Action of the School Board Action of the School Board 08/25/14

Meeting Date:
Aug. 25, 2014

Board Chair
Tom Heidemann

ACTION

of the School School District
Board
Anoka-Hennepin

Recognitions

Volunteer Services Program

School Board Chair Tom Heidemann recognized the district’s Volunteer Services Program
and the thousands of community members who volunteer in the schools. During the last
school year, the district’s 36 volunteer programs reported 166,173 volunteer work hours,
which have a symbolic value of $3,679,065 according to the per hour dollar value determined by the Independent Sector’s Giving and Volunteering in the United States.

Vice Chair

Marci Anderson

Communications, delegations and petitions

Julie Blaha, Melissa Thompson, Dale Davitt, and L.A. Jones urged the School Board to support all five recommendations of the Anti-bullying/Anti-harassment Task Force.

Clerk

Dr. Scott Wenzel

Treasurer
Jeff Simon

Director
Bill Harvey

Mari Star reported that her child experienced bullying in middle school for being different from other students. She commented that the procedures surrounding bullying in the
district’s policy handbook were long.
Dr. John Look expressed concern over the third recommendation of the Anti-bullying/Antiharassment Task Force that called for honoring and celebrating the contributions of diverse
people, including the LGBT community. He stated the board should not feel obligated to
make moral judgments on sexual orientation.
Steven Johnson stated that the Anti-bullying/Anti-harassment Task Force’s emphasis on
the LGBT community excludes others who are bullied because of race, religion, physical
disabilities and other reasons.
Kayla Flanagan spoke to the need for training teachers in mental health issues and placing trained adults in areas where bullying is likely to occur in order to provide support for
students who need it.
Tammy Aaberg shared information from a survey of young people conducted by Justin’s
Gift, an organization formed in memory of her son to support LGBT youth. She noted that
the organization offered to provide mental health training to a group of teachers but the
district has not yet scheduled it. She also asked the board to support all recommendations
of the Anti-bullying/Anti-harassment Task Force.
Tim Distel stated that he had experience working with families whose children were caught
up in sexual confusion. He stated homosexuality should be addressed in homes and asked
the board to reject recommendation three of the Anti-bullying/Anti-harassment Task Force.

Director

William Fields

Rich Rydberg said he felt the recommendations of the Anti-bullying/Anti-harassment Task
Force were fairly well thought out, but he was concerned about recommendation three. He
suggested the district focus on the actions of bullies and not the reasons for the bullying.
Brenda Look stated that recommendation three of the Anti-bullying/Anti-harassment
Task Force was a strong demand that forced allegiance to a social and political agenda. She
asked the board not to support the recommendations of the Anti-bullying/Anti-harassment
Task Force.

ANOKA-HENNEPIN
SCHOOLS
A future without limit

Nathan Black thanked the School Board for the work they are doing to create a safe envi-