This past Thursday was Kent City Schools Equity and Inclusion Task Force Meeting. Partially held in Roosevelt’s auditorium atrium, the four elementary schools, alongside Stanton Middle School, had tables set up displaying a diverse selection of books, alongside information available on the diversity and inclusiveness the district has been striving towards. Across the many tables, the phrase, “All students should see themselves in books”, was prominently displayed. A phrase repeated to reinforce the work that has been put into the libraries across the district.
Information arranged on the tables gave specific examples of what each school was doing to meet the guiding principles of the task force. On the handout provided by representatives of Walls Elementary School, they detailed opportunities such as a Culture and Literacy Night where families could join together and celebrate, as well as Forums where parents and guardians who expressed previous interest, could attend with the task force members. “The two identified goals of the Walls Equity and Inclusion Task Force are: 1. Equitable access to school opportunities and events. 2. Curriculum materials audit (ongoing) to ensure inclusion and representation of black and brown people.” This is according to the Kent City Schools website where they also provide links to sources providing additional information about equity and inclusion.
A theme is also shown at Davey Elementary School, where they have created a website solely to provide teachers and staff a resource to refer to or to gather information on ways to provide more equitable and inclusive learning opportunities for all students. Similar to the other schools, one of their priorities listed is to fill their school library with “Culturally Responsive Materials”, which was shown on their display. Both of these measures were reflective of the statement at the bottom of the handout, which stated, “Our goal: [the] equity and inclusion team will collect and analyze behavioral referrals to identify potential inequitable disciplinary practices to include areas such as administrative, classroom, recess, lunch, bus, etc. To make certain all students can learn & thrive in the school environment.”
Stanton Middle School’s table displayed six bookmarks, all representing a different minority group’s representation in those books. Some examples of this include, “When You Trap a Tiger” by Tae Keller, a Newbery Medal winner about a Korean family who moves in with their grandmother as her health begins to fail, and “Amal Unbound” by Aisha Saeed, a story about a young girl who is forced into indentured servitude and fights to regain her life and freedom to pursue her dreams of becoming a teacher.
The meeting successfully displayed the positive improvements and opportunities that Kent City Schools have been making to, again, ensure that all students see themselves in books. They follow the guiding principles which state: “The purpose of the Kent City Schools Racial Equity and Inclusion Task Force is to provide support to building-level teams as they identify, document, and implement policies and procedures to eradicate ways in which racism is a barrier to the success of Black and Brown students, faculty, staff and administrators at Kent City Schools.”
