School Board gives thumbs up to Second Step program, Wi-Fi on buses

The Warren County School Board during its Wednesday, February 2 regular meeting approved the restart of the Second Step Social-Emotional Learning curriculum for Warren County Public Schools (WCPS) and gave a unanimous yes to accepting a grant to pay for Wi-Fi on school buses.

The Second Step program — which is sold by a nonprofit that holds the trademark for it — raised concerns last month from two School Board members who cited full access restrictions and some questionable content as reasons to temporarily stop the program to allow for further review. The board during its January 5 regular meeting unanimously agreed to do so.

WCPS purchases Second Step from the nonprofit Committee for Children, which holds the registered trademark for the program. The organization says Second Step programs are research-based, teacher-informed, and classroom-tested to promote the social-emotional development, safety, and well-being of children from early learning through Grade 8. The program is not utilized at the elementary school level in WCPS, and parents may opt-out their children from any guidance lessons.

Following the January 19 School Board work session in which WCPS staff explained the benefits and usage of Second Step in WCPS, the board’s majority voted 4-1 last night to reinstate Second Step. Present at the meeting and voting ‘aye’ were Board Chair Kristen Pence, Vice Chair Ralph Rinaldi, and members Antoinette Funk, and Andrea Lo. Board member Melanie Salins voted against continuing the Second Step program.

Lo pointed out that Second Step’s Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum helps provide students with relevant skills needed in the workforce, such as communication skills and teamwork, among others, and she thinks the board would be “doing them a disservice” by not offering the program.

Funk said WCPS has done a solid job in letting parents know what’s in the SEL curriculum and she urged parents “to be an active participant in their child’s education” by contacting teachers, counselors, and principals if they have any questions about the program or want to view its contents.

Pence called Second Step a “great program.”

Public comments

Numerous residents spoke in support of continuing the SEL program at WCPS during Wednesday’s public hearing section of the board’s meeting. A few people also wrote letters of support that were read into the public record.

“It saddens me that during a time when our children already face so many hardships and struggles, we are having to defend a program that helps offer students coping strategies, helps solidify school principles of kindness and accountability, reinforces problem-solving capabilities, empowers children to advocate for themselves and their peers, gives them confidence to stand up to bullying, and helps them learn coping strategies for everything from the loss of a loved one to fostering a growth-mindset in which they are not limited in what they can accomplish,” wrote Kate DeBord-Peter, who lives in the Fork District and has two children attending WCPS.

“Children need these services now more than ever,” DeBord-Peter wrote.

She also expressed concerns voiced by many who attended the board meeting in person about the School Board allowing a few people to manipulate them into making something controversial that isn’t, and several asked that board members keep politics out of future meetings.

For instance, Second Step supporters Ingrid Chenoweth, clergy at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and a teacher at the WCPS Blue Ridge Technical Center, and North River District resident Angie Robinson were two of several speakers who denounced the political undertones of recent School Board meetings.

Instead, they said, the School Board should support the professionalism and expertise of WCPS teachers, counselors, and administrators, who can be trusted to pick the most appropriate, relevant, and beneficial curriculum for students.

Rev. Christine McMillin-Goodwin of Front Royal, who is pastor at the First Baptist Church, also pointed out that when school board members fight and teachers don’t feel supported because of increased political haggling, the situation “is not good for our students.”

While no one said their names out loud during the meeting, speakers likely were referring to the perceived politics they heard in comments made by Board Vice Chair Rinaldi and board member Melanie Salins.

Rinaldi, for instance, said during the January 5 School Board meeting that when he reviewed a Second Step video, he wondered “is there a possibility that some teachers can interweave the critical race theories idea?” On Wednesday, Rinaldi said he saw a couple of things in his review of the program “that could be taken the wrong way,” but he said he trusts WCPS guidance counselors and teachers to use “teacher commonsense.”

Salins — the single ‘nay’ vote on Wednesday night against continuing Second Step in WCPS — said Warren County residents still do not have full access to the digital 2020-2021 version of Second Step. She said that a parent log-in to the Second Step website only allows someone to view half of what is available to WCPS staff and School Board members.

“The issue at hand here isn’t the lessons,” said Salins about Second Step. “The issue at hand here is true, informed consent. And parents cannot consent to what they do not have full access to.” Parents just want a log-in and a password, but WCPS “still refuses to give them access to the curriculum so that they can read it and know what their children are going to be learning,” she added.

Both WCPS Superintendent Christopher Ballenger and fellow board member Funk told Salins that Second Step is owned by a nonprofit that doesn’t allow full access of trademarked material and that WCPS is bound by its legal purchase agreement to adhere to such trademark rules. And while WCPS and School Board members do have access, if anyone else has questions or wants to view lessons or other supplementary materials, they may contact their child’s school for information on doing so.

Ballenger also said that parents and community members were able to access the teacher resources used at each school and that schools that had digital access to the supplemental materials also provided a parent access code to families and community members to review the materials at home. Parents were also provided opt-out forms at each site and can request an opt-out form from their child’s principals if they choose not to have their child participate in any of the supplemental programs offered at their child’s school.

While Salins said the issue wasn’t with the Second Step lessons, she said: “I take serious issue with the Second Step bullying curriculum,” which she said depicts bullies as being privileged based on their economic standing, race, and gender. Salins said such a perspective differs from what she learned growing up and from what she teaches her own children.

Also on Wednesday, Salins commented on “the beauty of parental choice,” a political platform that she called “the hot topic of our time.”

“Parents are feeling pushed out and are literally locked out of their schools right now,” Salins said.

There were some speakers present who asked Warren County School Board members to provide more time for residents to review the Second Step SEL program.

For instance, Tom McFadden, Sr., of Front Royal said he and other members of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church formed a study group to review the program, but then learned that public access was not possible after talking to Ballenger. The group would still like more time to review the curriculum if that changes, he said.

In all, more than a dozen speakers participated in the public hearing, which lasted about half an hour.

Buses with Wi-Fi

Among other actions taken on Wednesday night, the board unanimously voted to allow WCPS to accept a $140,476 grant from the Emergency Connectivity Funds to purchase equipment to install Wi-Fi on the division’s school buses.

With the grant funds, WCPS will purchase mobile Wi-Fi equipment from SHI International Corp. that will be installed on all school buses by the WCPS Transportation Department, according to WCPS Technology Director Tim Grant.

Watch the Warren County School Board’s February 2 meeting in its entirety.

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