May 19, 2005 Special School Board Meeting Summary

All Board members present.

Barbara Ashley spoke during public comments to note that International Baccalaureate at MHS was regarded very favorably as evidence of academic excellence by admissions officers when her daughter visited U of Michigan, Northwestern, Madison, USC and other schools.

5-2 vote on approval of IB textbooks 

Before the board voted 5-2 (with Mr. Eaton and Mr. Wenmark voting against) to approve textbooks for IB, Mr. Wenmark apologized to the public for not doing his job when he voted for IB in November 2003.  He explained that he was excited about Dr. Ann Swanson's description of the new ideas possible with IB and thought it was "absolutely what we want" but now he sees that IB requires us to "internationalize" our curriculum so he regrets he agreed and now feels that IB differs from the district's vision statement.  http://www.minnetonka.k12.mn.us/district/vision/index.htm

Mr. Wenmark noted that he and his fellow board members need to hear from the public.  Care to share your opinion?  E-mail the entire board and Dr. Peterson at schoolboard@minnetonka.k12.mn.us

The complete list of books includes award-winning literature such as 100 Years of Solitude by Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Beloved by American writer Toni Morrison, The Quiet American by English writer Graham Greene, Housekeeping by Iowa writer Marilyn Robinson. The list also contains a widely-used biology lab manual which covers both macro-evolution and micro-evolution.

Policy for public review of new textbooks, materials

In a related matter, the district has revised its textbook review policy, after the IB textbooks were removed by Mr. Eaton for an extended time from the District Service Center, where they were to be available for public review.  Review periods are generally two weeks before the board votes on the texts.  Now, the first 10 days or so the books should be available during normal business hours at the DSC to anyone who'd like to see them.  The last 3-4 days of the review period, board members may check out materials at 4:30 p.m. for return the next day.