Dixon Unified School District Equity Statement

Press release from the Dixon Unified School District:

June 26, 2020

We are living in unprecedented times in so many ways, and while the District has had a large and ongoing response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, we have not addressed the current conditions within the country related to race, equity, and our role related to these critical issues outside of comments at recent Governing Board Meetings.
The mission statement of the District reads, in part, that we will “close the achievement gap by preparing all students for college and career readiness. . . " As evidenced in such overt and disturbing ways recently, some of our students come to us with experiences of being subject to racism, discrimination, harassment, and other injustices in both explicit and implicit ways. No child should live in these conditions. They negatively impact a child's ability to learn and develop to their fullest potential.
This letter is intended to clarify our position with regard to ensuring equity for all members of the District community and reaffirm our commitment to improving our efforts to ensure it.
Our Board Policy 0415 addresses equity. The policy identifies a number of steps that the District shall take to promote equity in District practices and programs, and reads, in part:
“The Governing Board believes that the diversity that exists among the district's community of students, staff, parents / guardians, and community members is integral to the district's vision, mission, and goals. Addressing the needs of the most marginalized learners requires recognition of the inherent value of diversity and acknowledgment that educational excellence requires a commitment to equity in the opportunities provided to students and the resulting outcomes.
In order to eradicate institutional bias of any kind, including implicit or unintentional biases and prejudices that affect student achievement, and to eliminate disparities in educational outcomes for students from historically underserved and underrepresented populations, the district shall proactively identify class and cultural biases as well as practices, policies, and institutional barriers that negatively influence student learning, perpetuate achievement gaps, and impede equal access to opportunities for all students.
The Board shall make decisions with a deliberate awareness of impediments to learning faced by students of color and / or diverse cultural, linguistic, or socio-economic backgrounds. To ensure that equity is the intentional result of district decisions, the Board shall consider whether its decisions address the needs of students from racial, ethnic, and indigent communities and remedy the inequities that such communities experienced in the context of a history of exclusion, discrimination , and segregation. Board decisions shall not rely on biased or stereotypical assumptions about any particular group of students. ”
This Board Policy references the diversity of the entire District community - students, staff, parents / guardians, and community members - in the first paragraph and then focuses almost exclusively on meeting the needs of students through our programs. We want to recognize that
the principle of equity must also be applied to all of the adults in the District system, especially our employees. They interact with our students every day and are responsible for their safety, learning, and support. When our employees believe that they work in an equitable environment, they are prepared to address inequities faced by our students. As such, we take our responsibility to address biases within the workplace seriously and will continue to actively address them.
While we have had a larger focus on ensuring equity in the District in recent years, an honest analysis of our actions over time shows that we have not consistently met the standards set out in this policy. We must do so, and take this opportunity to pledge that we will increase our efforts to consciously, systematically, and publicly act to meet the moral and ethical responsibilities that we have.
We are all educators regardless of our position or title and have the responsibility to look at our students and recognize that some may need different or additional levels of support to overcome the obstacles that have been placed in front of them. Whether working with one child or addressing system-wide issues, we also have the duty to examine or own thinking and actions for biases and to make each decision and action with a mindset to remedy inequities. These responsibilities are the foundation for a just and equitable school district and society, and our policy is a formal commitment to meet them.
In summary, we reaffirm our commitment to take the deliberate steps needed to provide equity for all of our students, and adult members of our district community, and to make every reasonable effort to influence the development of a more just and equitable society through our efforts .

We are living in unprecedented times in many ways, and while the District has had a broad and continuous response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have not commented on current conditions in the country related to race, equity, and our role in relation to with these critical issues out of the comments at the last School Board meetings.
The District's mission statement says, in part, that "we will close the achievement gap by preparing all students for college and career." It is so openly and disturbingly evident recently that some of our students come to us with experiences of being subjected to racism, discrimination, harassment and other injustices, both explicit and implicit. No child should live in these conditions. They negatively impact the ability of a child to learn and develop to Your full potential
This letter is intended to clarify our position regarding ensuring fairness for all members of the District community and reaffirming our commitment to enhance our efforts to ensure this.
Our Policy 0415 addresses equity. The policy identifies a series of steps the District will take to promote equity in District practices and programs and reads, in part:
“The Board believes that the diversity exists among the community of students, staff, parents / guardians, and Members of the district community is an integral part of the district's vision, mission, and goals. Addressing the needs of the most marginalized students requires recognition of the inherent value of diversity and recognition that educational excellence requires a commitment to equity in the opportunities provided to students and the resulting results.
In order to eradicate institutional biases of any kind, including implicit or unintended biases and biases that affect student achievement, and to eliminate disparities in educational outcomes for students from historically underserved and underrepresented populations, the district will proactively identify the Cultural and class biases, as well as institutional practices, policies, and barriers that negatively influence student learning, perpetuate achievement gaps and impede equal access to opportunities for all students.
The Governing Board will make decisions with a deliberate awareness of the learning disabilities faced by students of color and / or diverse cultural, linguistic, or socioeconomic backgrounds. To ensure that equity is the intentional result of district decisions, the Governing Board must consider whether its decisions address the needs of students from racial, ethnic, and indigent communities and remedy the inequalities such communities experienced in the context of a history of exclusion, discrimination, and segregation. Board decisions should not be based on partial or stereotypical assumptions about any particular group of students. ”
This Policy refers to the diversity of the entire District community (students, staff, parents / guardians, and community members). The first paragraph focuses almost exclusively on meeting the needs of students through our programs. We want to recognize that the principle of equity must also apply to all adults in the District, especially our employees. They interact with our students every day and are responsible for their safety, learning, and support. When our employees believe they work in an equitable environment, they are prepared to address the inequalities that our students face. As such, we take our responsibility to address biases within the workplace seriously and will continue to actively engage.
Although in recent years we have focused more on ensuring equity in the District, an honest analysis of our actions over time shows that we have not consistently met the standards set forth in this policy. We must do this and take this opportunity to promise that we will increase our efforts to act consciously, systematically and publicly to fulfill the moral and ethical responsibilities we have.
We are all educators, regardless of our position or title, and we have a responsibility to look at our students and recognize that some may need different or additional levels of support to overcome the obstacles that have come their way. Whether working with a student or addressing system-wide issues, we have a duty to examine or consider thinking and actions for biases and make every decision and action with a mindset to remedy inequalities. These responsibilities are the foundation of a fair and equitable school district and society, and our policy is a formal commitment to fulfill them.
In summary, we reaffirm our commitment to take the necessary deliberate steps to provide equity for all students, adult members of our district community, and to make all reasonable efforts to influence the development of a more just and equitable society through of our efforts.

This press release was produced by the Dixon Unified School District . The views expressed are the author's own.