Administrators: CRT not being taught, won’t be taught in area schools

While Critical Race Theory (CRT) seems to be dominating the discussion when it comes to local school board elections, administrators from area schools said it is not currently being taught and it will not be taught in the future.

Responding to a questionnaire sent by the Times, Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau District Administrator Michele Butler and Arcadia Superintendent Lance Bagstad — representing the four-school co-op along with Blair-Taylor, Independence and Whitehall — both said CRT isn’t being taught in schools and that isn’t likely to change.

“The G-E-T School District’s curriculum is based on the standards required by the Wisconsin Department of Instruction (DPI),” Butler said. “CRT has not been adopted by the DPI as a curriculum standard.”

 Butler said the board approved curriculum materials and courses per policy, but that they are based on the standards adopted by the DPI.

Bagstad said that the DPI is not going to adopt CRT as part of its curriculum.

“CRT will not become part of the curriculum in the public K-12 schools because CRT was not and is not intended for K-12 students,” Bagstad said. 

That isn’t to say area schools ignore racial issues. 

“These things are taught using historical facts and information,” Bagstad said. “Within the curriculum and reading materials used in courses, students may encounter these topics, but none of the topics are taught with any one perspective in mind.” 

Butler said the same is true at G-E-T where instruction is “based on historical events, reading primary resources learning about culture, or participating in discussion on current issues are examples of how students might encounter topics” such as race. 

“Topics are discussed from various perspectives with the understanding that students will make their own choices and decisions,” Bagstad said. “Our school staff remains extremely professional in this and all other aspects of today’s intricate world of education.  We cannot pretend diversity and race issues do not exist, but it is not up to our educators to encourage any line of thinking on our school children.”