Super Scoop

Building the Foundation for our Equity Work

Smithfield schools have the responsibility to overcome, insofar as possible, any barriers that prevent children and adults from achieving their potential. This commitment to the community is affirmed by the following statements. The School Committee intends to:

1. Promote the rights and responsibilities of all individuals as set forth in the State and Federal Constitutions, pertinent legislation, and applicable judicial interpretations.

2. Encourage positive experiences in human values for children, youth and adults, all of whom have differing personal and family characteristics and who come from various socioeconomic, and racial and ethnic groups.

3. Work toward a more integrated society and enlist the support of individuals as well as groups and agencies, both private and governmental, in such an effort.

4. Use all appropriate communication and action techniques to air and reduce the grievances of individuals and groups.

5. Carefully consider, in all the decisions made within the school district, the potential benefits or adverse consequences that those decisions might have on the human relations aspects of all segments of society.

6. Initiate a process of reviewing policies and practices of the school district in order to achieve to the greatest extent possible the objectives of this statement.

The Committee’s policy of nondiscrimination and its commitment to equity will extend to students, staff, the general public, and individuals with whom it does business; No person shall be excluded from or discriminated against in admission to a public school of any town or in obtaining the advantages, privileges, and courses of study of such public school on account of race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or pregnancy. If someone has a complaint or feels that they have been discriminated against because of their race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or pregnancy, their complaint should be registered with the Title IX compliance officer.

Most importantly, the Smithfield School Committee requires that its administrators and staff intentionally develop curriculum, instructional practices, disciplinary practices, communications, and improvement efforts that result in a learning environment that ensures that all feel included, valued, and are poised to achieve academic, social, and emotional success.

Without a commitment to this work and a system of accountability, policies and resolutions are just words.  I’m calling on all members of our school community to hold us accountable.  No month should go by without some movement on this work.  We certainly won’t address all our goals immediately but we should continue to move forward.

To ensure success, our administrative team has been participating in professional development focused on equity.  We have a book group that is reading White Fragility.  In addition, a team of four:  Assistant Superintendent Sara Monaco, Principal Julie Dorsey, Principal Cathy Pleau, and I, attended a DMGroup Leadership Development Meeting, Equity in Education: Making it Core  The meeting included content as well as time to work through our team’s problem of practice.  This problem of practice is: 

The establishment of the town’s equity task force is a good step toward developing a comprehensive plan for ensuring that Smithfield is an inclusive place to live, an inclusive place to work and do business, an inclusive place to learn, and demonstrates a commitment to an equitable and just community.  As we begin this work with our town partners, our challenge will be to make this work productive and support real change, rather than simply engaging the already-committed members of our community.

Part 2 of this blog post will focus on what we learned from this meeting.