photo by Thea Marshall
The Hamilton County Board of Education, during a Wednesday evening meeting to discuss the Educational Equity Plan that passed unanimously last March, said the policy was set forth to help move Hamilton County Schools and their “historically underserved student groups” forward. But in several areas progress does not appear to have been made.
The board set goals each year, for three years, in hopes to do just that.
This year, the board intends to reduce disproportionate suspension and expulsion rates, embedded cultural competence in school practices and to allocate resources equitably. Years two and three have a total of five goals including decreasing chronic absenteeism and increasing early post secondary opportunities.
Hamilton County Education showed district data claiming black students were more likely than non-black peers to receive a “discipline response” such as suspension or explosion. They found this trend continued in 2021 despite one third of students learning at home.
There was heavy debate regarding the accuracy of the data and if The Code of Acceptable Behavior (COAB) has anything to do with it. Reviewed every spring, the COAB aims to ensure students are treated fairly by teachers and staff.
“If everyone was using the COAB, and using it right, I believe this data might look very different,” said District 3 board member Joe Smith.
The schools also revealed that a fourth of Hamilton County students experienced at least one negative social interaction based on race or ethnicity. Meanwhile, on average, teachers disagree that racial tensions happen in their schools.
The board discussed if additional training on the COAB would help, times when teachers and staff have to make judgment calls and the possibility of racial and gender biases.
“We have to realize that our internal and implicit biases affect the way we handle things,” said Karitsa Jones. “Do you know how many disciplinary meetings have happened and this is what it came down to?”
Other board members like Jenny Hill say there could be a root cause to these issues.
She said, “There is room for judgment in disciplinary response and that judgment along with student behavior, may be contributing to this gap. If we have different people, with possibly different training, or different values in their building or different perceptions of a given student and their track record, then there is room for judgment.”
Mr. Smith and other board members said issues with students' behavior may be a result of their home life. The board discussed ways to increase parent engagement.
“We can increase the use of surveys and we can set goals on participation rates by school,” said Dr. Sonia Stewart. “It’s a parent action, but there’s a school action that can increase the parent action.”
Allocating resources equitably, or goal three, raised concerns of its own. While the schools says it is vital for high poverty schools to receive the highest funding, and have done just that - they have yet to see students improve.
“We have been trying to get a staffing model and we have just slow walked it to a point where it's not fiscally responsible for us anymore,” said Superintendent Justin Robertson. “There are going to be some hard conversations with schools this spring about staffing because enrollment has declined and schools are going to be losing teachers - by losing, I mean a shift to other schools with more enrollment.”
Chief Equity Officer Marsha Drake, said she plans to incorporate Wednesday’s discussion into their plan for future meetings. Superintendent Robertson said there is going to be a need for multiple “work sessions” in order to carry out this year’s strategic plan.