File: AF, "Just and Equitable Education" File: AF, "Just and Equitable Education"Summit School District (SSD) recognizes that historic decisions and current inequitable practices within education advantage certain students while disadvantaging others. Black students, English Language Learners, immigrants, Indigenous students, LGBTQ+ students, refugees, Students of Color, students with disabilities, and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, (hereinafter referred to as 'diverse identities' as further defined in the glossary) have all been negatively impacted by the institution of education. SSD commits to address systemic inequities and eliminate opportunity gaps through the actions outlined in this document.
Historical inequities exist and persist within the United States educational system and within Summit School District. Students of diverse identities are underrepresented in district programs. The underrepresentation exists in academic programs such as Gifted and Talented, Advanced Placement, and the IB Diploma Program; extra curriculars including sports and clubs; achievement scores; and other recognitions and honors. These inequities cannot be attributed to innate ability differences, and are therefore indicative of inequitable policies, practices, and procedures.
Institutionalized racism and systemic oppression due to language proficiency continue to have the largest impact on student performance, self-efficacy, experience of schooling, and attendance in SSD. Inequities and biases create feelings of fear, lack of belonging, and academic and psychological barriers for students. SSD will prioritize efforts and resources on strategies that eliminate institutional racism and language oppression, and ensure disciplinary actions are implemented without bias and/or disproportionality.
With the implementation of this policy, all members of Summit School District shall address the following domains in the following ways:
Curriculum
SSD has a detailed and extensive process for reviewing all curriculum regularly, as a part of this process SSD shall screen for bias using the adopted equity analysis tool (referred to in the Accountability & Review section) and center the following content during this process:
1. Representation: Amplifying multiple points of view, primary sources, authors and characters of color and other systematically marginalized identities, representation of multiple perspectives, contributions to the field from underrepresented peoples that relate to the content area under review.
2. Justice Orientation: Curriculum will acknowledge historical and current bias within the content and history of the field, and aim to engage students in critical thinking in the service of creating a more equitable and just world.
Every effort will be made to center the content described above. If such materials cannot be found in the primary product purchased, funds will be set aside so that supplementary materials can be located or produced during the spring and summer following adoption.
Multiple Pathways with Targeted Supports
SSD acknowledges that our programs and systems have not previously been equitably accessible to all students, and/or students have not received equitable support within programs. SSD shall eliminate practices, surfaced by the equity analysis tool, that lead to the underrepresentation of any student group compared to peers by aiming to:
1. Provide individualized and constructive academic and social-emotional support to each student
2. Provide high-quality curriculum to all students, in all courses and levels within such courses
3. Eliminate biased practices in domains such as, but not limited to: discipline, pedagogy, and recommendations to specific programs and opportunities
In order to achieve this, SSD shall conduct regular systematic reviews of all programs, systems and pathways which will locate barriers to access points and suggest alternatives, as described in the "Accountability and Review" section.
Communication
SSD shall engage in authentic collaboration and partnership with all families, inclusive of race, economic status, ethnicity, religion, culture, and language, as essential partners in students' education.
We shall make district communication to families accessible by:
1. During the district budget prioritization process, as defined in BOE policy DBD, we will prioritize funding to maintain staffing at the central office level of a Spanish/English bilingual, bicultural Family/Community Liaison and at the school level a Family Engagement Specialist whose roles are integrally involved in examining outreach strategies, and creating communication campaigns that address community needs and desires as they are expressed.
2. Sending video and/or audio messages in the top 2-3 languages represented in the district for all District communications.
3. Ensuring all district outreach is accessible to non-English speaking families or families that cannot attend live by video taping and closed-captioning all meetings and events, or by other means determined at a later date.
We shall incorporate families' expertise and wisdom in the district's policies, systems and procedures by:
1. Inviting representatives of traditionally underserved populations to join in examining issues and finding adaptive solutions which address the root causes of inequities, rather than technical solutions which provide a one-time fix.
2. Partnering with national, regional and local businesses and community partners who prioritize social justice and reflect our student population.
Accountability and Review
SSD shall hold our staff and community accountable to this equity policy, through:
1. Establishing an Accountability and Review Committee to review and present multiple sources of disaggregated data to the board, and district and school-based administrators, and any other identified stakeholders each semester showing progress, successes, and challenges regarding academic success, disciplinary practices and procedures, program enrollment, social and emotional self-perceptions, and student perceptions of school environment.
a. This committee shall be composed of District central office leadership and school-based leadership, including the Superintendent.
2. SSD Equity Advisory Team, or another appointed group, will select an equity analysis tool to use to audit current policies, and to vet future programs, practices, policies and procedures.
a. SSD Curriculum and Instruction team, or another appointed group, will provide system wide training for staff to support staff in using the equity analysis tool at the site and program level to review and assess curriculum, pedagogy, and practices.
i. This training will happen no less than every three years for all active employees.
ii. For all Central Office and administrative staff, this training shall occur within the first semester of their employment.
iii. This training is strongly recommended for the Board of Directors, during the first semester of a new director's appointment.
b. SSD staff will utilize the adopted equity analysis tool to audit current policies, and to vet future programs, practices, policies and procedures.
3. Human Resources shall provide this policy upon adoption and after each review to all current district and school-based leaders. The leaders shall uphold the tenets of this policy and shall educate their staff about this policy and how to uphold it.
4. District Administrators, as part of the interview and selection process, shall provide this policy to applicants and ask applicants to discuss their ability and commitment to uphold the tenets therein.
5. School-based Equity Teams will uphold this policy at the building level by bringing issues which require an audit from the equity analysis tool to the attention of the administration.
6. 3 years after adoption of this policy, the SSD Equity Advisory Team, or another appointed group, will be charged with the task of reviewing this policy.
Workforce Equity- Hiring, Retention and Professional Learning
SSD shall conduct outreach, screening, recruitment and retention of employees who demonstrate a strong understanding of equity literacy and cultural responsiveness and who commit to racial justice and educational equity.
SSD shall intentionally recruit and hire employees with diverse identities.
SSD commits to providing professional development to deepen employees' knowledge, skills and understanding of systemic inequities in order to eliminate opportunity gaps and increase cultural responsiveness.
Glossary/ Definitions
1. Culturally Responsive Education: an approach to education that calls for engaging learners whose experiences and cultures are traditionally excluded from mainstream settings by creating the conditions that allow culturally diverse students to have the confidence, competence, and interpersonal skills to master academic content, the ability to apply knowledge and new skills, and the self-motivation that will enable them to be successful. (Colorado Department of Education, Aspen Institute)
2. Disproportionality: the overrepresentation and under-representation of a particular population or demographic group relative to the overall student population (National Association for Bilingual Education, 2002).
3. Diverse Identities: All the dimensions of diversity listed below may not have correlation data due to privacy laws. The following list is not all-inclusive, and the policy calls for regular updates.
• Age
• Color
• Culture
• Family Structure
• Mental and Physical Ability
• Pregnancy
• Sex
• Veteran Status
• Citizenship Status
• Creed or Religion
• Economic Status
• Gender Identity or Expression
• Marital/ Relationship Status
• National Origin
• Race
• Sexual orientation
• Any other protected class identified in Federal, State or local laws
4. Equity: is about serving all children as the individuals that they are. Equity in education is achieved when all students receive the resources they need so they graduate prepared for success after high school. (Center For Public Education)
5. Implicit Bias: The unconscious attitudes, stereotypes and unintentional actions (positive or negative) towards members of a group merely because of their membership in that group. These associations develop over the course of a lifetime beginning at a very early age through exposure to direct and indirect messages. When people are acting out of their implicit bias, they are not even aware that their actions are biased. In fact, those biases may be in direct conflict with a person's explicit beliefs and values. (Anti-Defamation League, www.ADL.org)
6. Family/Community Liaison: A bilingual/bicultural central office level employee whose charge includes but is not limited to:
a. Engaging in two-way communication with the community regarding district practices, policies, and decisions and designing and leading education efforts for the community about such issues.
b. Coordinating with school based Family Engagement Specialists to streamline communication needs
c. Collaborating with district translator as needs arise
7. Family Engagement Specialist: A bilingual/bicultural school based employee whose charge includes but is not limited to:
a. Assisting building leaders with communication with families of diverse identities.
b. Collaborating with the district Family/Community Liaison
8. Marginalized Identities: those who experience patterns of social and political inequality due to membership in a group that is assigned negative meanings by the broader society or the dominant culture.
9. Opportunity Gap: refers to the fact that the arbitrary circumstances in which people are born-such as their race, ethnicity, ZIP code, and socioeconomic status-determine their opportunities in life, rather than all people having the chance to achieve to the best of their potential. These gaps generally persist into their K-12 education, creating achievement gaps, a decades-old issue facing every state (National Conference of State Legislatures).
10. Systemic Inequities: Differences in resources from one social identity group to another, supported and enforced by society and its institutions.
11. Systemic Racism: Is a system of advantage based on race and supported by institutions, policies and practices that create different outcomes for different racial groups. The institutional policies may never mention any racial group, but their effect is to create advantages for whites and oppression and disadvantage for people from groups classified as people of color. Racism is a social expression of power and privilege. (National Education Association & Racial Equity Tools)
12. Systemic Oppression: Systemic oppression is the systematic mistreatment of people within a social identity group, supported and enforced by the society and its institutions, solely based on the person's membership in the social identity group
Adopted: May 13, 2021