If you haven’t had the chance yet, watch all/part of the video of the board meeting at these times for some of the highlights. LINK TO CUSD Jan 18, 2023 Board meeting VIDEO
1:46:09 begin Agenda 8.1 Diversity Equity & Inclusion Plan
2:35:43 – T Vurbeff states her vision that “focus on learning and achievement…” may miss some students if focused only on ‘affinity groups”
2:39:10 – T Pearson asks how staff envisions getting “community feedback” in addition to parent feedback
2:49:00 – T Vurbeff inquires as to membership makeup of committees
2:56:00 – Dr Nye and ‘experts in the field’ of DEI
3:03:04 – T Vurbeff/Dr Nye what are “Community Talks”
3:35:30 – T Williamson welcomes “diversity of thought”
3:54:00 – T Williamson concerns that ‘academic performance’ goals getting lost
4:00:00 – T Williamson – “If the goals are not measurable, … and if the academic performance of the subgroups does not improve, I’m going to say that the Plan is failed…”
Because of your willingness to speak out against the DEI Plan, 3 of the trustees advocated for our voices to be heard going forward. What does that mean exactly? Will there be open forums, and will we have a seat at that table? Will the (Staff and Student) Equity Committees open membership to include our point of view in diversity of thought? Time will tell and we will keep a close eye on this.
Food for thought
In 2 minute video clip, Alvin Lui of Courage Is A Habit, discusses the surveys children are given in school and how it’s connected to poor student academic performance.
This article points out “Critical race theory is just one form of DEI — short for diversity, equity, and inclusion — as is the corporate environmental, social, and governance set of standards now dictating companies’ financial practices. But both ultimately find their roots in academia, where DEI has been at work for years and has the most influence.”
We stand united on our goal for the school board to:
Focus on academic goals and lockdown learning loss recovery and separate this from the diversity, equity and inclusion political agenda.