The new board policy was approved in a unanimous vote on July 16. (photo by Tabor Brewster)

After several hours of deliberation and revisions, the Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education on July 16 unanimously approved a new policy that prohibits teachers from promoting political or ideological causes during instructional time and limits what topics can be discussed in the classroom when not connected to the curriculum.

The policy, titled “Standards-Based Instructional Environment,” states that “political, religious or socially sensitive topics must be relevant to the curriculum and presented in a factual, objective and nonpartisan manner.” Additionally, it states that teachers are expected to avoid displaying partisan materials and discussing sensitive topics “unless directly connected to the curriculum.”

The initial policy raised concerns from residents, parents, teachers, Board President Rachelle Marcus and Board Member Dr. Amanda Stern, who called the initial version “quasi-censoring of teachers.”

Several BHUSD instructors with the Beverly Hills Education Association attended the board meeting on July 16 to speak out against the policy.

“The language of this standards-based instruction policy does not actually reflect standards-based instruction, which I know well,” said Hannah Croft, a 7th grade English teacher at Beverly Vista Middle School. “Instead, this proposed change demands teachers limit the scope of their instruction, and by extension, limit students’ skills and ability to learn. The meticulously chosen and intentionally vague language of this proposed instructional change does not have student success at its heart.”

The initial version of the policy encouraged teachers to report colleagues for potential violations – which prompted resident and former BHUSD parent Gay Abrams to compare it to an earlier chapter in American politics.

“This language and policy parallel a similar time in our history – the McCarthy Era, also called the Red Scare – where there was a pervasive fear that communists were embedding our government, the entertainment industry and our schools,” Abrams said. “Today we are facing similar fears but instead of the use of ‘commies,’ it is liberalism, leftists, woke, DEI, BLM, gender, LGBTQ.”

Following public comment, the board spent more than two hours debating the policy.

“There are two documented problems that we have spoken about in our district … We have unacceptably low test scores and achievement, and we have declining enrollment,” Stern said. “This proposed policy, as it stands now, would do nothing for those two documented problems. In fact, they may adversely impact those two problems.”

Board Member Sigalie Sabag – who introduced the policy – defended it by stating that it protects students from bias and political agendas.

“For far too long, our classrooms have sometimes drifted from the core of what students come to school to do – to learn, to grow and to master academic content that will serve them for a lifetime,” Sabag said. “This policy restores and protects the focus. It ensures that when our students walk into a math class they’re learning math. When they walk into a science class they’re engaged in inquiry, experimentation and analysis. When they sit down in English, they’re not hearing opinion, they’re learning how to read critically, write [clearly] and think independently.”

At the request of Marcus and Stern, aspects of the policy’s language were changed. For example, the phrase “during instructional time” was added to the rule that teachers must refrain from promoting political causes. Additionally, the board agreed to remove the line “staff members with firsthand knowledge of potential violations are encouraged to report concerns promptly.”

Following the revisions, the board unanimously approved the policy.

“I feel like [the policy] is significantly less punitive and more speaks to and respects our educators,” Stern said.