The document has six action steps designed to improve the school district’s diversity and racial climate.
Establishing a district-wide diversity and inclusion team and hiring an outside consultant to conduct a diversity-focused curricular audit are two of several actions outlined in a resolution unanimously approved by the Council Rock School Board at a recent meeting.
At the same meeting, the board approved a $9,000 agreement with an organization called Living Strong to help the district implement strategies in the document, which is titled a “resolution supporting the development of an anti-racist school climate.”
The actions come not long after two 2015 Council Rock High School South graduates, Farah Contractor and Danielle Randall, wrote a letter to school board members and administrators recommending 15 steps they feel would create a more diverse and racially sensitive school district. [Read “Bucks County School Districts Are Urged by Students to Better Address Systemic Racism - Will It Happen? Sign the Petition.”; http://sco.lt/6d4vxI ]
Actions to be taken by the district as outlined in the resolution are:
– Establishing a CRSD diversity and inclusion team inclusive of all district schools
– Building on the effectiveness of existing school-based teams
– Holding focus groups with recent graduates on preparedness for their next phase of life
– Holding focus groups with current students, including students from under-represented groups, on their experience in Council Rock schools and the community.
The other two actions are having an external consultant conduct a diversity-focused curricular and/or equity audit, and creating a systemic employee-training program centered on diversity, equity and inclusiveness.
Contractor, a Muslim Asian-American, wrote in an email that she appreciated the initiative shown by Council Rock officials in drafting and approving the resolution but that she felt it fell short in several ways.
“Some of these action items require more concrete goals in order to hold CRSD accountable,” she stated. “For example, I would love to know how CRSD will use feedback gained from the diversity and inclusion teams and focus groups to implement change in the community.
“Diversity and inclusion groups can often be performative strategies used by institutions to absolve themselves of blame in the public eye. CRSD students have informed me that the current school-based diversity and inclusion teams consisted of mostly white members and resulted in no tangible change.”
Contractor added she was disappointed the resolution and action steps do not address the “Indians” nickname for sports teams at Council Rock North that she considers racist. The Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball team is strongly considering changing its nickname, a move supported by Manager Terry Francona.
“Inviting an external consultant for curricular or equity audits can be valuable,” Contractor wrote. “However, former and current students have already identified many of the curriculum’s shortcomings. I would like to see specific goals of this audit such as the integration of more literature authored by BIPOC (Black, indigenous, people of color), as stated in our letter to the administration.”
She continued that the resolution “fails to address the overwhelming lack of minority teachers, sensitivity trainings and BIPOC student unions. By acknowledging only ‘traces’ of systemic racism exist within the community and creating vague, amorphous action items, CRSD is able to relinquish its agency for creating an anti-racist environment.
“I hope to see CRSD release additional explicit plans to support its non-white students that go beyond buzzwords.”
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