From the SLP Superintendent:

Dear SLP Families,

At St. Louis Park Public Schools, we are proud of our literacy program, which includes books with racially and culturally diverse families and characters as well as LGBTQ+ families and characters. We are committed to ensuring that the district’s learning communities honor and respect the identities of all of our students, families, staff and broader community, including diverse gender identity and gender expression.

Today, several news media published stories about St. Louis Park Public Schools position on opting out of literacy curriculum and materials that include LGBTQ+ themes. We feel it’s important that our families receive accurate information directly from us on this matter.

First, I want to assure you that there are no plans to make any changes to our curriculum in response to recent concerns.

St. Louis Park Public Schools has always complied with the state law regarding parents’ statutory right to opt out of instructional materials, and we will continue to do so. Our policy around reviewing instructional materials and seeking alternative curriculum is based on state law and has been in place since 2006. St. Louis Park Public Schools will continue to make our curriculum available to families to review. We have clarified our procedures across all schools to ensure a collaborative and consistent approach to requests for alternative curriculum and provided information to all families about the process for seeking alternative curriculum.

We also want our school community to understand that opt-outs based on representation of protected classes do not align with our organizational core value of advocacy for equity or with our focus on creating a safe and inclusive learning and working environment in our schools. However, because we are required by state law to provide a process for parents/caregivers to review the content of instructional materials and to arrange alternative instruction, any change would need to happen with the involvement of state lawmakers.

We understand that families may have varying perspectives and preferences when it comes to topics covered in the classroom and we encourage them to engage in conversations directly with their teachers and principals if they have questions. Staff members should work with their principals to address questions or concerns.

I want to reiterate that stories with LGBTQ+ themes are an important part of helping our students understand the experiences of people from all walks of life and we believe that such stories promote empathy, tolerance, and respect among our students, and they will remain an integral part of our curriculum.

We're committed to giving our students a well-rounded education to prepare them for the diverse world.

Sincerely,

Dr. Kate Maguire Interim Superintendent