New Paltz School Board members took up a proposed policy to promote anti-racism at their May 19 meeting, after asking the superintendent of schools to go over it with an eye on ensuring that it’s a high-level document that will promote the philosophy, rather than something which might inadvertently tie administrators’ hands with too much detail. Trustees appeared to be especially focused on how to make sure that this policy is implemented once it’s adopted. The policy was not voted on, to allow members of the district’s Racial Equity Committee to weigh in on the changes that have been made.
A number of comments have been received in favor of adopting such a policy and rejecting concerns about cost raised by some trustees. The cost to students and staff members in minority groups is already too high, they say, and it’s a price that is paid for life by victims of racism.
Superintendent Angela Urbina-Medina went through edits to the policy line by line to explain the rationale for each. “I want this policy to work,” said Urbina-Medina, the first black superintendent in the district. The superintendent removed some language that would have narrowed the focus down to some specific practices, rather than allowing administrators to work in the fluid way that may be needed in an educational environment that is constantly changing. Some other deletions pertained to process, which is how a policy is implemented, and would also be unacceptably constraining in the superintendent’s opinion. Urbina-Medina is also shying away from a clause that would call for a district-wide reporting protocol to track bias incidents, saying that not only is it unclear how these data would be gathered, but that teachers would not have access to them in their classrooms in any case due to existing privacy rules.
What the superintendent wishes to see is clarity in the goals, and unambiguous accountability when it comes to achieving them. Board members were supportive coming up with ways to track and report on how the policy is being implemented and how it is impacting life in the schools. Board president Glenn LaPolt suggested developing a timeline for implementation, since some of the tenets — such as developing anti-racist curricula — could take years. Other pieces, such as training of all board members on these concepts, could happen relatively quickly. Trustees seemed agreeable to the idea of there being updates on this policy specifically provided at public meetings throughout the year.
This policy will be on the June 2 agenda for another look and possible adoption.
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