On January 31, 2022, Rep. Dorothy Moon addressed Idaho State Board President Kurt Liebich, in a House Education Committee meeting with disinformation about the Basin School District’s Preschool curriculum. Moon said, “I worked with one of those cohorts down in Boise County and I did see the curriculum that was being brought in and it was very much CRT.” The last time Rep. Moon came on the Basin SD campus was in 2019 to donate a step award to Basin Elementary School. When Rep. Moon expressed concerns about the Preschool Development Grant B-5 (PDG B-5) funding last legislative session, our Basin Elementary principal spoke with Rep. Moon directly. She explained that the Basin Early Learning Collaborative was part of the PDG B-5 project and that the collaborative was not using any CRT materials and resources. It was also explained that the program was able to select its own curriculum and resources based on the local community’s needs. The Basin Elementary Principal has invited Rep. Moon to come to the school to view the preschool curriculum numerous times, but neither Rep. Moon nor anyone else has requested to view the district’s preschool curriculum. Rep. Moon did not meet with a Basin education cohort. As the leader of this school district, I can confirm with great conviction that the Basin School District’s preschool curriculum does not contain Critical Race Theory as alleged by Rep. Moon. In addition, the district has not received any CRT concerns regarding their curriculum or negative feedback from the parents of preschoolers.
The Basin School District preschool program is the oldest continuous community-supported preschool program in the state of Idaho. All of the preschoolers who started the program and finished as seniors in the district, except for one, have graduated and their go-on rate is higher than the state average. We are proud of the preschool program, and we believe our community strongly agrees.
There are three school districts in Boise County — Basin SD (Idaho City), Horseshoe Bend SD, and Garden Valley SD. Superintendent Dennis Chesnut (Horseshoe Bend), and Superintendent Randy Thompson (Garden Valley) both have stated that they are also not teaching or using materials containing Critical Race Theory and they, too, have not had any contact with Rep. Moon.
The Basin School District welcomes parents, community members, and state lawmakers to view any of our curriculums before false statements are made to the public. These egregious claims further divide our attention away from our No. 1 focus — the success of our students.
