On deck: IB task force progress report

The findings of an IB/PYP task force are on the agenda for tonight's

regular monthly school board meeting in Coeur d'Alene.

Superintendent Hazel Bauman will relay the information to trustees

during the meeting that is open to the public, and begins at 5 p.m. at

the Midtown Center, 1505 N. Fifth Street.

Set up as a summer panel, the task force was created by the district

in response to recent public controversy and concerns regarding its

International Baccalaureate programs - the Diploma Program (DP) at

Lake City High School, and the Primary Years Programme (PYP) at Hayden

Meadows Elementary School.

The agenda documents state the purpose of the task force is: "To seek

the truth and provide evidence for the answers to these questions."

Those questions are:

1. Are students who are enrolled in the Hayden Meadows PYP and Lake

City High School DP receiving the state standards in Civics, US

History, and US Government?

a. Are these students receiving the same content and amount of time in

these areas?

2. Does IB teach/promote socialism and communism and denigrate the

free enterprise/capitalism system?

3. Does the IB (PYP & DP) curriculum undermine the self evident truths

as stated in the Declaration of Independence, US Constitution, and

other key documents supporting the foundation of the United States of

America?

4. What are the requirements to be an IB (PYP & DP) school and who

controls these requirements?

a. Does the UN or UNESCO control the PYP/DP curriculum?

5. Does the IB (PYP & DP) teach/promote "radical environmentalism"?

6. Does the IB (PYP & DP) teach/promote "moral relativism"?

7. Are IB costs prohibitive?