, the Honors World History course in question will not be included in the curriculum.
“We need to have a program in place by July 1 to begin our enrollment process,” said Wissahickon School Board President Amy Ginsburg. “This timeline does not allow us enough time to thoroughly vet and approve a new program before this date.”
Had the school board voted against utilizing MCIU for select students in the district, these students would have to register with a charter school, which would come at an increased cost to the district, and the district would not have control over the materials presented to Wissahickon students. According to Ginsburg, both cyber charter schools located in Montgomery County utilize Imagine Learning, and one school offers the same course that was questioned by parents.
Ginsburg also cited a lack of connection to the Wissahickon community for not wanting to go down the Charter School route.
By keeping the contract with MCIU, “We can have input into what courses are offered to our students, ensure our students remain part of the Wissahickon community, and make sure students learn our values of belongingness and inclusiveness,: Ginsburg said.
At a previous school board meeting where the contract was supposed to be approved, there was material shared with board members from the 10th grade World History course that was teaching a "biased and inflammatory view of the history of Israel", according to concerned parents in the district.
After hearing from several of these concerned community members, the board voted 8-1 against approving the contract while the administration pledged to work with the MCIU to find out how that course material got reviewed and ultimately ended up in front of students.
The administration warned that finding another vendor to run the virtual academy for next year may take some additional time. The school board reportedly urged the administration to find out answers to how the MCIU material found its way to the students. But just a short time later, the school board reconvened for a special meeting last week, where the MCUI vote was the only agenda item.
