Letter from Milford Superintendent John Spieser to Families and Staff Regarding the Novel
Letter from Milford Superintendent John Spieser to Families and Staff Regarding the Novel
Dear Milford Families and Staff,
We understand that there has been quite a bit of community interest in the recent citizen requests that were made to reconsider utilizing the novel In the Time of Butterflies as part of the 10th grade English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum.
Upon receipt of the initial request, a committee of parents, teachers, and administrators was convened, per Board Policy KLB. This group read the book and met Wednesday evening to discuss the issue. At the end of the discussion, five individuals voted to continue to include the book as part of the curriculum and one voted to restrict it to more mature students.
Milford Schools Board Policy KLB directs the superintendent to make the final decision in these matters and I have accepted the overall recommendation of the committee. In the Time of Butterflies will continue to be part of the 10th grade ELA curriculum.
The novel is an important component within the approved curriculum, is reflective of the Milford Vision and our Portrait of an Eagle, and parents continue to have the ability to choose alternate texts for their child to read if they determine it is in their best interest to do so.
In the Time of the Butterflies was published in 1994 and was part of the board curriculum adoption in 2014-2015. Since that time Milford teachers have been working from those documents and are utilizing the district-adopted materials.
These materials align with the Milford Vision to inspire and prepare our students to reach their fullest potential in a diverse and dynamic world and our Portrait of an Eagle which is the roadmap the Milford learning community uses to drive our work district-wide. Milford schools' students are empathetic lifelong learners who are:
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Confident Learners
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Effective Communicators
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Purposeful Collaborators
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Critical Thinkers
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Persistent Creators and Innovators
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Information Evaluators
As mentioned above, parents and guardians always have the right to choose an alternative text should they decide that is in the best interest of their child. Alternate reading for this section of the curriculum included The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, A Separate Peace, and Station Eleven.
If you are interested in learning more about Board Policy KLB regarding “Public Complaints about the Curriculum or Instructional Materials”, it can be found here: https://go.boarddocs.com/oh/mi
We appreciate the active engagement of parents, guardians, students, staff and community members on the important work happening in classrooms. We are especially grateful for the talented teachers and staff within Milford schools who work each day to help our students become the empathetic lifelong learners we hope to inspire.
Sincerely,
John Speiser, Superintendent
Milford Exempted Village Schools
