Melissa Snively: GOOD MORNING. I WOULD LIKE TO CALL THIS WORKSHOP OF TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER THE 8th, 2020, OF THE HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD TO ORDER. WE ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT OUR SCHOOL BOARD POLICIES TODAY. I BELIEVE EITHER MR. PORTER -- IS MR. PORTER GOING TO -- Jim Porter: [INAUDIBLE] Melissa Snively: OKAY. ALL RIGHT. MS. DAVIS, DO YOU WANT TO GO AHEAD AND START US OFF THEN? THANK YOU. [INAUDIBLE] [MICROPHONE NOT ON] Melissa Snively: MS. DAVIS, IS YOUR MICROPHONE ON? OKAY. JUST MAKING SURE. GET A LITTLE CLOSER? Melissa Snively: OKAY. THANK YOU. I APOLOGIZE. Melissa Snively: VERY GOOD. GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED, THEN. Jim Porter: BY THE WAY, BOARD MEMBERS, MS. DAVIS HAS DONE A WONDERFUL JOB OF ORGANIZING THIS AND KEEPING EVERYONE ON TRACK WITH THE POLICY CYCLES. SHE SHOULD BE COMMENDED FOR THAT. BOARD MEMBERS, AS YOU RECALL, THIS BOARD DECIDED YOU'LL DO POLICIES ON A REGULAR BASIS.
THE GOAL WAS TO TRY TO DO THEM FOUR TIMES A YEAR QUARTERLY SO THAT IT COULD BE A SORT OF ROLLING PROCESS. THAT OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE OF ALL OF THE EVENTS OF THE LAST FEW MONTHS HAS SORT OF BEEN SIDETRACKED. THIS IS SORT OF WHERE WE ARE AND WE'LL BEGINNING THE OTHER ONE AFTER WE FINISH THIS. AS YOU KNOW, BOARD MEMBERS CAN INITIATE POLICIES AND STAFF MEMBERS CAN INITIATE POLICIES. WE REACT TO STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS, AND WE ALSO WILL REACT TO BOARD MEMBERS' DESIRE TO HAVE CERTAIN POLICIES EITHER AMENDED OR NEW POLICIES CREATED. SO WHAT YOU SEE TODAY IS THE CULMINATION OF THAT -- BOTH STAFF-GENERATED AND BOARD-GENERATED. AS KRISTEN SAID, THERE IS NO VOTE TODAY. THIS IS A DISCUSSION, WE'LL EXPLAIN WHY THE POLICIES HAVE BEEN RECOMMENDED. WE'LL SORT OF -- I'LL TAG-TEAM WITH THE BOARD MEMBERS WHO PROPOSED THEM, AND THEN YOU'LL HAVE A DISCUSSION AND THEN DECIDE WHICH POLICIES WILL BE ADVERTISED FOR THE PUBLIC HEARING.
SO THE FIRST POLICY, IF WE CAN JUMP IN AND GET STARTED IS DEALING WITH ANTI-HARASSMENT. THIS WAS A POLICY SUGGESTED BY MS. GRAY. AND WE HAVE AN ANTI-HARASSMENT POLICY CURRENTLY. AND, BOARD MEMBERS, THIS IS SORT OF AN EXAMPLE OF WHY THE POLICIES REALLY NEED TO BE OVERHAULED. AND MR. McAULEY HAS TAKEN THAT TASK ON TO REALLY OVERHAUL THE POLICIES. WE HAVE A LOT OF REDUNDANCY THROUGHOUT THE POLICY. FOR INSTANCE, THE ANTI-HARASSMENT POLICY, THIS IS THE GENERAL ONE, BUT WE HAVE ONE FOR STUDENTS. WE HAVE ONE FOR INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF AND NONINSTRUCTIONAL STAFF. AND THEY ARE IDENTICAL EXCEPT THEY APPLY TO DIFFERENT GROUPS. SO MR. McAULEY HAS TASKED THE CABINET WITH LOOKING AT THE POLICIES AND THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF 2021, WE'LL BE BRINGING FORWARD TO YOU HOPEFULLY A STREAMLINED VERSION. IF THIS POLICY IS SOMETHING THE BOARD FINDS ACCEPTABLE, WHEN IT COMES TO PUBLIC HEARING, WE'LL BE BRINGING ALL THE PLACES IT APPLIES CURRENTLY.
MS. GRAY SUGGESTED TWO THINGS. SHE WANTED TO ADD INTO THE ANTI-HARASSMENT POLICY, THE LGBTQ ACRONYM. THAT'S ADDED ON LINE 16. SHE ALSO HAS A POLICY STATEMENT ON LINE 21, WANTED TO ADD THE BOARD HAS ZERO TOLERANCE FOR HARASSMENT. THAT'S BEEN WHAT'S RECOMMENDED. I'LL LET MS. GRAY SPEAK FURTHER, IF YOU WANT TO. Lynn Gray: THANK YOU, MR. PORTER AND THANK YOU, MS. DAVIS FOR DOING AN EXCELLENT JOB COMPILING AND FILTERING THESE MANY POLICIES. IF YOU DON'T MIND, I WANT TO SAY UP FRONT TO OUR BOARD MEMBERS THAT SOME OF THE MATERIAL MAY BE POLITICALLY VOLATILE, AND I APOLOGIZE, BUT I FIND THERE'S NEVER A PERFECT TIME TO BRING UP CERTAIN MATTERS. SO I JUST WANT TO APOLOGIZE IF THERE'S ANYONE THAT MIGHT BE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE TOPIC. I PUT GENDER IDENTITY SPECIFICALLY TO LGBTQ. I WAS BROUGHT TO BIG BROTHERS AND BIG SISTERS, A VERY LARGE CORPORATE STRUCTURE, ONE THAT WE ACTUALLY TAKE PART IN BEING WITH AS A PARTNER, AND THEY HAD SHARED WITH ME THAT THEIR POLICY ALSO HAS CHANGED IN REGARDS TO THIS SPECIFIC GROUP BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF HARASSMENT, WHICH INCLUDES BEING BULLIED, CYBERBULLYING, HAZING, 50 TO 80% IN OUR STUDENT POPULATION HAVE BEEN TARGETS OF THIS, AND IT'S CONTINUAL.
SOME OF YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED BECAUSE HOW DO YOU GET THAT TYPE OF DATA. TALKING TO COUNSELORS AND PRIMARY SOURCES. SO THE RATIONALE BEHIND WHAT I'M SAYING IS WE KNOW GROUPS HAVE A TENDENCY TO BE BULLIED, BUT THIS PARTICULAR DAY AND AGE UNDER POLITICAL ADMINISTRATION, PERHAPS, BUT THERE'S A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF FEAR, AND JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE RATIONALE IS SHARED WITH THE BOARD. I PUT ZERO TOLERANCE BECAUSE, AGAIN, I KNOW THE DISCIPLINE POLICY, THE STUDENT CONDUCT. I HAVE THAT, AND I HAVE MIAMI-DADE AND I'VE LOOKED TO MANY OTHERS. BUT I FIND IF WE ALLOW AS A BOARD TO BE LENIENT, THEN THE ACTUAL REALITY IS WEAKENED. SO I THINK AS A BOARD, WE NEED TO BE STEADFAST AND BEHIND IT. AND I UNDERSTAND ALSO THAT THIS MAY NOT BE VERY POPULAR, AND I RESPECT EVERYONE'S INSIGHT INTO THAT, BUT WE CAN'T HAVE OUR KIDS AND THIS GROUP BE BULLIED OVER AND OVER EVERY YEAR, YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR.
AND THAT'S MY RATIONALE. I BELIEVE THEY NEED EQUAL PROTECTION, AND THAT IS WHAT I THINK WOULD BE THE RIGHT THING TO DO. THANK YOU. Melissa Snively: THANK YOU, MEMBER GRAY. WE DO HAVE SOME BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS. WE'LL START WITH MR. CONA. Steve Cona: THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR. THANK YOU, MS. GRAY FOR ADDING THIS. SO WE'RE LOOKING AT -- POLICY 1362 IS GOING TO ENCOMPASS THE OTHER COUPLE OF POLICIES THAT -- ARE WE GOING TO REMOVE OR -- Jim Porter: IF THE BOARD WANTS TO GO FORWARD WITH THIS, WHEN IT COMES TO PUBLIC HEARING, ADDED OTHER ANTI-HARASSMENT POLICY TO DEAL WITH INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF AND STUDENTS. THIS WAS TO MAKE SURE THE BOARD WAS OKAY WITH THIS. IT TAKES A LOT OF WORK. WE'LL DO IT IF THE BOARD WANTS THAT, FOR ADVERTISEMENT. IT WOULD BE REDUNDANT TO BRING IT TO YOU TODAY. Steve Cona: I DON'T WANT POLICIES STACKED ON TOP OF POLICIES.
IF THIS ENCOMPASSES ALL OF THE POLICIES, THEN REMOVING THE OTHER ONES I THINK MAKES SENSE. Jim Porter: YOU'RE REFERRING TO MR. McAULEY'S EFFORT. YES, EVENTUALLY THAT'S WHERE IT WILL LAND BUT WE'RE NOT THERE YET. Steve Cona: SO THIS POLICY WAS REVISED. THE ONLY THING I'M SEEING ARE THE NINE WORDS WE'RE CHANGING. Jim Porter: CORRECT. THIS HAS BEEN A LONGTIME EXISTING POLICY. SEXUAL ORIENTATION WAS ALREADY COVERED UNDER THE POLICY. MS. GRAY WAS INCLUDING THE COMMONLY USED ACRONYM. Steve Cona: AND THEN ADDING THE BOARD HAS ZERO TOLERANCE, THE LAST SENTENCE. Jim Porter: CORRECT. Steve Cona: THAT'S ALL I HAVE. Melissa Snively: THANK YOU, MR. CONA. DR. HAHN. Stacy Hahn: THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE THIS BEING BROUGHT FORWARD. I DO WANT TO SAY, I DON'T THINK THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH AS A BOARD. I THINK THE ONE THING THAT WE CAN ALL AGREE ON IS WE WANT TO PROTECT STUDENTS FROM ANY TYPE OF HARASSMENT.
SO, YOU KNOW, I DON'T THINK -- I THINK WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT, YOU KNOW, KIDS SHOULDN'T BE BULLIED. I DON'T THINK WE'RE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THAT, MS. GRAY, IS WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY. IS THE ZERO TOLERANCE, IS THIS PIECE OF THE POLICY CONNECTED BACK TO OUR DISCIPLINE POLICY? Jim Porter: THE POLICY IS AN OVERALL STATEMENT. THE I'M SORRY. THE DISCIPLINE PROCEDURE IMPLEMENTS THE POLICY. THIS IS JUST A STATEMENT OF HOW THE BOARD FEELS ABOUT HARASSMENT. Stacy Hahn: OKAY. I WANT TO MAKE SURE THERE WAS CONTINUITY FROM ONE PIECE TO THE OTHER. OKAY. THANK YOU. Melissa Snively: THANK YOU, DR. HAHN. MEMBER STUART. Cindy Stuart: THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR. SO I'M NOT A FAN OF BRINGING POLICY FORWARD WITH JUST ONE OR TWO WORD CHANGES BECAUSE I DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW MUCH THIS ACTUALLY STRENGTHENS THE POLICY. I'M ABOUT IF YOU'RE GOING TO BRING POLICY FORWARD, BRING SOMETHING FORWARD THAT HAS SOME SORT OF MEAT TO IT THAT WILL ACTUALLY STRENGTHEN THE POLICY.
WHAT I WOULD RATHER SEE US DO AND I'M NOT AFRAID OF THE POLICY AT ALL AND HAVE BROUGHT IT FORWARD BEFORE TO THIS BOARD IS I WOULD RATHER SEE US TAKE OUR RESOURCE GUIDE, WHICH IS A DOCUMENT THAT IS THE SUPERINTENDENT'S AND MARRY IT WITH THIS DOCUMENT. IF WE'RE GOING TO MAKE CHANGES TO THIS POLICY AND WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO GO THROUGH THE PROCESS OF ADVERTISING, WHICH COSTS THIS DISTRICT MONEY AND BRINGING THIS FORWARD AND LOOKING AT IT, LET'S LOOK AT THE LGBTQ RESOURCE GUIDE FOR STAFF AND ADMINISTRATORS BUT HOW THEY SHOULD BE DEALING SPECIFICALLY WITH OUR POPULATION OF STUDENTS AND EQUAL ACCESS FOR ALL STUDENTS. I THINK IT COULD BE MARRIED WITH ALSO SOME OF OUR EQUITY POLICY, WHICH WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO ON. SO THAT WOULD BE MY REQUEST IS THAT WE TIE THIS BACK TO NOT ONLY THE OTHER POLICIES THAT CAN REVOLVE AROUND ANTI-HARASSMENT, BUT WE MAKE SURE THAT THE RESOURCE GUIDE TIES BACK TO NOT ONLY STUDENTS BUT TO OUR TEACHING, FACULTY AND STAFF.
THIS SHOULD NOT JUST BE APPLIED TO THE STUDENT BODY. WE HAVE FACULTY AND STAFF THAT DESERVE TO BE IN AN ANTI-HARASSMENT, ZERO TOLERANCE SITUATION AS WELL. OUR POLICY DOESN'T ALWAYS REFLECT THAT. SOMETIMES WE GET CAUGHT UP IN MAKING POLICY AROUND JUST STUDENTS. THAT WOULD BE MY REQUEST IS WE ACTUALLY TAKE A DEEPER DIVE ON THIS AND LET MR. McAULEY AND MS. VERRA LOOK AT THIS FURTHER AND ACTUALLY INCORPORATE SOME OF THE LANGUAGE THAT'S IN THE RESOURCE GUIDE WHICH HAS HAD A LOT OF ATTENTION THROUGH NUMEROUS GROUPS AND LET THEM ADD WHATEVER THEY SEE THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDED TO STRENGTHEN THIS POLICY. Melissa Snively: THANK YOU, MEMBER STUART. I'M GOING TO JUMP IN REAL QUICK BEFORE MS. GRAY SPEAKS ONE MORE TIME, BUT I WILL AGREE WITH MEMBER STUART THAT I THINK THAT TO MAKE SURE IT ALIGNS WITH THE RESOURCE GUIDE, I THINK WE HAVE TO DO A BIT OF A DEEPER DIVE TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE IN ALIGNMENT WITH EACH OTHER AND WE'RE MAXIMIZING AND STRENGTHENING BOTH OF THOSE.
ONE THING I HAVE ABOUT THE TERM ZERO TOLERANCE, I'M NOT SURE -- MAYBE MS. GRAY CAN SPEAK TO THIS -- I KNOW THAT'S WHAT THE BOARD BELIEVES IS THAT WE SHOULD HAVE NO TOLERANCE FOR HARASSMENT OF CHILDREN, BUT PUTTING THAT TERMINOLOGY IN THERE, DOES THAT MAKE IT A ZERO TOLERANCE OFFENSE. SO THAT'S WHAT I'M CONCERNED ABOUT. AND I THINK MS. HAHN KIND OF WAS GOING DOWN THAT ROAD A LITTLE EARLIER ABOUT THE DEFINITION OF ZERO TOLERANCE AND SHOULD WE USE SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN THE POLICY AS FAR AS TERMINOLOGY GOES? AND I DON'T KNOW IF THE SUPERINTENDENT, IF YOU WANT TO SPEAK TO THAT OR NOT. I'M JUST CONCERNED ABOUT THE CONFUSION OF THE TERM ZERO TOLERANCE. Addison Davis: YES, MA'AM, THROUGH THE CHAIR, EVERYTHING HAS TO BE ALIGNED AND COORDINATED RELATED TO NOT ONLY POLICY RESOURCE GUIDE BUT ALSO THE CODE OF STUDENT CONDUCT. I THINK IF WE CAN DO, FROM OUR TEAM'S PERSPECTIVE, WE CAN LOOK AT EVERY DOCUMENT THAT LINKS TO POTENTIAL INTERACTION WITH STUDENTS AND THIS POLICY AND MAKE SURE IT ALL ALIGNS AND BRING IT BACK IN A COORDINATED EFFORT, IF IT'S THE WILL OF THE BOARD.
Melissa Snively: THANK YOU. BECAUSE THIS IS THE WHAT, AND YOU HAVE THE HOW, AND THEY NEED TO GO TOGETHER. YOU DO THE WHAT. WE DO THE HOW. VERY GOOD. MS. GRAY. Lynn Gray: THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR, AND THANK YOU SUPERINTENDENT DAVIS.
MY REMARK, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, WITH THE STUDENT CONDUCT AND THE ZERO TOLERANCE LANGUAGE, I STUDIED THE PREVIOUS DOCUMENTS WHICH RELATES ALSO TO THE RESOURCE GUIDE AND TO THE EXISTING STUDENT CONDUCT, AND THE ZERO POLICY -- AND THIS SPEAKS TOWARDS SUPERINTENDENT DAVIS, THE NEED FOR ALIGNMENT AND ALSO MEMBER SNIVELY, THE ZERO TOLERANCE THAT WE HAVE PRESENTLY IS NOT ALIGNED WITH THE LGBT BUT RATHER THIS WAS MODIFIED TO REFLECT CONDUCT THAT POSES A SERIOUS THREAT TO SCHOOL SAFETY, WE ALL ARE REMINDED THERE WAS A HORRENDOUS SITUATION AT STONEMAN DOUGLAS AND POLICY HAD TO BE REDONE. REGARDING THE WORDING, THERE'S NOT A RULE, POLICY, THAT WE DON'T CHANGE POLICIES JUST BECAUSE A FEW WORDS ARE CHANGED. BUT RATHER, WE CHANGE POLICIES BECAUSE THE TIME OF OUR NATION HAS CHANGED WITHIN THE LAST 8 TO 10 YEARS. AND IF WE'RE NOT BEING PART OF THE CHANGE, THEN WE ARE GOING TO STICK WITH WHAT WE HAVE, WHICH IS A COMFORTABLE PLACE, BUT I THINK IT'S TIME FOR US TO BE MORE RELEVANT TO THE STUDENT POPULATION AND TO THE VOICES OF OUR CONSTITUENTS AND THOSE CHILDREN, WHICH EVERY ONE OF YOU RESPECTFULLY CARES SO MUCH ABOUT THAT THE BULLYING IS NOT PART OF THIS.
THE REASON IT WAS BROUGHT FORWARD IS BECAUSE I SAID THE CORPORATION NOT ONLY BIG BROTHER, BIG SISTER, BUT THOSE POLICIES ARE BEING CHANGED TO REFLECT WHAT I PUT IN. IN FACT, WITH BIG BROTHERS AND BIG SISTERS, WE DID IT KIND OF TOGETHER IN LINE. AND BACKING UP, WITH ALL RESPECT TO MS. MONICA VERRA-TIRADO. SHALL I SAY IT TEN TIMES? I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE RIGHT NOW BEFORE YOU, YOU'RE DOING AN AUDIT. I'M VERY MUCH INVOLVED IN WHAT YOU'RE DOING, BUT I THINK WHEN WE SET POLICY, THE CAPTAINS OF THE SHIP RESPECTING, OF COURSE, OUR SUPERINTENDENT, MUST BE THE BOARD. WE SET THE TONE. AND WHEN WE PUT WORDS LIKE ZERO TOLERANCE, THAT MEANS AS A BOARD, NOT ONLY PHILOSOPHICALLY, THAT MEANS WE ARE VERY AWARE THAT THIS GROUP NEEDS MORE PROTECTION. NOW, I'M NOT GOING TO SAY ANYTHING LONGER ABOUT THIS BECAUSE MY JOB ONLY IS TO RESPOND TO WHAT I'VE LEARNED AND WHAT I KNOW TO BE TRUE AS EVERY ONE OF YOU WILL DO THE SAME.
THAT'S ALL I'M GOING TO SAY ON THIS. Melissa Snively: OKAY. THANK YOU, MEMBER GRAY. Lynn Gray: THANK YOU. Melissa Snively: MEMBER SHAMBURGER. Tamara Shamburger: THANK YOU. I JUST WANT TO KIND OF REITERATE SOME OF THE COMMENTS THAT ARE ALREADY MADE. I DO AGREE WITH THE INTENT OF THESE CHANGES, OF COURSE. I AM JUST CONCERNED ABOUT THE REDUNDANCY OF THE CHANGES. OF COURSE, THE LGBTQ STATUS, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S AN ISSUE THAT IT DOESN'T SAY LGBTQA, IF THAT'S AN ISSUE, GOING TO BE AN ISSUE, PARTICULARLY WITH THAT COMMUNITY, IF THAT'S EVEN APPROPRIATE OR LGBTQ+, RIGHT? AND SO I GUESS IF WE DO AGREE THEN, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT IS ALL THE WAY ACCURATE. IN TERMS OF THE ZERO TOLERANCE, OF COURSE, THAT IS OUR PHILOSOPHY AS A BOARD. BUT BACK TO REDUNDANCY, IF YOU LOOK AT LINE 14, IT DOES SAY THE BOARD WILL VIGOROUSLY ENFORCE ITS PROHIBITION AGAINST HARASSMENT BASED ON DA-DA-DA.
SO IT IS KIND OF ALREADY LAID OUT. I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT BEING REDUNDANT FOR THE SAKE OF HAVING CONVERSATION. THIS IS A MAGNIFICENT CONVERSATION. THANK YOU, MEMBER GRAY, FOR BRINGING THIS FORWARD. BUT LET'S MAKE SURE THE POLICY IS APPROPRIATE AND NOT DUPLICATIVE FOR THE SAKE OF BEING DUPLICATIVE. I DO AGREE WITH MEMBER STUART THAT ALIGNING THIS WITH THE LGBTQ RESOURCE GUIDE IS PROBABLY THE MOST APPROPRIATE WAY TO REALLY HAVE THIS FULL DISCUSSION. THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR. Melissa Snively: THANK YOU, MS. SHAMBURGER. MEMBER CONA. Steve Cona: SORRY. AS I'M GOING THROUGH THE POLICY, THE ONE THING THAT WHEN YOU HAVE DEFINITIONS, WHICH WE HAVEN'T CHANGED, AND THE DEFINITIONS THAT WE HAVE LISTED ARE SEXUAL HARASSMENT, RACE, COLOR, RELIGIOUS, NATIONAL, AND DISABILITY. IF WE'RE GOING TO ADD DEFINITIONS, WE'VE GOT TO -- LET'S DO THE POLICY NOT JUST ADD A LABEL, BUT LET'S FIGURE OUT WHAT OTHER DEFINITIONS ARE WE MISSING FROM THE ENTIRE POLICY AS A WHOLE.
SO THAT'S JUST ONE OTHER THING. Melissa Snively: ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. MEMBER STUART. Cindy Stuart: THANK YOU. SO MR. PORTER, I WOULD ASK THAT WE HOLD BACK THIS POLICY UNTIL STAFF HAS HAD TIME TO ALIGN IT WITH THEIR RESOURCE GUIDE. I DON'T KNOW IF THERE WILL BE CHANGES TO THE RESOURCE GUIDE OR NOT, IF THEY HAD A CHANCE TO BRING THAT GROUP BACK TOGETHER AND LOOK AT THAT. I KNOW THAT'S ONLY BEEN IN THE FIELD FOR A YEAR AND A HALF. SO HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH PRINCIPALS AND STAFF ON SITES, WHETHER OR NOT THERE NEEDS TO BE ADDITIONAL CHANGES OR WHETHER OR NOT THE STUDENT GROUP NEEDS TO BE BROUGHT BACK TOGETHER, BUT I WOULD ASK THAT WE HOLD BACK ON THIS UNTIL WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ALIGN IT. THERE'S NO POINT IN US ADVERTISING THIS TWICE AND MAKING CHANGES TWICE. Melissa Snively: ALL RIGHT.
THANK YOU, MEMBER STUART. SO I THINK OVERALL, THE BOARD HAS COME TO THE CONSENSUS THAT THE INTENT IS GOOD FOR THIS PARTICULAR POLICY CHANGE BUT A LITTLE MORE DEEP DIVE NEEDS TO BE DONE ON MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE ALIGNING IT WITH THE RESOURCE AND MAYBE BRING IT BACK IN THE NEXT POLICY CYCLE. IS THAT THE CONSENSUS I'M HEARING FROM THE BOARD TODAY? OKAY. SO WE'LL GO AHEAD. THANK YOU, MS. GRAY. WE'LL GO AHEAD AND PASS THAT ALONG TO MR. DAVIS TO WORK WITH HIS STAFF. THE NEXT POLICY IS THE 2260.03, THE RACIAL EQUITY POLICY. MS. DAVIS, DID YOU WANT TO SPEAK TO THAT BEFORE WE -- OR MR. PORTER. Jim Porter: ANOTHER POLICY INITIATED BY MS. GRAY. AND WE WORKED WITH MONICA TIRADO ON THIS. THE BOARD IS POISED TO DO A SORT OF EQUITY AUDIT, I BELIEVE. SO THE LANGUAGE THAT WAS DRAFTED AGREED TO BY STAFF AND MS.
GRAY IS FOUND ON LINE 78 AND 79. THE LANGUAGE THAT IS SUGGESTED -- I'LL READ IT. INCREASED REPRESENTATION OF EDUCATORS AND LEADERS AT ALL LEVELS CONSISTENT WITH OUR SCHOOLS, DISTRICT, DEMOGRAPHICS. IF MS. GRAY WANTS TO TALK FURTHER ABOUT WHY SHE WANTED TO BRING THIS FORWARD IT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE TO HEAR FROM HER NOW. Melissa Snively: THANK YOU, MR. PORTER. I THINK WE ALL KNOW WHY YOU BROUGHT THIS FORWARD BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT FOR MANY MONTHS AND POSSIBLY YEARS AT THIS POINT. I THINK THAT IT'S PRETTY EVIDENT WHY, BUT IF YOU WANTED TO SPEAK FURTHER TOWARDS IT. Lynn Gray: THANKS. YOU KNOW I ALWAYS WANT TO SPEAK. SO, YES, I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH THE BLACK MEN LEADERSHIP, AS MONICA HAS ALSO. AND WE ALSO ARE VERY COGNIZANT THAT WE HAVE A 17 TO 18 PERCENT BLACK POPULATION, AND WE ALSO HAVE HISPANIC-WISE, 38%. ALL IN ALL, WE ARE ALSO REMINDED THAT OUR LEADERSHIP SHOULD MATCH THE DEMOGRAPHICS AS ANALOGOUS IS THE CURRICULUM SHOULD MATCH THE DEMOGRAPHICS, WHICH WE ARE BOTH WORKING ON, AND I THINK THE BOARD MEMBERS ARE ALSO DOING THE SAME.
SO IN THE SPIRIT OF ALIGNMENT, I BELIEVE THAT IT IS TIME, EVEN THOUGH IT DOES NOT HAVE -- IT HAS JUST A FEW WORDS, AGAIN, IT IS TIME THAT WE LOOK AT THIS POLICY CHANGE AS A WAY OF OWNING UP TO THE ACTUAL FOLKS, THE PEOPLE THAT WE SERVE IN OUR DISTRICT AND HAVE LEADERSHIP REFLECT NOT ONLY THE AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATION AND THE POPULATION OF COLOR, ALSO THE HISPANIC. THIS HAS COME FROM MONTHS OF WORK WITH FORUMS THAT I'VE BEEN MEETING WITH AND THE BLACK MEN LEADERSHIP. ONE OF THEM I THINK SUPERINTENDENT DAVIS, IF YOU REMEMBER, IS A RUNNER WHO CAN OUTRUN YOU, BY THE WAY. HE'S PRINCIPAL AT JUST, KEVIN McDONALD, HE HEADS THIS LEADERSHIP. AND I WANT TO THANK ALSO MS. MONICA FOR DIVING DEEP INTO A VERY, VERY TENUOUS SUBJECT AND ALSO FOR DOING THE AUDIT ON TOP OF IT, WHICH WILL ALSO CONFIRM WHAT I'M STATING NOW.