On Wednesday, William S. Hart Union High School District Superintendent Mike Kuhlman sat down with KHTS to discuss issues affecting the district this year, including COVID-19, hybrid learning, and the Hart High School mascot debate.
Controversial issues such as COVID-19, hybrid learning, and the Hart High School mascot debate were topics of discussion when Hart School District Superintendent Kuhlman spoke with KHTS.
“The Hart District has outstanding people in leadership, outstanding teachers, and it helped that I had been a member of the district for about 24 years,” said Kuhlman on the Hart District’s COVID-19 response. “We were proud of the fact that I think within three working days, we had our online instruction up and running.”
Kuhlman touched on the topic of Santa Clarita Valley parents’ response to the district’s actions.
“There’s folks that are understanding, folks that would’ve hoped we had moved a little faster,” Kuhlman said. “I think there was an accelerated requirement for teachers to embrace new technologies, and I think it opened the door to some new instructional strategies that will find their way into what we’re doing post-pandemic.”
The superintendent then went on to describe Hart District’s new alternative learning system.
“We know that for some families, they have determined that online instruction and independent study works for their child,” Kuhlman said. “So we’re actually working to set up a scenario where we’re going to expand what we call our Learning Post Academy to accommodate, moving forward, those families that want to continue in an independent study environment.”
See Related: Hart District Board To Hold Public Forum On Indian Mascot
The debate over the potential change of Hart High School’s mascot was then brought up.
“What I can tell you is that on the 26th of this month, we’re going to be hosting a community forum,” Kuhlman said. “The effort has been to listen with an open mind, to really provide people the opportunity to share their perspectives, to be mindful that we have a high school that has fifty years of tradition but also mindful that we’re talking about a mascot that actually has implications for real people and real history.”
Kuhlman then described his own evolving feelings on the issue.
“My compassion and understanding for Indigenous peoples has grown, especially here in Santa Clarita,” Kuhlman said. “Just by building that relationship, it reinforced for me that when we have issues that are highly politicized sometimes people fall into different camps and they don’t listen to one another.”
Kuhlman then described the district’s response to the community’s debate thus far.
“No unilateral immediate decisions on things to make sure that we are listening to everyone so that when we do make a change, hopefully it’ll be through the consensus agreement of the community,” Kuhlman said regarding the upcoming community forum.
Santa Clarita residents must register to attend the mascot discussion, scheduled for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, April 26. To register for the meeting, click here.
The board may not have time to hear from everyone verbally during the meeting. To share written thoughts, click here. Written comment is set to be considered by the board as additional feedback.
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