In January, students in Federal Way schools weren’t allowed to watch the inauguration of President Barack Obama without a permission slip. But all students will be able to watch Tuesday’s speech by President Obama — sans permission slips.
The district has taken another look at its policy, which requires a parental permission slip for all video or TV viewing in a classroom, and has decided that a webcast does not require parental permission. If schools have the technology, and the teachers can fit it in their schedule, they are being encouraged to watch the webcast with their classes.
“There’s no permission slip,” spokeswoman Deb Stenberg said. “The principals are being asked to notify parents and parents are encouraged to contact them. We looked a little closer at the policy and it doesn’t specifically speak to webcast; it mentions video. We felt it was not necessary for parental permission.”
Parents can call in and request that their student not watch the webcast; those students will be given an alternate assignment.
President Obama announced on Wednesday that he will deliver a national address specifically to students at 9 a.m. Sept. 8. The address is going to focus on students taking responsibility for their success in education. The speech can be viewed on the White House Web site as well as on C-SPAN and local cable channels.
The U.S. Department of Education is also providing discussion tools for teachers and their students, which Stenberg said many teachers could use if they so desired.
“I applaud President Obama’s focus on education,” State Superintendent Randy Dorn said Wednesday in a press release. “I have met with the president and his administration and believe they are passionate about all students succeeding. I’m sure his words will have a great impact on students.
“However, the viewing of his speech is not required. It will be up to individual school districts around our state on whether they view the president’s speech.”
The Federal Way School District’s rule about viewing TV and video in classrooms has been around since 2005. The district had said at the time of Obama’s inauguration that the rule applies to any electronic media that is used in the classroom.
In January 2007, the school district generated controversy after parent Frosty Hardison complained when Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” was shown in his daughter’s class. The Federal Way School Board issued a temporary moratorium on the film. However, after receiving hundreds of e-mails and phone calls, the board reversed the moratorium and allowed the film to be shown as long as opposing viewpoints were also presented.
