Parents spoke at a virtual Mars Area School Board work session on Monday night to raise concerns about a number of topics, including bullying and homophobia, treatment of the school dance team and support staff shortages.

Notably absent from the public comment session were discussions of masks and the state mask mandate. Mars Area School Board meetings in the past two months have seen repeated comments from families about masks, mandates and COVID-19 precautions in general, with a number of parents on either side of the issue attending to speak to the board.

AJ Nelson, a student at Mars Area School District, spoke on behalf of other LGBT students in the Mars district, saying there's been a rise in homophobic bullying in the district. Nelson also asked about the possibility of creating a student group for discussing LGBT issues.“I am here for all of those who are scared to come out, too, and I am here to help our younger siblings have a voice,” Nelson said. “I hope you can work together to come up with an idea to help stop it from happening instead of being bullied day after day. Please help to fix this issue in our schools instead of us kids watching our parents, teachers and school boards fight with each other.”Nelson recalled being harassed and being called slurs in the school district, adding that the issue is larger than individual incidents and that punishing the offenders is not working.“Week after week, school board members say that 'Mars loves America,' when in your own schools, children leave in tears from bullying,” Nelson said. “How can we claim that Mars loves America when we can't respect other students?”

Three parents and one student spoke about their concern that the Mars Varsity Dance Team, a student group established earlier in 2021, was not being treated fairly at Mars Area School District sports events.Mars resident Robin Organ and her daughter, Alexandra, both said that the team was moved further down on the field at the most recent football game. They called the experience disappointing and “alienating” to those who participated.“It's unfortunate that some of the school administration is making it very difficult for these ladies to be included and show their spirit,” Organ said. “It's a shame that if I want to watch my kid, I have to stand way down past all of the bleachers along the fence.”Organ said she felt that the team was being isolated and prevented from performing.“I'm just saddened that the school and the school's officials have taken this stance that the dance team isn't allowed to be included in activities or perform for actual fans at the games,” she said. “It just seems to be a continual effort to exclude these ladies and dampen their spirits.”Parent Dave Wingertsahn also said that the move was “disheartening,” and called on the school board to further include the team.“This is for the students, to show their fellow students are there to support them,” he said. “This isn't about adults; this isn't about administration; this isn't about the parents. This past football game when they were shoved down the field was very disheartening. I am asking all involved to please give the dance team a fair opportunity.”

Mars parent Julia Konitzky spoke about the ongoing staff shortage, calling out the need for more paraprofessional support staff.“I think we need to focus on recruitment and retention of paraprofessionals in this district,” she said. “We're getting to the point where IEP's are probably not going to be delivered correctly and the wonderful, excellent teachers that we have in this district who are teaching special education children are going to get burned out, and their case loads are going to get too high. It's going to be a spiral of events.”She recommended that the board reexamine the pay rate for paraprofessionals to aim for retention.School board member Megan Lenz connected the issue to the larger national hiring crisis.“So many of these issues we hear about are in resources, and resources cost money, and when it comes to budget time, just keep in mind that the money that comes from the budget goes to the resources,” Lenz said. “If you go to any school district right now, every single district is having trouble getting support staff, and every single business is having trouble getting employees. This board is fully committed to trying to find a way to retain and gain employees for these positions, but it all comes back to resources.”=