Hall Co. School Board takes first step to revamp social studies curriculum

GAINESVILLE - Saying that he has seen public education deemphasize the study of social studies over the last two decades, Hall County Schools Superintendent Will Schofield told school board members Monday afternoon that he wants a review of the local social studies curriculum.

Schofield asked for - and received - approval from board members to set up an action committee to study the current curriculum and make recommendations on how to make it more viable for students.

"For the last 20 years, we've put an awful lot of weight in this country on mathematics and reading scores and it has come at the expense of all kinds of things," said Schofield.

"Particularly...I think we've lost a lot in terms of what it means to be a citizen of this country - what does the Constitution and the Bill of Rights say, what does it mean to vote, what does fiscal responsibility look like?"

Board member Brian Sloan agreed, noting that the Hall County School System is not doing a bad job, but there is room for improvement.

"I want them [students] to have a better understanding of how their government works, how they can be involved with their government and why it really matters to understand the issues," said Sloan.

Schofield told the Board he expects to have an idea of the make-up of the action committee by next month's meeting. As far as getting down to studying the current curriculum and making recommendations for new coursework, Schofield said he hopes to have a substantive plan in place by December.

As far as getting any sort of push-back from education officials at a higher level, Schofield doesn't anticipate any issues.

"Boards of education for 150 years in this country have had tremendous leeway in deciding what it is that children in their communities ought to be learning in their schools," said Schofield.

"Certainly, the state and the federal government give recommendations, they talk about what the adopted curriculum of the state is, but at the end of the day, the finest example we have left in this country of representative democracy is local school boards and they determine what should be taught in the classrooms of their local districts, so I'm not concerned about push-back."