Last evening, the Springboro School Board canceled two Constitution classes which had drawn protests from parents, teachers and students. Notice of the board action was posted on a Facebook site called Springboro United for Responsible Education.
According to WHIO, school board member Jim Rigano issued a statement saying in part, “We felt that having the community participate with evaluating these courses would be an excellent opportunity for schools and community to work together. Instead, the courses have received some criticism from the community, which we take very seriously.”
Some Springboro citizens had sent an open letter to the school board and created a petition at Change.org.
Yesterday, I reported here on Institute on the Constitution’s ties to white supremacist group League of the South.
While the cancellation is a step in the right direction, I am confident that parents and community groups will continue to press for answers to questions about why the IOTC was considered a viable resource.
Below is the entire press release:
Springboro Community City Schools News Release
For Immediate Release
July 3, 2013
CONSTITUTION COURSES CANCELLED
SPRINGBORO- Springboro Community Schools has cancelled two community education courses on the U.S. Constitution originally scheduled for this summer.
“We felt that having the community participate with evaluating these courses would be an excellent opportunity for schools and community to work together. Instead, the courses have received some criticism from the
community, which we take very seriously,” said Jim Rigano, Board of Education Vice President. “We wanted to allow time for additional review to fully investigate community concerns.”
The two courses were a 12-week course by the Institute on the Constitution scheduled to run from July 9 through September 24, and a one day seminar by the National Center for Constitutional Studies.
Anyone currently registered for the 12-week course by the Institute on the Constitution should contact instructor Ricki Pepin at 937-322-3149 for a refund or other information. Those who registered for the seminar with the National Center for Constitutional Studies through Springboro Schools will receive a refund.
This is now on the district website.