By Kathryn Schiliro
Managing Editor

The Morgan County Board of Education decided Monday night to table a decision on the purchase and use of a textbook, "The Twentieth Century and Beyond: A Global History," due to its perceived "anti-Western," "anti-American" and "anti-Israeli" sentiment.

Board member Dave Belton voiced objections following review of the book, which was to be used in an International Baccalaureate (IB) class at Morgan County High School next school year pending board approval.
"I read portions of this book and I'd like to see another option," Belton said.

Asked what specifically he had objections to, Belton cited the book's bias through an example.
"They talk about the first Israeli war; they mention the Israelis attacked the Arabs when in fact the Arabs attacked the Israelis," Belton said. He continued, "They gloss over things like World War II, yet they talk [for] two or three paragraphs about Monica Lewinsky."

Board chairman Nelson Hale said he wanted students to have "factually accurate" information, but "everything's not always going to be pro-American when it's an international course."

There was concern that the process of finding another textbook—there is an IB-approved list for IB classes—would mean books wouldn't arrive in time for the start of school.

Belton said he received the agenda Friday, reviewed the textbook Monday morning and then let Assistant Superintendent Dr. Ralph Bennett know of his objections, leaving little time for the teacher and principal to come up with other options.

"We need to be given the books in a timely manner so we can make a decision," Belton said.
In tabling the decision to approve the IB textbook, Hale called for comment Jennifer Eberhart, the IB course teacher; Principal Mark Wilson; and Assistant Principal Pat Leming, IB program coordinator as well as a list of other options for the board to consider.

Also at the meeting, the board voted unanimously to declare other textbooks as well as three school buses (purchased in 1996) and Kindergarten GKAP-R kits (state-issued materials for the standardized test formerly used for Kindergarteners) as surplus.

Nearing the end of the fiscal year, the board is "below budget almost 5 percent," Hale said. The operating fund began May with near $1.5 million and, after receipts of more than $1.5 million, the deposit of a $2 million CD and expenditures near $2.5 million, ended the month with more than $2.5 million.

The school board is still waiting on numbers from the state before they will be able to set next year's budget, but must have a decision by early July in order to complete the legally required process of advertising the budget. The board planned a called meeting on the budget for Tuesday, June 29 at 6 p.m.

The Education Local Option Sales Tax (ELOST) pot began May with $1.9 million and ended with more than $2.1 million. Receipts totaled more than $273,000 while expenditures came to more than $16,500, the largest purchases being $7,200 for a tire changer for the bus shop and more than $5,700 for an HVAC upgrade at the elementary school.

In his report, school system Director of Operations Bob Monk shared that buses were currently being used for special needs and migrant programs. (According to Monk, the migrant program is for primary school-aged students who need a bit of help with English. The 100-percent federally funded program runs from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and there are 25 students in it, about 20 of which are bussed to the primary school each day.) Further, the school system is set to start the new school year with 42 bus routes—36 regular buses, 5 special needs buses and one that goes to Rutland Academy in Athens.

According to Assistant Superintendent Sarah Burbach's enrollment report, the school system ended the year with 3,306 students enrolled in Morgan County schools, a 47-student decrease from the end of the 2008-2009 school year.

Also at the meeting, the school board recognized
retiring teachers: from MCHS, Col. Earlton
Donnell, Jr., Dottie Freeman and Kris Strickland;
from MCMS, Mary Pickles, Hazel Walker and
Hattie Little; from
MCES, Sheila Satcher,
Jean Phillips and Bunnie Schmitt; from MCPS,
Mary Ann Bentley, Gloria Hunter, Virginia "Brillo" Jackson, Kathy Moorhead, Terri Riden, Donna Smith and Sue Stuckey; from the Central Office, Sue Cofer; and from Transportation, Joyce Peoples and Eva Waller.