Equity
North Wasco County School District is committed to the success of each student and staff member in each of our schools. For that success to occur, the district is committed to equity by recognizing institutional barriers and creating access and opportunities that benefit each student and staff regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, language, abilities, socioeconomic status, country of origin, immigration status, cultural heritage, native language, sexual orientation, gender, and gender identity.
Our district graduates citizens who are ethical and motivated to achieve their limitless potential and that inclusiveness, equity, and racial and social justice in our schools and society is key to student success. We believe students should be educated in environments that respect them as individuals, respect their families, and respect their cultural heritage in order to facilitate successful academic outcomes.
Educational equity creates the opportunity for success for each student by operating on the principles of fairness and justice as well as allocating resources, providing access/opportunities and creating a climate and culture that affirms identities and develops a sense of belonging within each student, staff and community member.
To achieve educational equity the district will commit to:
✔ Preparing each student to succeed by ensuring a culturally relevant curriculum.
✔ Recruiting, hiring, and retaining a diverse staff reflective of our student body.
✔ Create schools with a welcoming, inclusive culture and environment that reflects
and affirms the identities of the diverse student population, their families and their community.
✔ Providing staff members ongoing professional development that strengthens employees’
knowledge and skills for eliminating opportunity/access gaps
✔ Ensuring that equitable distribution of resources across buildings is based on individual school
and community needs.
✔ Provide multiple pathways to success in order to meet the needs of the diverse
student body and shall actively encourage, support and expect high academic achievement for
each student.
There is a lot of conversation and misinformation about Critical Race Theory (CRT) across our nation, the following questions and answers are intended to provide information about what our school district does and doesn't do in regards to CRT:
What is Critical Race Theory?
Critical Race Theory (CRT) is term that has been around since the 1970s and has begun to be used recently as a political shortcut to lump together a variety of positions and practices. Many times, the term is used without being fully understood by the user. Because of this, many important equity initiatives that are not CRT are getting swept up in the current debate.
CRT teaches that race is a socially constructed idea rather than biological. The theory states that bias is embedded within our institutions, laws and public policy and is primarily responsible for the unequal outcomes we see in systems like education, health care, etc. It is also a framework that is used to help understand why racial inequities exist in our systems and how to eliminate them.
Schools across the nation are making growing efforts to increase access to opportunities for all students to be successful and to close opportunity gaps between students. These are broadly referred to as using an 'equity lens' or equity focus. These are not the same as Critical Race Theory, although some of them may contain similar elements, such as analyzing school policies to determine if they disproportionately impact some student groups more than others. Equity in education is about making sure our systems are set up so that all students are able to succeed.
Do you teach Critical Race Theory?
Why is there a focus on equity in education?
Children are unique individuals and flourish in different environments, paces and learning styles. Equity is about that simple and instinctive understanding that each student needs different supports, and that the same student may need extra support in one area but not in another.
School districts regularly review student outcome data to understand which students are more successful or less successful academically. District staff also review differences that exist in how disciplinary actions are applied to students. When disparities are evident in the academic outcomes between groups of students, most school leaders agree that it is the moral and legal obligation of the school district to study why those gaps exist and support policies and practices that close them. We recognize that gaps can exist between a variety of student groups:
· Students from low-income households
· Students experiencing homelessness
· Students in foster care
· Students with disabilities
· Students who are English language learners
· Students of different races and/or ethnicities
The education system in the U.S. has long supported additional funding and other supports for students who have been less successful academically than others. For example, federal Title I funding is designed to support the success of students from low income families. Another area where different types of support are provided to some students is through IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act), which is the primary funding source for supplementing local and state dollars to support the needs of students with disabilities and special education programs.
School boards and superintendents cannot address the disparities whether they are racial, economic, or some other factor if they don't discuss, evaluate and work to mitigate them.
What is the difference between a Board Policy and an Administrative Regulation?
School board policies define the purposes and framework of topic areas in general terms, this includes everything from sexual harassment among staff, to student programs, to facilities planning. Policies meet legal requirements and help communicate the intentions of the board, acting as a guide as staff then develop Administrative Regulations (AR’s).
Administrative regulations define how the policy is implemented, with specific processes and procedures written for our District’s needs. Administrative regulations are the detailed directions that act upon the policy. AR’s help specify things like enforcement, they give added instruction, assign responsibility, or give specific examples or applications.
What state or federal laws apply to this AR?
Under Oregon law, “[a] person may not be subjected to discrimination in any public elementary, secondary or community college education program or service, school or interschool activity or in any higher education program or service, school or interschool activity where the program, service, school or activity is financed in whole or in part by moneys appropriated by the Legislative Assembly.”(1) Discrimination includes “any act that unreasonably differentiates treatment, intended or unintended, or any act that is fair in form but discriminatory in operation, either of which is based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, age or disability.”(2) Oregon law broadly defines, “sexual orientation” as an individual’s actual or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality or gender identity, regardless of whether the individual’s gender identity, appearance, expression or behavior differs from that traditionally associated with the individual’s sex at birth.(3)
Additionally, federal law under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) generally prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded programs and activities.(4) The United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued guidance recognizing that Title IX protects transgender and gender nonconforming students.(5) Additionally, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice have stated that under Title IX, “discrimination based on a person’s gender identity, a person’s transgender status, or a person’s nonconformity to sex stereotypes constitutes discrimination based on sex” and has asserted a significant interest in ensuring that all students, including transgender students, have the opportunity to learn in an environment free of sex discrimination in public schools.(6)
1 ORS 659.850(2).
2 ORS 659.850 (1).
3 ORS 174.100.
4 20 U.S.C. §1681(a) (2006).
5 See 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681-1688 (2006); 34 C.F.R. Part 106 (2010); 54 C.F.R. Part 54 (2000); United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Questions and Answers on Title IX and Single-Sex Elementary and Secondary Classes and Extracurricular Activities (December 1, 2014).
6 See Statement of Interest of the United States, Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, Case No. 4:15cv54 (E.D. Virg. filed June 29, 2015).
Why will the district not disclose a student's gender identity to parents/guardians?
Gender identity can be a highly sensitive issue and we believe that a student should have the choice to disclose this information when they choose, and when they feel safe to do so. There may be a number of reasons that a student may not feel ready to share this information, such as a fear of family conflict.
According to a recent study from Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, LGBTQ young people are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than non-LGBTQ youth. Family conflict is cited as the most common cause of all youth homelessness. For LGBTQ youth in particular, the conflict tends to be over their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Are there single stall bathrooms accessible to students in each school?
How are we defining the identity of non-conforming students?
How are locker rooms and bathrooms going to be monitored?
Will this administrative regulation affect athletics?
School athletics are governed by the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) which has its own policy with respect to participation by students who identify as transgender. Our district will follow the guidance and policies set forth by the OSAA in relation to our school athletics program.
How will individuals be accommodated who seek additional privacy?
Any student – transgender or not – may request increased privacy, regardless of the reason, and should be provided with a reasonable alternative. Examples of additional privacy options include, bathroom stalls, separate changing schedules, or use of a nearby restroom or nurse’s office. If additional accommodations are needed the district will work with the individual student and our counseling team to determine an appropriate resolution that does not compromise safety, or place undue burden on our staff.
Additional Information
Studies have found there is no link between trans-inclusive policies and bathroom safety. Studies, such as this one from Williams Institute at UCLA School, conclude that reports of privacy and safety violations in public restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms are exceedingly rare.
Alternatively, exclusionary bathroom polices have found to harm transgener students, and, transgender teens who attend schools that restrict bathroom useage are found to be at higher risk of sexual assault.
Just over 1 out of every 4 students in the study, or 25.9%, reported being a victim of sexual assault in the past 12 months. Transgender and gender-nonbinary teens who were subject to restroom or locker room restrictions had an even higher prevalence of sexual assault, at 36%, according to the findings.
Local Resources for Youth:
