SCHOOL BOARD REVISITS RELIGION IN CLASSROOMS.Byline: Alicia Doyle Doyle , Sir Arthur Conan 1859-1930. British writer known chiefly for a series of stories featuring the brilliant detective Sherlock Holmes, including The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902). Daily News Staff Writer School officials are considering integrating President Clinton's policy on religion in schools into Simi's own policy to more clearly define rules for teaching religion in the classroom. At a school board meeting Tuesday Tuesday: see week. night, officials discussed the importance of teaching religion's influence on history, art and culture. ``If we don't don't 1. Contraction of do not. 2. Nonstandard Contraction of does not. n. A statement of what should not be done: a list of the dos and don'ts. have that in the curriculum, we're we're Contraction of we are. we're we are cutting out a large part of history,'' said school board member Carla Kurachi. While the school district adopted a policy in March 1994, officials may revise it for further clarification. Officials chose Clinton's guidelines guidelines, n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. as a model to follow because they are more clearly defined, said board member Debbie Sandland. ``I believe our policy is strong and clear, but there may be a need to add some how-tos about implementing the policy itself,'' Sandland said. Tuesday's discussion was triggered in part by a recent move within the Moorpark Unified School District A unified school district is a school district which includes both primary school (kindergarten through middle school or junior high) and high school (grades 9-12). In Illinois, these districts are called unit school districts. , which approved guidelines that clarify the purpose of bringing religion to the classroom. In April, Moorpark's school board approved guidelines that condense con·dense v. con·densed, con·dens·ing, con·dens·es v.tr. 1. To reduce the volume or compass of. 2. To make more concise; abridge or shorten. 3. Physics a. federal rules, the law and court rulings into a coherent resolution, officials said. Originally written by Moorpark school board member David Pollock, the resolution states that the board ``recognizes that an adequate education in American citizenship must include instruction about religions, their significance in history, their sources in culture, their moral and ethical constructs and their living examples among students, teachers, staff, administrators and citizens of our community.'' Sandland stressed that a policy is important to draw the line between imposing religious beliefs in the classroom and teaching how religion has played a role in history, culture and society. ``Matters of religion and religious beliefs are matters of the conscience and are private concerns,'' Sandland said. ``This should be taught in the home and in the church. I'm going to make sure that line is not crossed,'' she said. |
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