MSAD 51 works with consortium to develop equity policy. Level of transparency does not mirror other districts.
The MSAD 51 Policy Committee did a “first read” of the draft equity policy ACA, on June 14. A day-of change, switching public access to live-stream the meeting rather than provide Google Meet link, resulted in a “glitch” that prevented a number of residents from attending the meeting. Recording of the meeting is not available.
In response to residents’ confusion regarding the policy’s development stage, Ann Maksymowicz (Policy Committee Chair) outlined the steps needed to approve a policy during her Policy Committee report for the full School Board Meeting.
First, a subcommittee of stakeholders is formed. In this instance, it is the Equity Leadership Steering Committee (ELSC), which was created after a September 2019 community workshop hosted by Community Change, Inc. This 15-member group includes students, teachers, administrators, board members and parents.
Next the subcommittee is tasked to draft a policy. The ELSC has worked for the past 2 months to author the current draft. The building blocks came from 3 areas: Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS), Gorham School District, and MSAD 51 policy JB (Transgender Students Guidelines).
A draft will then referred to the Policy Committee for review and questions. From there, the draft will move to legal review. Before final draft is ready to be sent to the full Board, it could potentially pass from Policy Committee to subcommittee or to legal review multiple times.
Once the document is in final draft, a “first read” will be added to the School Board agenda. At this meeting, public will be able to comment. The document would need to return to the full Board for a “second read” with public comment. At this point, the Board would make a motion to vote on whether to approve. Current ACA policy has just completed the "first read" with Policy Committee.
Within her overview, Maksymowicz referenced “Critical Races Studies”, but Tyler McGinley (Chair) confirmed to NYFV, “Critical Race Studies is not a term that we are using to describe the equity work in the district.”
Details of the June 14 Policy Committee are not available for review, due to a technical glitch which prevented community members from accessing live meeting. Summary report to NYFV by Cumberland resident, Nick Begin, stated discussion of the policy focused primarily on “ways the draft policy is not Critical Race Theory.” The ELSC did not include an outline of community engagement and outreach recommendations. Maksymowicz stated this process will need to be developed and will include review by District leadership team as well as a possible Google survey to capture anonymous community input.
In comparing the draft MSAD 51 ACA policy to the 3 content sources, the ELSC borrowed heavily from the MCPS policy, as the language and structure is very similar. Notable differences include addition of gender definitions, as well as no specifications regarding implementation strategies or desired outcomes. Gender definitions were based on existing JB policy, which was adopted October 2017. MCPS is partnered with Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE). MCPS has extensive information posted to their website. It goes beyond merely providing policy documents and encompasses history of their process, measurement matrix, and equity education resources (both locally developed, as well as external, such as links to Anti-Defamation League toolkits). Unfortunately, it is not overtly linked on the site menu and to find it requires a specific site search for “equity”, link here. The MCPS ACA policy is currently undergoing a substantial revision and draft language is being reviewed by their Board of Education, link here. The current MCPS equity program is reflective of parallel systems at the Montgomery County municipal level, which has done extensive work to engage with the community to develop legislation that was specific and reflective of identified priorities within the local racial equity framework.
Gorham Public School District is member of the same equity consortium as MSAD 51. The EQUITY Community of Learners and Leaders, which includes nine Maine public school districts, is a partnership program between the University of Southern Maine and Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium (MAEC). Gorham district calendar notes meetings related to current equity work, which appears to be a 3-phase approach: Anti-Racism Advisory Committee (Dec 2020, Mar 2021), hosting Parent Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Forum (March 25), and Anti-Racism & Equity Committee (May 27, June 17). Their current ACA policy (Anti-Racism) was adopted December 9, 2020 and is part of a series of policies that address elements of discrimination, rather than incorporating all into a single document. Committee work is ongoing, with the stated long-term goal to “make recommendations in each area (curriculum, training, policies) based on understanding what’s currently happening, what the gaps are, and what a vision for a just and equitable school district would look like.” Link here.
Board member, Kate Perrin, reminded those attending the June 14 MSAD 51 School Board meeting, the ACA policy is following normal policy procedure. Yet as is evident by the resident comments, this is not a typical policy, and an overt process with transparency will be essential for successful implementation. The process MSAD 51 has chosen is less open than that of other districts. Superintendent Porter considers the ELSC a non-standing committee and therefore exempt from posting meeting documents. Additionally, public access to committee meetings is strictly controlled, and no confirmed meeting details published. Residents must email one of the Co-chairs to request permission. Co-chair Nick Whiston stated in a March 9 email, to North Yarmouth resident, Ally Ford, regarding questions about ELSC membership and public access, "You are correct that we have not revisited the process for adding people and how terms will work. I am reluctant to use our precious 1 hour of meeting time on that since we get so little time together, so I will check in with Tyler and see if we can do something via survey in between meetings." The resulting lack of clarity and understanding has caused concern among some residents. Due to the sensitive nature of the equity work, a more deliberate process would be appropriate. Using only language from MCPS policy is short-sighted and ignores an element key to Montgomery County’s success, particularly at the municipal level in regards to developing community relevant policies. Certainly, MSAD 51 is a very different community, demographically. However, the process structure used by Montgomery Co. demonstrates the necessity of intent. Community understanding and buy-in will be even more crucial when the ACA policy moves beyond development into implementation. Planning for this next stage is yet to be determined, as the Policy Committee reiterated ACA "is just the policy.”
Comments