Published March 10, 2021
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The school system will soon have a new Educational Equity Policy on the books.
School Committee member Stacy Dahlstedt gave an overview of the Educational Equity Policy during a recent meeting. She and fellow Policy Subcommittee member, Vice Chairman Rich Sjoberg, worked on the new policy last month.
Dahlstedt noted that the policy builds on the work currently being undertaken by the district’s Equity and Diversity Committee that was formed by Superintendent Kristen Vogel and Teaching and Learning Director Kevin Cyr last fall. The committee is currently reviewing the school system’s policies, procedures and curricula.
“This policy is aligned to the wonderful work being done by this committee,” said Dahlstedt.
Under Policy JBB, Dahlstedt said, “The School Committee’s goal is to strive to address the needs of every student in each of our schools, subject to budgetary, space and other limitations.”
“Educational equity for the purpose of this policy is defined as providing all students, as reasonably practical, the high quality instruction and support they need to reach and exceed a common standard,” said Dahlstedt while reading the proposed Educational Equity Policy.
Dahlstedt said the Educational Equity Policy will have school officials and educators use “district-wide and individual school level data” that will be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, national origin, language, special education, socioeconomic status and mobility in order to “inform district decision-making” when appropriate. She said the goal of the policy is to “raise the achievement of all students” so that students will be “ready to succeed in a diverse local, national and global community” when they graduate.
“In order to reach the goal of educational equity, as reasonably practical for each and every student, the district shall provide every student with access to high quality curriculum, support and other educational resources,” said Dahlstedt.
Dahlstedt also said the new policy seeks to “promote educational equity as a priority in professional development.” She said the policy seeks to ensure all four schools have a “welcoming and inclusive culture and environment.”
Additionally, Dahlstedt said the policy strives to make sure the school system provides “multiple pathways to success in order to meet the needs of the student body.” She also said the policy actively encourages, supports and expects “high academic achievement for each student.”
“The superintendent shall include equity practices in the district’s strategic plan and goal strategies to implement this policy,” said Dahlstedt. “The superintendent, upon request, will periodically report to the committee the progress of the implementation of this policy.”
Sjoberg recalled that the district currently has an Educational Opportunities Policy.
“After hearing about the work of the diversity group and to make sure they have the foundation in order to get us where we need to be, we felt it was important to get the new policy in place,” said Sjoberg. “We were happy to get that done.”
School Committeeman Phil McQueen asked what work has the district undertaken in order to ensure equity is taking place throughout all four schools.
Vogel recalled that she and each school administrator have established goals pertaining to equity.
“We have been focusing on the equity work since the start of the school year,” said Vogel. “The Equity and Diversity Committee has been formed and includes 31 people, and includes parents, students, teachers and administrators. That group has been broken into three subcommittees that is looking at students’ systemic and curriculum issues.”
Vogel noted she and seven other area superintendents recently discussed the possibility of having a “shared director of equity and inclusion.”
“It would be one position shared among seven districts,” said Vogel. “We are excited to be exploring that opportunity.”
Vogel also said the district was recently awarded an anti-racism grant from METCO.
“It’s a $5,000 grant,” said Vogel. “We will be providing anti-racism education for up to 20 educators. It will hopefully start in March and run all the way through June.”
Vogel also said the school system is looking to hire an equity consultant to work with educators.
Cyr said educators have been participating in professional development opportunities around a variety of equity-based topics, including cultural proficiency that is being provided by the Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth and A Healthy Lynnfield.
“This work has been ongoing,” said Cyr. “It’s critical to our educators. The bottom line is everyone wants our students to be comfortable in the classroom. With that being said, it’s a pandemic and our educators are getting it in, but we are getting it in differently. The roots are being strengthened and the work has just started.”
McQueen said the equity initiative is “the most important work this district and this country can do at the moment.”
“Having an anti-racism education be part of the fabric of everything we do is vitally important,” said McQueen. “The last year has brought that alarmingly into focus. I commend everybody for the hard work on this and the planning being done behind the scenes.”
The School Committee was slated to vote on the Educational Equity Policy on Tuesday, March 9, taking place after deadline.
