PAUSD Minority Achievement and Talent Development Advisory Committee Kicks Off in December

From the Palo Alto Unified School District:

As with many districts across the nation, PAUSD has acknowledged an achievement gap exists for students of color and for socio-economically disadvantaged youth.

Evidence for the achievement gap is based primarily on standardized test results from the School Accountability Report Card (SARC) and from successful completion of A-G courses.

The District is embarking on a new effort to address the issue by creating a Minority’s Achievement and Talent Development Advisory Committee that Superintendent Glenn “Max” McGee will lead this school year.

Applications from parents, students, staff, and community members were accepted until Friday, October 31.

The dedicated volunteers on this committee will include: district parents Kimberly Bomar, Adriana Flores Ragade, Carmen Munoz, and April House; PAUSD staff members Hoover Principal Kathryn Bimpson, Terman Principal Pier Angeli La Place, Palo Alto High counselor Sandra Cernobori, Palo Alto High Principal Kimberly Diorio, Gunn teacher Maria Powell, Briones teacher Julie Griffin, Educational Services Coordinator Judy Jaramillo Argumedo, district teacher Arcia Dorosti, and Jordan counselor Jeffrey Gielow; Gunn student Shannon Yang (more to be determined); alumni Sharon Johnson, Barbara Stroud, and Teceta Tormala; Silicon Valley Community Foundation Senior Education Program Coordinator Gina Dalma, Dreamcatchers Executive Director Barbara Sih Klausner, Peery Foundation Local Portfolio Director Avani Patel, and community members Ze’ev Wurman and Sheena Chin.

“Helping minority children excel in education has been a passion of mine since before I had children, largely because of the importance of education in my life and in my family’s history. Education opens doors that otherwise can stay closed for generations. I’m really delighted to be able to contribute to the important work of the Advisory Committee and to help ensure minority students flourish as learners in this district,” said Kim Bomar as she described her dedication to the work of this committee.

Gina Dalma added, “I know that the Minority Achievement and Talent Development Advisory Committee will shed a constant bright light on how we are serving our children of color and those that are socio-economically disadvantaged and to continuously address what we can do better as a district and community to ensure we fulfill our promise that all our students reach their full social-emotional and academic potential.”

The purpose of the Advisory Committee is to prepare a set of strategic, evidence-based recommendations that, when implemented, will enable the PAUSD community to assure underrepresented minority students and other students from disadvantaged circumstances have the necessary opportunities, conditions, and supports that will empower and enable them to succeed as well as both realize and maximize their full intellectual, creative, and social potential.

There will be regular public meetings to ensure any interested member of the community can listen to the work of the committee and share their concerns and ideas.

Dr. McGee noted, “Partnering together we can strengthen our already strong district in supporting all students as they reach for their dreams and realize yet untapped potential. This will be some of the most important work we do this year as we work collaboratively to identify important challenging areas, research successful practices in other districts, and craft a report that will guide us in the future.”

The Advisory Committee’s final report will identify critical issues and, for each issue, develop strategic recommendations that will include specific metrics for evaluating the extent to which each strategy was successful, suggest timelines for implementations, name an individual or role (current or future) to lead each strategy, and estimate costs for implementing each recommendation. The Advisory Committee will also be asked to articulate any potential policy issues the Board should consider developing and adopting.

Avani Patel shared, “This work is not easy, but it’s clear Superintendent McGee has taken a step in prioritizing minority achievement. Forming the committee and developing a plan is the easy part. The hard part will come from buy‑in of all staff and community partners so that students and families can feel and see the difference. I hope, as a committee, we can support Superintendent McGee through the series of next steps to execute a comprehensive plan to ensure all students are achieving at their fullest potential.”