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Monday evening’s Houghton-Portage Township Board of Education meeting dealt with several serious topics sandwiched around the return of the feel-good presentations of the CCASB Awards.
Several parents and city residents made their voices heard on a local newspaper article detailing a group of recent graduates now pushing for Critical Race Theory to have a place in the district’s curriculum and policies. No one spoke in favor of the idea. Naomi Leukema said that she had seven kids who have graduated from the Houghton and Hancock School Districts, but worries about how CRT could affect her grandchildren.
Teresa Stachowiak spoke to the effect she thinks it has on minority children, mainly the detrimental consequences that come with the idea that the outcome of your life is not due to personal choice, but instead to a vague systemic problem that you have no control over. She quoted Dr. Ben Carson.
The board debated whether to give its approval for the 2021-22 General Fund budget of the Copper Country Intermediate School District. It eventually okayed the document, but with reservations. Tens of millions of COVID-19 related funds flowed through the ISD this year. A return to normal means that revenues and expenses are slashed by close to 80 percent, from around $25 million to $5 million. Board Member Brad Baltensperger said that more information should have been provided by the ISD.
Board Vice President Amanda Massaway shared the original projections for this year’s budget, which shows that the 21-22 projections are mostly in line with what the district thought it would face for this school year.
A full list of the 2020 and 2021 Copper Country Association of School Board Award winners for Houghton-Portage Township is below.
