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Mayor Koch opened the Special
School Committee Meeting by thanking the young people of Quincy, including the
high school football players, cheerleaders, marching band and color guard who
were all part of Sunday’s Christmas Parade.
Under the direction of the Recreation Department, many Quincy Public
Schools students and graduates were involved in building floats, wearing
character costumes, and organizing the weekend’s community events.
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Superintendent Mulvey reviewed
the recent incidents that have caused significant upheaval and effects on
climate and culture of the school community, especially at Quincy High School. On November 5, a Quincy High School student
created a song using racial and sexist language, targeting specific students
at North Quincy High School. On
November 9, an altercation was the result of a video created by a Quincy High
School student several years ago which expressed racist thoughts, and was witnessed by many students and staff
members. On November 12, several
hundred students walked out at Quincy High School in protest and were later joined
by students from North Quincy High School.
On November 13, a video of a Point Webster Middle School student using
racist language was shared among students.
Information about all of these shared with community through letters, posts
on the Quincy Public Schools website, and social media posts.
In each case, appropriate
disciplinary action was taken, the specifics are confidential information. There was no disparity in discipline based
on race or ethnicity. Superintendent
Mulvey emphasized that the goal is always to provide the community as much
information as possible while still respecting student privacy rights. In subsequent days, there were multiple
meetings with staff members, in person and remote parent forums, student
forums at both high schools, community circles, student and staff DEI
meetings, meeting with Citywide DEI representatives, and consultation with
the Department of Education. Superintendent
Mulvey reiterated that these events and the responses are being taken very
seriously, these are long-term issues that must be addressed collectively by
the entire community.
The most common feedback
received from these meetings and forums is for (1) revising and updating the
student handbook (including restorative procedures and policies for resolving
incidents; more transparency and clearer consequences for incidents involving
discrimination; a system for reporting micro-agressions and bias incidents; mediations
and reflection opportunities); (2) curriculum revisions (continue to update
book selections including works by authors of diverse backgrounds; updates to
history curriculum, culinary options; and adding classes for social-emotional
learning and DEI/culture classes); (3) education and professional development
for staff (culturally responsive teaching and continued training on
restorative practices); (4) increased student involvement (student mentoring,
peer mediation, training students in restorative practices, student-run
assemblies); (5) Communication (translation for PTO meetings, letters, and
other documents); (6) celebration of our diverse cultures (spirit week, woven
throughout school year, inclusive food options for meals, more visual representation
throughout schools); (7) employment (diversification of staff; hiring School
Adjustment Counselors and a DEI Coordinator).
Ms. Papile shared
recommendations from the VISIONS Inc. report:
hiring for diversity at all levels throughout the district; DEI
training for all employees; support and sustainability for the District DEI
Subcommittee; curriculum examination and change to course offerings and
curriculum resources; increasing community activities related to DEI;
encourage and support parent/guardian groups, forums, and community
resources; effective communication, including increased translation and
access to information; support for district leadership through coaching;
training and skill building for students; re-examination of policies and
practices with a multi-cultural lens and enhance inclusiveness; engage and
collaborate with students on relevant issues and changes sought; evaluate and
monitor progress in addressing core issues.
Ms. Papile said that Dr. Pinderhughes is available to appear at a
School Committee meeting to present his full report.
Ms. Perkins said an Equity Work
Group will be formed, consisting of students, staff, administrators, and
parents/guardians that will create a vision and action steps for the
district, update the student handbook, and review/update the process for
reporting micro-aggressions and bias incidents. For students, restorative practices training
will be offered, along with peer mediation and student DEI groups at both
high schools. Improved communication
between student groups and administration is underway with more frequent
opportunities for meeting and collaborating.
Superintendent Mulvey is proposing to use ESSER funds to hire
district-wide EDI Coordinator and school adjustment counselors at both high
schools. Long-term goals include
curriculum revisions and creating new course offerings, leadership coaching,
diversification of staff, and securing a long-term relationship with an
outside organization with expertise in providing a culturally-responsive,
inclusive, and equitable climate.
Ms. Papile shared the EDI
timeline, beginning with the work initiated during Summer 2021 and
documenting the responses to recent incidents. This document will continue to involve as
continued collaboration with students, staff, administrators, parents,
Citywide EDI.
Ms. Roy reviewed the
consultation with the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education
Associate Commissioner Russell Johnston, who provided references for outside
resources. Superintendent Mulvey,
Assistant Superintendent Perkins, Ms. Roy and Ms. Papile have met with two
groups: BlackPrint and AdaptiveX with
two more meetings to be scheduled with Overcoming Racism and All Aces,
Inc. AdaptiveX, through the support of
DESE, will be hosting a reflective workshop with the Assistant Principals and
Department Chairs at both high schools for the next three Fridays.
Superintendent Mulvey said that
the most critical part of addressing these issues is creating the position of
EDI Coordinator and finding the person with the expertise to manage these
initiatives.
Mrs. Hubley noted that the
ESSER fund budget was previously reviewed with School Committee and asked how
the EDI Coordinator salary would be funded.
Ms. Perkins said that QPS would need to file an amendment, possibly
move funding from the Social-Emotional category. Ms. Perkins noted that the ESSER grant has
not technically been approved.
Mrs. Lebo supports creating this
position, requested that Mr. Mullaney look for funding in the QPS budget that
can be spent before waiting for the ESSER funding.
Mrs. Perdios also supports the
position and asked how the hiring process will work. Superintendent Mulvey said the first step
would be to develop a position description.
This position will require critical expertise in a number of areas,
including strong communication skills, social-emotional background, and work
with all school levels. The position
description will be shared through the Massachusetts Partnership for
Diversity in Education and SchoolSpring.
Mr. Gutro asked about parent
input for the hiring process, Superintendent Mulvey said there will be
representation on the interview committee as always.
Mrs. Lebo thanked the Quincy
High School students for their presentation which was shared with School
Committee, would like them to present to School Committee. Mrs. Lebo agreed that the consequences for
student’s actions need to be defined in the Student Handbook. Mrs. Lebo said that the community is
sometimes frustrated by the communications because the details or resolution
can’t be shared to protect student privacy.
Mrs. Lebo said that staff diversity should be reflected in all types
of positions, custodians, security staff, secretaries, food services. Mrs. Lebo is disappointed about the VISIONS
report, is not interested in seeing them present.
Mr. Gutro thanked the
presenters for the listening that has taken place over the next few weeks and
would like to invite students to the EDI subcommittee and give them a voice
on the agenda, in addition to re-opening meetings to the public.
Mr. Gutro asked how the Student
Handbook is disseminated, each school does an assembly at the beginning of
the school year. Mr. Gutro agrees with
short-term recommendations, is concerned about the VISIONS report, doesn’t
see anything innovative but sees as reinforcement of the things QPS was
already doing.
Mr. Gutro asked about
discussions with staff following the walkout, Ms. Papile said that there were
meetings at both high schools with staff to ensure they felt prepared to
address the student concerns. All
principals met to discuss the student meetings, incidents had taken place at
elementary and middle schools, the group will work together as a Professional
Learning Community to address issues.
Ms. Papile said these are painful discussions and staff need to be
supported. Ms. Papile said the
Citywide PTO EDI group came to the meeting with a review of positive things
that are happening in the school system.
Mr. Gutro asked about the community
circles, Ms. Papile said that these were conducted at the classroom level. Mr. Gutro said these conversations are
difficult but the information is important to be shared with School Committee.
Mrs. Perdios asked about the
strategy of using ESSER funds to create positions, Superintendent Mulvey
agreed this is not the optimal way to create new positions. These are long-term positions and would be absorbed
in the Quincy Public Schools budget when the ESSER funds are expended in
three years.
Mrs. Perdios said that these
seem like Tier I supports, how do we address the need for accountability and
quantify the outcome and any progress made.
This will require things to be uncomfortable and disrupted, the school
system must highlight inequities within schools publicly and commit to
changing them.
Mrs. Lebo said that QPS does
great things for students and is proud of everyone for having the courage to
face these issues, the most important thing is getting a qualified EDI
Coordinator in place as soon as possible.
Mr. Santoro said the structure
exists for students to be hear and express their opinions, Student Council
and class officers are elected and they are there to hear student
concerns. The importance of these
needs to be reinforced, in the past, class meetings were run by class
president, the handbook was changed based on student participation and taking
ownership. Mr. Santoro thanked
everyone for their efforts and time, this has taken a tremendous amount of
time for SLT. The new position is very
important to allow the SLT to refocus on the work that they need to be doing.
Mayor Koch thanked
Superintendent Mulvey and his team, the incredible work by the Principals and
all of the staff. Mayor Koch said
there has been solid listening to the challenges of the school communities
and that is the starting point for the work to be done. Mayor Koch encouraged Superintendent Mulvey
to move as quickly as possible to get the EDI position up and running.
Mr. Gutro suggested discussing the
meetings be re-opened to the public and a personnel issue for Executive
Session, Mayor Koch requested these items be added to the December 8 School
Committee meeting agenda.
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Mrs. Lebo made a motion to adjourn the Special Meeting at 7:30 p.m.,
which was seconded by Mrs. Hubley. On a voice vote, the ayes have it.
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