WOODSFIELD — Switzerland of Ohio Local School District officials said there are no plans to make critical race theory a part of the schools’ curriculum after some residents voiced concerns.

Jennifer Bohach, chief academic officer in the district, addressed the public about the possibility of implementing the theory during Thursday’s board of education meeting. She said she was “surprised” by a post on social media that indicated schools in the district would be teaching CRT.

“That wasn’t even on the radar. That’s never been discussed. It’s not something we’re even entertaining right now and it is a very hot topic in the news, but for someone to say, ‘Yup, that’s what we’re doing.’ No, there’s a lot of thought that would have to go into something like that and we haven’t even had any discussions,” she said.

Bohach noted that the district follows curriculum standards set by the Ohio Department of Education. She said nothing has indicated CRT would be added to those standards. She said she wants to get the word out to community members to let them know the theory has not been implemented.

“We want to move forward and educate our kids and have them be good citizens and be able to analyze things clearly,” she added.

Prior to Bohach addressing the public, a couple of residents voiced their concerns about CRT. Sylvia Bowen, a parent of former Beallsville High School students, said she has concerns about the theory and the potential negative effect it may have on students and the community. She said she feels as though the theory is divisive instead of unifying. She added that she hopes the board opts to keep CRT out of the school’s curriculum.

Although CRT has been widely discussed more recently, it is not a new concept. According to Encyclopedia Britannica online, it dates back as far as the 1960s but was officially arranged in 1989. It provides a framework of analysis that holds that racism is a social construction and that the laws and policies of the United States are inherently racist, causing social, political and economic inequality among various groups with African Americans being at a particular disadvantage.

CRT can be used as an instructional tool to aid in analyzing certain policy issues and how racism may have affected these policies, according to the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. It can also allow people to grasp a better understanding of inequality and discover solutions to certain issues.

Ohio lawmakers — and those in more than a dozen other states — have introduced legislation that would ban the teaching of CRT in public schools. Two different House bills — HB 322 and HB 327 — related to the matter have been introduced in Columbus and are awaiting action at the committee level.

In other news, Bohach spoke about preschool registration. She said all of the classes are now full with 132 students enrolled across the district.

“That’s an increase of 37 (students),” she added.

In April, the board voted in favor of a preschool expansion that would allow children ages 3-5 to attend school for free in the upcoming school year. The increase in students has also allowed the pre-k classes to expand to four days per week instead of two, Bahach said.

“It’s really helping to close that gap sooner so that gap does not continue to grow and grow, and have those kids ready for kindergarten,” she said.

The board will next meet at 6 p.m. Aug. 12 at Swiss Hills Career Center, located at 46601 Ohio 78, Woodsfield.