School Board's Strategic Equity Work
Clover Park School District Board of Director's Declaration for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is the springboard and guiding document for all EDI initiatives and operations to date throughout the district. The declaration carefully outlines the scope of work, the vision for equity and commitment from the school board. The district launched a journey that aims to redefine student success with equity and community at the core.
The 2020-21 school year equity journey focused on a comprehensive approach to building our staff's capacity to understand equity, practice equity and engage in aspects of their work with an equity lens.
Equity Policy
The school board has engaged in training on equity, diversity and inclusion for the last few years and initiated a process in January 2021 to create an equity policy to guide the school district’s efforts to ensure educational equity, access and outcomes for all CPSD students.
The school board identified 10 essential elements to be a foundation for the policy: student success and achievement, transparent and honest language, instructional practices and teaching, professional development, diversifying the workforce, collective responsibility, collaboration to empower voices, reporting and accountability, and a glossary of terms.
The school district implemented a thorough process to support the school board’s policy development by reviewing policies from across the state, as well as engaging 83 stakeholders from across the community. CPSD convened stakeholder groups with CPSD students, educators, staff and administration, families and community members to review the draft policy and gather input. An emphasis was placed on gathering input from historically underrepresented communities, such as Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). Individuals who participated in the input process and responded to the survey felt that the issues that impact marginalized people groups were identified, the first meeting was a start of true collaboration, and that their ideas were welcomed, valued and heard.
The equity policy affirms that different students have different needs and works to ensure each person is valued, celebrated and supported. The district’s equity policy is not Critical Race Theory. Further, Critical Race Theory is not taught to CPSD students, and staff are not being trained in Critical Race Theory.
The school district reviewed its equity policy with the school board and collected input during the process. The board conducted its second reading of Equity and Inclusion Policy 1109 and approved it at its Sept. 13 board meeting.
Policy Development Timeline 2021
- January 23: School board initiated equity policy development
- February-March: District gathered input from stakeholders
- March 22: Board review of first policy draft/input
- March-April: Developed second policy draft from board input and reviewed with stakeholder groups; created third equity policy draft
- May 24: Board review of third equity policy draft/input
- June 29: Board review of final equity policy draft process
- Aug. 9: First reading of equity policy
- Sept. 13: Second reading of equity policy; board approval of Equity and Inclusion Policy 1109