The Liberty Public Schools Board of Education approved several curriculum changes and advanced a teacher recruitment initiative intended to build the local educator pipeline.

Dr. Julie Moore summarized course proposals that remove a precalculus-with-trigonometry offering in favor of an AP Precalculus course already available and bring back public speaking as a dual-credit elective. "Public speaking is a class that we would be bringing back," Moore said, and noted the district is exploring whether the class could count toward ELA credit in some cases.

The board also agreed to offer oral interpretation as a UCM dual-credit option for competitive theater, with teachers and students seeing the move as expanding real-world learning and dual-credit opportunities. Following discussion, a motion to approve the oral interpretation and public speaking course proposals passed on a board vote.

Separately, the board reviewed updates to the Grow Your Own teacher recruitment plan, which narrows initial priority to students who are first-generation college-goers and to candidates pursuing certification in hard-to-fill areas. "That first priority being given to first generation college students," the superintendent said while describing the plan's criteria, which list middle and secondary mathematics, secondary science, special education, and early childhood education as priority certification areas.

The board approved the Grow Your Own plan in the meeting's action items; staff said the plan would be communicated to Liberty High and Liberty North students and return in December for final consideration where indicated.

What happens next: staff will circulate flyers and timeline details to high-school students and finalize any ELA credit mapping for public speaking before implementation.