001good evening and Welcome to our March 3rd 2025 Equity committee meeting it is 5:58 p.m. we are starting a little late for those of you tuning in we had a very full instructional policy committee meeting just before this with lots of great instructional updates um throughout our district and happenings um I am Renee molar I am here with Committee Member um Sykes um and for a quick update uh the chair of our committee is also here member Hall um we have for a quick update we have three board members who are involved in equity work and therefore there's no problems there are no concerns um nobody did anything wrong we just are America is or not America akan is the biggest small town and we are all very involved so because of that we do
002um have some board members that are not participating in um these conversations um but we do have um members present and we have uh member atrey here uh member Harrison is President is presentent and president Jackson is here um and from the administration we have our superint attendant Chief of Staff uh Mrs Alexander and um Miss Dr Chapman um so uh the first thing on our agenda today is the approval of the previous meeting minutes move approve move previous minutes approval please thank you um and I have one comment on the previous meeting minutes that I also think should not affect their approval there are a couple of numbers that um might have been transposed we had like 22605 um but the content um is still there it's just um a couple of numbers so
003just something to look out for um but we kept it the way it was on the last meeting agenda for transparency um so I wanted to leave that there and if you look at the agenda for today this mirrors our agenda from our February 26th meeting our special February 26 meeting and the thought process was we would pick up where we left off from um so before we picked up where we left off I do have a question from Administration it's been only a few days but it's been about half a week um have there been any updates received by the district on this work from um the government or any other um sources no there hasn't been okay thank you um so with that in mind where we left off was we had policy
00422604 our Equity policy from my recollection we had that on the screen we were working through line by line and the thought process was that there were some items from our racial Equity policy that could enhance this Equity policy so um taking another step back and hearing the community concerns that were brought up in our last meeting we had no one signed up to speak today um is that there are a lot of people who want to make sure that we are able to continue the good work that our district has started that we want to continue to support our students and we want to continue to um keep all the good stuff so we have our 22604 on the screen before we um and this is as we left it if you could please
005kind of provide a reminder of where this uh left off this this was was the uh formerly called Equity policy that was revised on 226 25 with new language and also some rephrasing of current language that existed in the equity policy so for those of you that um are following us from before this is exactly as we left it from our last meeting we have not made any changes to what you see on the screen no we have not thank you so am I correct is it the will of the committee to now look at some of the items from 22607 to complement a comprehensive policy is that still the dire that that's where I remember we left off okay um and are you able to pull up the notes yes thank you um so
006if you could please remind us where the strikethroughs and color changes um from this racial Equity policy came from the strikethroughs came by way of our internal policy Review Committee what you see in red would be new terminology or language and the strikethroughs would be what previously existed and suggested for uh striketh through or removal as language thank you and I can already see from what you have um on the screen here that there are a lot of items that are not that do not have a strike through that look like it's something we could still utilize um if you scroll down a little bit for instance in red here where you say or where it says the akan public school's vision for all APS Scholars to graduate as architects of their future prepared to
007thrive in an everchanging World furthermore the akan Board of Education believes in the foundational values of communication a culture of safety and belonging accountability relationships trust and Readiness um I think that would fit um very well in the equity policy where we have the sentence the akan public schools mission is to prepare each child for Success this kind of really explains how we are preparing each child for Success oh yes Madam chair sounds fine to me yes all right so if we could and as a reminder this is a working draft as we are um putting this together so um we can have the um and here was there anything before this that the committee would like to um discuss from the uh racial Equity policy Madam chair so is it you're are you saying
008that uh in the first paragraph where barriers have produced lower learning outcome based on race CL debt would be eliminated was that the I believe this came from the administration debt would be eliminated or would that stay that first paragraph that's that's what y did in in the meeting that's what she asking yeah that's what we did in the meeting um but yeah that's fine to sorry the that part was would that would have to be eliminated with it yeah yes because of the barrier so just those items that's in red we would keep right um cuz there cuz cuz some of those are not there's no strikeouts but it's red on this paper yes so just what's in red yeah so in red is what we took it was an alternative word red is
009the alternative word and then some of the or additions like that one blur that you just read was really right from our vision statement MH but it doesn't have a strike be through it right so we're saying that we can use it but we do need to watch for yeah some of the words in rig because we didn't have a list of those vocabulary words that we are not supposed to use now we know what those words are okay so again first paragraph barrier have produced lower Al learning outcome based on race class that will be those should all be struck because on my on my sheet there there's no strike out but those should be strike right that's what I'm thinking okay your no mine also is not struck that's I was hoping we
010thank you to have this conversation have to go through it all cuz the first time we went through it we didn't go through it with the same lens that we have now like as we learn more seeing more so yeah I agree I appreciate you mentioning the lens also because I kind of want to take the opportunity to describe really the lens of this committee we this is not the legal committee it is my hope that whatever we are able to do after this would go through a legal committee I am not an attorney um although I play one on TV no um but from the lens of this committee I think we should not only have the conversation of what we feel like we have to eliminate but what we might want to try
011to keep and what I mean by that is even if first of all I will say I like this sentence I like it not through just a clarification Madam which sentence speaking here the barriers have produced lower learning outcomes based on race class socionomics gender ethnicity sex sexual orientation G gender identity or expression cognitive physical ability diverse language fluency and religion through no fault of the students I understand right now that might be a politically uh difficult sentence but in my opinion personally it does not make make the sentence less true it does not mean that there is not research scholarly research that um supports that sentence and so I I wonder and this might be a later conversation but if the items that we don't move into the new policy we could possibly consider
012um putting on hold for a while instead of redacting entirely so I just kind of want to leave that idea yes please um thank you um Madam chair I was also wondering at what point in our new policy will we also cite our adherence to the law uh I think that there is guidelines and that there are uh legal um guidance uh maybe there is an opportunity to actually insert it into the new policy just a Wonder yes I thank you madam chair thank you Dr Chapman I I I I think that's the only part that I will add to is that with um how this is presenting of us unpacking this and editing this here I'm I'm I'm I'm questioning too how this is in the fact that it anything becomes law but the
013requirement of the letter which we're trying to do am me the need the dear colleague letter and the uh ex um executive orders for the president but more specifically since we started this work focusing on a dear colleague letter that the adherence to what we're trying to do to that letter is this align with that versus to just to develop a policy and take some words and not edit a policy and how are we going to structure this then to meet that requirement if that's the desire of what needs to be submitted to the board does that make sense like we're it I thought it was clear gave some clarity that it's not just supposed to be edit to the policy but the entire policy is supposed to be done away with and then recreate
014a new policy which could still be done but this is like editing and it appears that this is what we what should not be happening if you have any anyone want to add from the equity committee want to add Insight on on that as I was looking through dear colleague it just seems like editing is not what's supposed to be done like the complete dismantle I think creation of a new policy should be done I don't know if Dr Chapman uh thank you madam chair no I don't have a comment on that but I want to clarify when I say adherence to the law I'm talking about the current law that exists not the dear colleague letter so I just wanted to clarify I'm talking about protected classes uh the way our civil rights and
015title 6 legislation reads is there an opportunity to insert the actual law just a wonder I appreciate that also because that is the law whereas the dear colleague letter was an Ask um and to my knowledge there is nothing that has occurred from that ask yet so one of the questions that I know community members have posed to us is are we voluntarily taking away things that maybe we don't need to take away and so at what point do we examine where we hold that line and how how far we go with this and that's why I think the legal committee is so important with that also so this committee can come up with what we think think our district needs to support its students to continue to support the students and then we can
016run it through the Le the process would be to go through the legal Community Committee to make sure that we are following the law but I do really appreciate um the suggestion of inserting the actual law uh the longstanding law um Dr Chapman do you have an idea or a preference or recommendation of whether that would be towards beginning middle or end I do not so we can um I put that in my notes and we can see as we go through here where that might uh fit the best I am leaning towards as I see how the racial Equity policy is structured that there is a purpose section and I'm wondering if the purpose section would be the most most relevant and appropriate place to cite law federal law so just Madam chair just
017to move things along so is it your desire to leave this language in and let the legal committee take a look at it I think at this point it is my desire to um follow administration's recommendation to um leave this in the racial Equity policy but move other items into the one that we are [Music] building so as we now have two policies and we're moving towards uh merging things into one policy that we would leave this here but then move the item in red to the equity [Music] policy okay all right so um moving on um continuing on this section um I see that the suggest suggestion is to rename a policy to the comprehensive education policy um and so in the again Madam chair where are you where are you I thought we
018were going through 22607 yes 22607 sorry at the very top it says racial Equity policy suggested to rename policy to comprehensive education policy so is that the suggested name of the new combined policy that was just one suggestion I believe at the last meeting we had several other ideas for the name of the committee and also discussed that the committee uh name would also contribute to the naming of the policy and so forth so I wonder if it's worth uh revisiting the uh disc discussion last week around what names we posed for the committee itself to also contribute to the naming of the policy that suggestion came from me I think the second one came from the president it was institutional Effectiveness yeah so that would be two suggestions institutional Effectiveness access oversight institutional Effectiveness
019access two separate I don't know who said was another number one was one as I wrote them down was institutional Effectiveness and then someone said access oversight okay and I know it is confusing as we are hopping back and forth between the two policies as we merge them but would it be easier Dr Chapman if we put all of the changes into the one that we started last time thanks so just to recap so now we have three recommendations comprehensive education policy institutional Effectiveness and access oversight that's what I heard [Music] okay yes so we can leave those at the top and and revisit that but at least we have one working document here that we are um adding everything to so we just inserted the red paragraph here and then now it says um
020right above a it says Foster the universal values as Express and adopted in board resolution I don't know if this is necessary but I had in my notes uh to ensure comprehensive educational opportunities for all students because it would have mirrored then the title of this um I don't know if anyone feels any way about adding um to ensure comprehensive educational opportunities for all students after board resolution [Music] it might not be necessary just after The Hyphen yeah just after The Hyphen Insurance comprehensive education yeah so it would be before a after resolution so this is in okay so sorry just right after the hyphen sorry comprehensive [Music] yeah yes educational opportunities for all students and I'll show you where I got that from if you go back to I know we're hopping back and
021forth here but if you go back to the racial Equity policy that is from the first sentence underneath the red paragraph that we just took from so on this we had the this red paragraph that we took and then the first sentence after that was to ensure high quality educational opportunities for all students so I was trying to use from this paragraph into our working document I'm trying to keep all the good stuff and find places for it to fit okay so Madam chair what you're saying we're going to eliminate these disparities unacceptable and just start with the centes ensuring high quality education experiences for all students I'm just because that was the beginning of that sentence as I see is that where we are so so I was only looking at the red words
022you're right so we could either leave these in the racial Equity policy or move them into the soon to be named new policy [Music] policy but I open to discussion I I don't see any um language from the federal government saying that we cannot discuss disparities or gaps so I don't see a reason why we could not move that to the new policy I mean I don't have any opinion one way or the other I'm just trying to keep up with where you are moving from and to what I'm trying to figure out I think the you just took from there yeah it was there because we were addressing barriers previously so maybe it would need to be rewarded if you want to put it into this one as relates to what are we going
023to do to identify gaps and disparities so what are we going to do to address gaps and disparities do you know what I'm saying because in the other one it was talking about it was addressing the barriers way we're not putting that in there so we want to you're going to need to rephrase it you want to take that part and I um am also thinking that a uh covers what we will do uh to address gaps so I I could see it either way so I think I think we could just say our board and administration or our board is dedicated to ensuring high quality educational experiences for all students by addressing disparities and educational gas Madam chair does this work Madam chair board members because I think uh the less wordy the better
024uh for clarity um just wondering if this works every now and then I think I think a few moments of processing are needed so I don't want to rush the conversation um and and make this Hasty so I do want to give us a minute to read and digest and keep us all on the same page so right now I'm stalling well I would just ask Madam chair if uh when you say does this work if you could just say what you mean so that the people that's listening will understand what you what you mean does this work so you mean our board is dedicated thankk CH yeah our board is dedicated to ensuring high quality educational experiences for all [Music] students yeah works for me all right I think that sentence is way too
025long and um I guess I would caution us that we don't write a policy that is so lengthy in rhetoric but we just say what we want to really say and I think that our board is committed to uh and dedicated to ensuring high quality educational experiences for all students I think it zaps it and covers everything because in that is policy is programming is operations all of that and I think in one sentence it kind you kind of are saying what is the heart of what you're trying to convey if we I mean I you know our board is committed and dedicated to ensuring high quality and education and experiences for all students I think it s of sums it up in one sentence as opposed to it being very wordy um simple is
026Simplicity is probably easier for people to follow MH I I agree that Simplicity is important but also when we do have extra words in there they need to be meaningful and I do think there are some meaningful words in what is currently struck out um which is that we have a school system fully integrating PR these principles into all of our policies programs operations practices hiring practice and faculty assignments I think um I think that spelling out out um and almost like a checklist to make sure we we are doing this everywhere can be meaningful so I wonder if there's a way we can turn two sentences into one compromise Madam chair or if we could take one of the sentences in the two that are in a currently and create to be well I
027[Music] mean I guess I'm going back to the Simplicity part of it because you could say experiences for all students by um um whatever word you want to use but around our policies programs if you just want to detach that and add it to the end of that one um sentence so it it would our board is committed and dedicated to ensuring high quality education experiences for all students by in um something around policy programs by by integrating policies programs operations practices hiring practices and facult faculty assignments something but I think you can combine it all in one sentence this looks good to me as we're as we're merging it together um are there any other comments on Section A no all right um so if we could please Dr Chapman go back to the
028racial Equity policy is there anything else above purpose we'll we'll we'll keep it in that section above purpose that we would like to um insert into our new working policy so that first line I don't we want it I don't know if we want the first line under purpose but a Rewritten piece could say all APS students deserve a respectful learning environment in which their contributions are valued and their academic potential is fully supported were purpose this is that's under purpose under purpose okay sorry one more above purpose yeah one more thing above purpose um that I'm noticing that I started editing in here so I might have um I might have messed up my own paper is is the summary of that my page two here but I like here it is in we
029have not discussed this sentence in red at the very bottom we remain Resolute to eradicate unfair and unethical treatment for all members of our district Community as outlined by the laws that govern our practices processes and procedures yeah I think that's good [Music] yeah and I think that would lead then nicely into purpose if we um take um your recommendations and also the laws into the purpose section and where would that go in the other newly created policy yes so this would be I think the last sentence before purpose if that would make [Music] sense oh we don't have purpose yet we would need to insert a place for purpose I'm wondering if it should go at the front end I mean then we can of course it's going to be reworked because this is
030just a rough draft but I think if we're talking about a purpose or the why of the policy maybe put it at the front and then we can play with it later like what's what's the first sentence of this new policy yes it says the board here it is the Board of Education ACR Public Schools is committed so it's kind of like the first paragraph of the racial Equity policy so the racial Equity policy before had about three paragraphs before purpose and so this I guess would be the background again before purpose so maybe purpose would start at h there [Laughter] yeah all right you want me to read it or you want me to drop it in there I could do either you ready it's in there we remain Resolute to eradicate unfair and
031unequal treatment for all members of our district Community as outlined by the laws that govern our practices processes and procedures o says APS students deserve under purpose yes Mrs Carter that's where you were thinking to add all right to keep that sentence yeah I was going to keep the sentence I just took out uh I just rewarded it a little bit but all APS students deserve a respectful learning environment in which their contributions are valued and their academic potential is fully supported and where are we going to p oh that was the first sentence under purpose so all students so all APS students deserve a respectful learning environment in which their contributions are valued and their academic potential is fully supported I like [Music] [Applause] it MH I like it and can we put a
032note in here um Dr Chapman also to add the relevant laws that we are [Music] following yeah it's in there all right now in this paragraph and purpose thank you for we're getting the back and forth um in this paragraph This policy addresses um um what do we feel about this paragraph I like it I think it's a good paragraph I think the administration's gone through and eliminated those words that uh we were trying to stay away from but but also dealing with the law and that it does talk about right I think raor religion SE yeah I think it would be a great place to put it like after that first sentence m as described in blah blah blah blah blah once we know what that particular legislation is is that's where we can
033add it after that that part so like this policy is intended to address the factors contributing to and if we didn't want to spell it out we could say any all dispar any disparity or historically influence disparities um in student achievement and then maybe put a hold space there for an actual uh law to reference mam chair I took out all the stried words first and then if you could review it there for any changes I think it looks good are there any other comments before we move on no all right we are now at the um on page two of the racial Equity policy that is on file now uh The Heading of eliminate systemic disparities um are we concerned with the use of systemic I know that is on the list um so
034I don't know if identify and eliminate disparities would be a decent um alternative heading um um or just eliminate disparities I think in the section before it we talked about addressing factors that contributed to disparities so I'm wondering do we need to say it again [Music] so are you proposing in the title or within the letters a through D somewhere um under purpose we had already talked about um addressing factors contributing to disparities we didn't say the word disparities but we listed all the categories out so I'm wondering do we need to say it again under eliminate systemic disparities because we already said we're going to address those but I'm wondering do we need to say it again is my question yeah so maybe an a where we had identify and eliminate systemic disparities um
035through performance audits to evaluate program Effectiveness and optimized resource allocation saying just take it out maybe and then start with b is what I'm wondering so leave are you saying leave a or add to a take a out take a out and start B would be now b a b would be a okay um I would like to make a recommendation I think one of the stronger points of the policy is the performance audit component and I would suggest maybe uh reording that to say conduct performance audits to evaluate program Effectiveness and optimize resource allocation and that those A and B would go where we have a b c d e FG I don't know if we help we want that many listed but I think speaking comprehensively it's okay to do that I I
036agree that what is said presently in a is different than what is said in red in a but what is said in red in a is very different than what we have in a throughh in the other section so and I do I also think that this is important because I think a through H from my view a through H in the other section is our theoretical framework and what is here in a through D is kind of our uh operational to-do list and I appreciate what you said though about the section above talking about our achievement Gap and I think what Dr Chapman is also saying about the optimizing resources and the performance op uh audits we are using dis aggregated data to recognize and resolve barriers um and so I think for identifying
037and eliminating disparities it really is very very similar to the same thing but just in different words that we are conducting audits um with um I don't know if we you know based on factors or just generally the term disaggregated data right that's what we report on our uh report card and so it can be lots of different um subgroups that we could use um and we are recognizing and resolving identifying and eliminating uh barriers to opportunity so Madam chair would you want to just eliminate uh this title and add a new title [Music] operational which is one of the recommend ations of the of the uh Administration to change the committee to oh like operational procedures yeah operational proced or implementation um potentially I do see that there are one two three four five
038six there are six sections wait seven eight eight sections so I think that each section has a different title y so I think that this one I I do like implementation um but I think that very specifically what it's what is happening in this list is identifying eliminating disparities it is very different than what is happening in the other lists if we end up keeping most of the other lists I don't know we're GNA combine them all yes thank you it could be that when folks here identify and eliminate disparities they're also thinking about race and so uh I would just caution that that is one of those mhm hot topic statements [Music] yeah so alternative titles would be implementation and operationalizing operationalizing yeah another I I would just eliminate identify and eliminate disparities and
039focus on the implementation uh and operational actions or something to that effect I would collapse all of these sections and look at each section to see what is the most Salient point that we really are trying to focus on and drive around the work and um break them down I mean and and list them that way as opposed to because there's all of it has to do with operations and the functionality of the of the district in terms of all the things that we're going to want to do so I think that if we really look in each of these and and look at what what what's the what do we really want to communicate from from this policy to people um and I guess looking at a more holistic perspective of it as opposed
040to each cuz you're still missing even though you have teaching and learning here leadership I mean you're still missing other components of the district that aren't necessarily fitted in that fit in here but if we really look at these sections um and really glean from it what is it that we really want to communicate as opposed to isolating it yeah Madam chair in this part I see action what actions are we going to take and and the words are here what what are we going to do we want to conduct we want to audit we want to make it mandatory those are the action steps that we're taking which goes back to how are we going to make sure that all are treated fairly it's through implementation or operational the actions that we're going to
041take so that's that's what I see this section is all about I I hear that it would be convenient to just you know strike through a lot of these things and and you know combine them holistically however I I keep going back to um a a phrase that is a constant reminder to me when it involves equity and that's Equity requires specificity and we cannot assume the reason Equity work exists is because we cannot assume that if it is not stated that it will be done I agree with that totally but the question is should it be in this section I'm not saying eliminated it's just that should it be in this section of the operational and implementation of equity so so where where else can we we place that absolutely I agree with you
042it should be said so looking I guess looking generally at this section because I know we're still kind of on the first one what it looks like that this section holds in it is um an audit training um mandatory yeah an audit mandatory training uh revised policies and um identify and eliminate practices so are all of these are you saying all of these field operational they feel like action steps to me yeah they action steps things that we we can see we can feel let me see where it was Madam chair and I think uh two member syk's Point even as I scroll through the other sections we're talking about actions even though they're labeled with uh specific sections and a number of things things are crossed out due to language but those that remain
043are still action oriented so then is so the next one two three four five six the next six sections or so are all actions do we do all the actions here or are we suggesting to move the actions elsewhere the sections of action that was my question where did you want to put these if you want to stay here but definitely have them as well as you want that defin you want to make the statement about Equity um [Music] yes so is one of the options to have a section in the other newly created revised policy and implementation and operational action section in the newly created policy where all of our actions would be stated listed and stated I I do think that these six sections should make their way into the new policy um
044as far as the titles of these I'm it looks like it's actions within certain other areas so we have actions within uh operations actions within uh family and community engagement actions within uh student discipline so I'm uh actions within teaching and learning so I wonder if we could maybe mirror these sections to other departments would that make sense right so I was going to ask so I was going to ask that if we do go back and look through all these different components if we engage those people that are a part of that section as we're looking at creating a new policy so that um they're a part of engaging in it and then we can bring it back again to go through the action pieces which would address the different departments yeah and some
045of that conversation has already occurred but I all of what we do is part of the way the district operates so that's why I think the implementation and operations is fine for me because it's all District Operations that's just my perspective it is I I agree and I think that's what the superintendent start off saying I think the problem we have is we got to get rid of eliminate systematic disparity those are the words we need to get rid of but I think operation implementation is just showing the action without saying the words without defining why would we're taking the actions without using eliminate systematic disparities yes and I think this speaks to our blueprint for excellence and how Equity was the foundation across the entire District um and we're seeing pieces in every Department
046it's cross departmental um work and so um I I think that the conversation should continue um from this committee one since we're here um and then two yes definitely Engage The individuals from each of those departments so they can also review what this is but I think that's why it involved all of the Departments to begin with correct I would suspect so yeah and I will take a point of privilege to acknowledge that the author of this policy did just come in so hi um so this is now sorry have we moved this to the new one yet are we renaming it within the current I was waiting on your direction to move it all over well I I Madam chair I would again agree that last is more and if we can move it
047all on the one instead of having it two or three different places is that we as long as we are Capt we capture the intent that uh we should be fine instead of repeating the same thing different places and saying it a different way with words that would probably not be acceptable right yes so we have a for the data audits is this new for data audits I guess just to summarize a uh of the words but we I don't know if we had that action specifically somewhere else so a for data Audits and then B um conduct expanded and mandatory training we have not had that yet and then C sorry I'm I'm trying to read and uh read behind me I need eyes on the back of my head um so a audits
048B training C develop or revise policies and then D eliminate practices so of those do we have any of those somewhere else already um as as member SES mentioned that we do not need to repeat here in the in the new one no no okay no we do not okay so then of a through D should we go through and eliminate the strikethroughs to see where we landed with the recommendations from Administration oh just sorry just in a through D sorry just a through [Music] D so I yes I think when you look at the first two it encompasses so much um performance audits to evaluate program Effectiveness and optimize resource allocation and then conduct um expanded and mandatory well fac it's basic um at all levels on a regular basis to facilitate capacity building
049into enhance staff engagement and performance so I think I think when you look at that and when you go and look at um teaching and learning and the accountability because that brings in that accountability piece as well um under leadership so you saying we might have sections that we can eliminate from teaching and learning and from leadership no no no no I'm just still going back to the actions that trying to condense but not lose the point the salian points that we want to emphasize is when you're talking about performance Audits and EV program evaluations that encompasses a whole lot under teaching and learning um even student services and supports I mean because there are programs that lie under each of those in those areas and um and we in order for us to determine
050if something is really working I mean these are things that we're still still evolving with now but we've been discussing already so those could be points that we want to make sure that we hold on to um building capacity collaboration with staff for engagement and performance um I think that really kind of Embraces a lot of what we're saying in these three sections alone are so are you are you saying for a b and c what's presently there um under implementation and operational actions for ab and C are you saying you want those moved from somewhere else or when we get to those somewhere else we'll well those will be action steps uh Madam chair Mr superintendent are you saying eliminate teaching and learning section and just combined it with that's why I was saying
051that's what I was saying if we if we didn't section it off but we encapsulated make one and just make the the action steps there um but that was just the suggestion I was making that we wouldn't have to section it it all off because you're still leaving out of so many other components of the district but these are more holistic higher level things that accomp no matter what area of the district you're in you you could be in um maintenance and um custodial maintenance side of the house and you're still assessing and evaluating and determining whether or not something that we're using is effective or not um even if it if if we're talking about um um we don't use it here but I know we use something similar to it like School dude
052that you could actually put in all of the expenditures of things that we're purchasing and then determining whether or not it's it's a cost effective or not I mean it's still an evaluation uh just I was just looking at things that we could look at that would stretch across the district yeah I I think that's what this section was though I think that section was things that stretch across the district because when I look at what's in teaching and learning those are all very very specific [Music] um and not overarching you know uh en ensure a positive and academically rigorous environment that those kind of things I I think what's in that section is very different than what's in this section um Dr Chapman yes um I I think what I hear superintendent Robinson saying
053is that we could lift the actions that are included under each of the following sections and eliminate those that we know we have to eliminate and just expand our implementation and operational actions section to include all of the actions across all of the areas yes yes that that that I thought that was the plan but should we keep them in sections based on where they are for instance yes teaching and learning had five items but it was organized under teaching and learning so we can move all five actions over but I don't know why we would take away the organization I guess yeah Madam chair I would agree I think if we're talking about education system that we do want a section of teaching and learning I I think that that that's probably what the
054the authors were thinking and and that yeah teaching and learning probably uh requires a section of itself but still under operation and implementation yeah is that what you were saying superintendent all right so back to um a through C in um the first section are we are we are we happy now with a through C it does does look like we uh eliminated one that the board will develop or revise policies and protocols that's one that's being eliminated [Music] I think it was being eliminated because of the specificity around racial and cultural relevance but I mean the board evaluates policy on its own all the time would a sentence that would be most similar to what was there before is that the board would develop Andor revise policy and protocols that reflects and respects the
055experiences of our students St students and staff and stud students and community staff students and Community after calls I miss what you said the board would develop it or revise uh that reflects and respects the experiences of [Music] our students staff and Community are we okay with [Music] that yes that's fine with me um all right so I think that is the that section um the next section was titled ensure systemic Equity opportunities um I don't know if I think this might still be under maybe um implementation like Monitor and improve educational opportunities I don't know if that's um where we are but it looks like this was all with the strike through um if anyone would like to comment on this section I think the systemic Equity was an issue as well as the
056equity plan so that would bring us to teaching and learning and there are five items under teaching and learning if someone would like to walk us through the recommendations here well I'm wondering if we can put provide structured opportunities for Teacher collaboration that brings into making sure principles create schedules collor instead of required so provide structured opportunities for Teacher collaboration to strengthen instructional practices so then does be go away um so is about the collaboration between the administrators and the teachers so we want to keep something that captured that Nuance we can say ensure that teachers and and administrators work together to create and Implement instructional methods and I think that brings into like your sip team so it's not the administration creating the Sip team by his or herself but they're involving their leadership
057team as well as their staff so insuring teachers and administrators work together to create to create and Implement instructional methods and assessments that reflect the needs of the student body or you could just end at methods whichever question um you put Rous if if a is I'm thinking a is teacher and teacher B is teacher and administrator is the allocation of resources in part of the conversation in b or part of a conversation in B that does happen in B how do we capture that is the question if it's if it's based on these conversations that they are determining the resources right so insuring teachers and so we can add that in there ensuring teachers and administrators work together to create and Implement rigorous instructional methods and basically we're making decisions on the budget but
058how do you synthesize that maybe allocate in yeah budget allocation school budget resources Source allocations based on the needs of students yeah no or is that a separate one yes I think we're in teaching and learning as the section and maybe the fiscal management and financial resource allocations would be explicitly stated in a different [Music] section okay I don't know if the decisions of principles would be in another section you're saying yes our building principles allocated a budget that they the manage with any of this no their title budgets their title budgets their federal dollars okay so like their Title One funds and those funds could be used towards teaching and learning initiatives in their building they decide as a building how to use their title that's why I'm asking because I wonder if would
059that then be appropriate in this section still um Dr Chapman and uh chair so that's why I asked the question will they still be able to in this P portion we're teaching learning because they would work collaborative to meet the needs of the building with the teachers or no would that not be yeah they don't get a general fund budget I mean I think it would be forced if we put it here oh that's what I was asking if I think it's it's still appropriate because the teachers and the administration work together to create the budget but maybe we'll find another place to put that Madam chair um I think we're also talking about that planning process between teachers and administrators and so I just as a placeholder added instructional methods and instructional plans or
060instructional methods and plans um to the sentence just as a placeholder um as this is our first draft of this very comprehensive policy thank you and now with c c looks like we're leaving it [Music] alone so if we are good with c um uh the opposite it looks like it's happening for d and e um I just want to read I would just take out the word a after insure under c yeah um e or it's B now because of yeah but reading the strike through here on B um I actually I'll both of them eliminating practices that lead to the over and under representation of any student or racial group compared to peers I and then the other one offering culturally relevant responsive courses instruction specific to race and ethnicity including black latinx
061indous and immigrant status each Academic Year in all schools I recognize that this is specifically the type of language that was targeted in um political conver Sation right now um but I think I think it was well written um and I think that this is I might say this a few more times this evening um another reason [Music] why I I don't think right now I would support redacting the racial Equity policy as much as suspending it I think there is still a lot of good work in there that I don't know if our district needs to lose it now but I'm I feel in my heart that our district does not need to lose this forever and so I I could recognize why now especially to move the conversation what we're doing and what
062we need to do but I I cannot support losing this forever I wonder if we can say um that we will offer comprehensive courses that reflect the historical and contemporary experiences of our students each Academic Year across all schools so basically regardless of who you are when you come into the classroom I'm going to take a part of you and make sure you're a piece of this learning that's happening within my classroom so offering comprehensive courses that reflect historical and contemporary experiences of students each year across all schools yeah and and this is one area where I would lean on Adam moer to help with that language as he is sitting on the Statewide social studies advisory committee for the state of Ohio and they're doing their work of revising curriculum and uring that they
063are meeting all of the standards as outlin in the guidance he has some really good language already I think we should defer to Adam moer around that especially since social studies becomes one of the courses course content areas that you know could be really affected I was speak into more of uh making sure our Scholars see themselves in the learning so just figuring out how to address that piece and I also think this is an opportunity to add the legal Guidance the law actual law as well and I think you're right just speaking to um representation [Music] as this is a committee meeting and it is not as formal as our regular board meetings um and we have a couple times um invited people before you go before you go to but could you write
064could you put that someplace what what Mrs Carter said somewhere in there just so we won't lose that because I I thought it kind of captured and and then what Adam may add to we may be able to come up with a really fantastic statement but I thought that uh can you say it again so I just put um offering comprehensive courses that reflect the historical and contemporary experiences of all students each Academic Year across all schools um so just making sure that you have a uh different types of books in the classrooms that are representative of the students that are in your classroom so that's just an example or if I'm doing a lesson and we're talking about the community then I'm going to make sure sure that I'm speaking about things that children
065are familiar with so that they can relate to the subject that's being talk ask Adam so it's an engagement strategy as well so as I mentioned earlier we do have the rare opportunity that the author of the original policy is present with us do you have something specifically for the section that you wanted to add I can something [Laughter] short thank you no it is short um I would just be cautious of using the word historical only because that's one of the words that they're attacking mhm um so I would really just lean towards while this is the antithesis of equity this is also the context that we live in trying to be as inclusive but General as possible so um talking about reflecting the experiences of the students in each School each Academic Year
066that type of language uh yeah because they are attacking that word specifically ironic um weird uh that's what be my suggestion and then if I can briefly just share one other thing um because I heard you talk about the beginning of the policy and then the latter parts of the policy where there's specific sections outline the beginning of the policy is really providing you the guard rate or the context of what the policy is about and then the latter part is really talking about how do you operationalize and actualize it um and specifically through the plan and so I saw you eliminate that part um and I would suggest instead of eliminating it and and it because it says Equity plan that we maybe change the name to a comprehensive achievement plan or something of
067that nature instead of losing that because that's what the other sections Were Meant to do is say that your plan should have and be attentive to these areas so I just wanted to make sure I mentioned that thank you Dr abbar and once again we are so lucky it's rare to have the original author of the policy available to us so um if it is okay with the committee I would like to backtrack to to the section that was just mentioned it was titled ensure systemic Equity opportunities um we definitely probably want to come up with something else there maybe like Monitor and improve educational opportunities for now um and the plan was it comprehensive education plan is that what was being recommended you could do that I I was saying comprehensive achievement but [Music]
068of listening I'm sorry um so comprehensive achievement plan was what I suggested but it could be educational um and then the other thing is to not lose the word audit um because it's Monitor and audit um and that's also important for the um Chief role as well so I just wanted to make sure that you can monitor something but not do anything about it so I want to make sure that that was reflected thank you and the original languages you're I know having to jump back and forth said Implement and lead from a systemwide and then it said Equity plan so it would be uh a audit right uh oh you have that perfect forgot what I was putting Madam sherff we were we adding the comprehensive education or comprehensive uh academic achievement plan to
069that sentence yes okay which includes the following now each section yes thank you there are more sections that would be included in this comprehensive academic achievement plan um however I also want to recognize it is now 7:26 so before we would move on to the next section which would be the leadership section I want to check in with the committee um on this work there are there are or this would be page three of eight of the original um racial Equity plan that we've made it through so far and so I want to pause and ask the committee if we should continue this conversation um at another time um or how we feel right now I want to be respectful of everyone's time Madam chair what is our timeline and then the legal committee when
070it's legal meeting again the 18th the 18th [Music] so yes it looks like the legal committee meets at 5:30 on the 17th which is two two weeks from today so Madam chair so is it the intent to have this completed to give over to legal on the 17th to hand over on the 17th is that the int is that the plan I believe that would be reasonable if legal would have it how does that sound to you yes is this going to be ready is there another Equity committee Equity committee meeting before then this is to finish this or to consider I think that's what we're determining now is do we as we've made it through three pages so far today do we try to make it through the other five pages now or do
071we schedule another meeting before the 17th you want schedu another I'm sorry I'm sitting ioud yes yes yeah I I mean I believe if the equity committee is going to be the one to put this on all together it should be complete for our consideration so by the 17th so that's going to require another meeting of this committee and then I would just ask the administration where are we with any notifications from anyone out of the Washington offices as it relates to where we are and if we're showing uh good faith have you had any you say you had had any conversation so of the of the four of us here who can chime in would we we rather stay or come back fresh how how are we feeling after this at this point seeing
072where we are at page three of eight so Madam chair I would just wonder just what so we have to complete this so we have eight eight sheets left and and we' completed the other part um I would like it out of my life as soon as possible but but you know I'll I'll work as long as we have to to do it so if it's the it's the opinion that we need to stop now and then come back then that's I I will do that so that would mean next week yeah I was just actually because I've gotten questions because people aren't clear about where we're really at and what we're doing and just for the record our original standing policies are still in place and right now we are outside of this deadline
073from the dear colleague letter so I'm assuming that we should just continue to take the time that we need to make it uh to the will of will of the committee um this committee take the time and then get it back to to Legal policy um we don't know what's going to happen I mean something might come down the pike and this is off or not and we just standing on the policies that we have in place anyway and I know I'm the outlier and so I know this is necessary as well but um I would say Equity take the time to to make it how we need it and then proceed from there but we're beyond the timeline right now yes that's that is true and I recall in in past practices and even
074on this particular policy that's kind of how it was done it was just there for all bodies to edit or suggest edits in the Google Doc so that's a way I guess to move through time if that is uh the concern the time frame or just call another meeting so how many sections here do we have left five there there are five pages five pages left um if if at the font that I printed we went through three we are three fifths of the way through regardless of font size four sections remaining I believe and I'm not sure we could get through all four of those in one night I'm just tonight um some we may be a bble to look at quickly uh for for instance equity and discipline which is there uh had
075a large number of uh strikethroughs um with some keeps some a few keeps so I don't know if you wanted to look at at that section and Supplier Diversity and recruitment screening hiring and retention um which have a great deal of strikethroughs yeah personally I don't know which type of um font I guess I read more critically the strikethroughs or the saves I almost feel like I am more critical of the strikethroughs because that's what leaving if we're saving it was already there um I I do read all of it obviously but I don't know if just having it stricken makes me more comfortable skimming past it more quickly uh that's my my personal opinion I I will open this up to the rest of the board um but one last statement I want to
076give related to the dear colleague letter um I want to say that President Audrey or sorry former president Audrey member ay um is correct that we are still on our standing policies however um the dear colleague letter was not law and when we were described what was the law our current standing policies are not in violation of the law and I do think it's important that we we do remember that we are not presently violating any laws and I excited that we will be incorporating the laws into the new policy to make that clearer um because I definitely would feel differently about this timeline if I believed we were violating any laws um comments yes please yeah I was just going to expand upon uh what Dr Chapman was saying as far as the discussion
077because that discipline portion I think we really need to take time with that because even with the policy in place I think I have some major concerns about how discipline has been rendered in this District um concerning students so that will that's going to need some time because I know I have a lot of statements about that and um that the student discipline really is going to uh take time and as you said uh member ay with our current positioning something time some of this may become mve but we're at least we're actively moving forward uh to try to be align with things but I just wanted to say that because that discipline is a major major issue thank you for those comments and I think it's important reminder too that we aren't just um
078striking through policy as a reaction to the dear colleague letter right now we and we aren't just simply renaming things out of convenience we are deeply digging into our policy work and as it relates to the future of our district uh we did have a great starting place and we are going to be better for it I believe um but with that I think it is 7:36 and so um so M chair I guess I would ad would move that we ad adjourn until uh I guess we'll look at the calendar and come up with the date and send that out yes one more comment for member atrey please I was just wondering does the district have a working list of words like I would like a list of these words that are recommended just
079for my own personal CU I'm mad that I I can't I'm not supposed to say diversity equity and inclusion diversity equity and inclusion I don't that's not those aren't bad words but if there's an official list I would like to have it or I think the board could benefit from I'll just send it to the board thank you thank you I I agree it is it will be helpful to to move discussion along and um I see that the next legal contract meeting is March 17th and so we will announce the next Equity committee meeting to be held before March 17th with the goal of having this prepared um for the legal committee on the 17th are there any other comments that this evening thank you we are adjourned at [Music] 7:38 for