WSESD Social Justice Committee Minutes

WINDHAM SOUTHEAST SCHOOL DISTRICT
SOCIAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE
DRAFT MINUTES

10:00 Thursday, January 4th, 2024 via zoom

Attendance: Eva Nolan (Chair), Deborah Stanford, Robin Morgan, Ruby McAdoo, Shannon Kelly, Michael Kelliher, Claire Halverson

I. Call to Order / Introductions / Recognition of Visitors

Eva Nolan called the meeting to order at 10:09.

The committee welcomed a visitor, Claire Halverson from the NAACP Education Committee. This committee has recently re-activated and is reaching out to strengthen connections with other local organizations with a related mission.

II. Clerk & Minutes

Motion by Ms. Nolan to approve the minutes. Motion carried unanimously.

III. Updates

Deborah Stanford gave an update on the Policy and Amendment committee’s January 3 meeting. There is substantial revision taking place in order to bring the policy in line with the district’s current practices and values, including a consideration of whether to explicitly include social justice teacher leaders on the team for certain types of disciplinary actions. She encouraged everyone in attendance to read the policy and proposed revisions and give feedback.

IV. Discussion about when applicants do not answer diversity questions.

These questions are a vital part of building our school/district culture. Our hiring choices impact not just the students but also staff retention. When we have a dearth of candidates or candidates whose values or experience do not reflect the culture we are trying to build, we can also re-open the search to try and get more candidates. We should time our hires carefully to try to have the most candidates possible to choose from. Having teachers depart mid-year puts us in a difficult position for achieving our long-term staffing goals.

If candidates don’t answer the questions substantively, those conducting the interview should ask follow-up questions to elicit more information.

There was a discussion of who is present during the interview process. Diversity Coach Shannon Kelly pointed out that it’s in the board commitment to anti-racism that there should be social justice teacher leaders present on any hiring committee.

The Social Justice Committee discussed this in August and made an explicit recommendation that all hiring committees include “at least one person representing a diverse viewpoint with a preference for lived experience.” This recommendation did not make it into Policy D1: Personnel Recruitment, Selection, Appointment Background Checks, but the policy does have language about increasing workforce diversity.

A discussion ensued about how to highlight this recommendation and make sure it’s considered as these hiring committees are formed. Mr. Kelliher said he would be including this recommendation in the procedural guidelines he is developing around the various steps of recruiting, hiring, and onboarding. This will be concrete, definitive guidelines to support administrators and staff as they carry out these responsibilities.

The committee acknowledged that serving on hiring committees is a significant time commitment.

Teachers are already constrained on their time as there is still a severe shortage of substitutes to provide classroom coverage when teachers are carrying out these kinds of duties. Mr. Kelliher shared that the administration is running an ad campaign for substitute teachers and has posted the
V. Ideas and thoughts to present to the board about the diversity questions.

The committee will provide an update to the Board at the next meeting, highlighting the importance of hiring candidates who are able to answer the social justice questions in a substantive way, and the recommendation about diverse hiring committees.

VI. Open conversation about what the Social Justice Committee should focus on in 2024.

The committee discussed how to ensure that school staff feel supported to have discussions about the situation in Gaza and Israel in their classrooms, recognizing that this is a sensitive topic and that controversy around this elsewhere in the education world can have a chilling effect on teachers.

There was a discussion of how to provide resources or funding for training so teachers feel prepared to facilitate conversations about this. Ms. Kelly shared that there was a Teach In about this topic in the northern part of the state that Mikaela Simms helped to organize, and the Diversity, Equity and Social Justice office has shared resources from that with staff. The district’s Social Justice League has discussed how this is being addressed in our schools currently.

At the elementary level there is not much conversation about this, with some teachers expressing a concern about whether it can be developmentally appropriate. At the middle and high school level there are a few teachers who are talking about this with their classes, especially where discussing current events is a routine part of their classroom practice.

The committee considered whether a collaborative statement from board and administration could be a powerful way to let teachers know we support them in having these brave conversations. Robin Morgan agreed to reach out to Tim Maciel, who had been drafting a statement about this, and to Superintendent Mark Speno to discuss collaborating on a joint statement.

VII. Next missions and goals to focus on.

Mr. Maciel was not able to attend this meeting, but EN shared some ideas he sent for possible future
topics for consideration by this committee. They included:

● Continuation of oversight for diversifying the workforce
● Diversity, Equity and Inclusion goals in the Continuous Improvement Plans for each school.
● Supporting vulnerable students in poverty.
● Further customizing Panorama and Teacher Climate Surveys
● Conducting a review of the BUHS social justice curriculum.

VIII. Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 11:43.
Minutes submitted by Robin Morgan