An openBEAM 5+1 proposal to address school disciplinary dispairty

Impact Lvl 1: Children & Youth ; Diversity and Inclusion ; Education ; Governance/Public Policy

Public Pinned Report on Closing referral disparities (resolution agreement with Office of Civil Rights) led by Rochester Public Schools

Last modified: January 05, 2016

Contents

Highlights

The Rochester Public School District is taking the first steps to address a disproportionate disciplinary rate for black and Hispanic students. A community engagement session to get input and solicit involvement from community members will be held at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 7 at Riverside Elementary School. I believe that conversation is necessary but not sufficient. We need to follow up with actions. Here is a 5+1 action plan.

Background

Here is a 5+1 action plan.

According to the following 2015-12-09 PB Report and 2016-01-04 PB Editorial

The Rochester Public School District is taking the first steps to address a disproportionate disciplinary rate for black and Hispanic students.

The Rochester Public School District is taking the first steps to address a disproportionate disciplinary rate for black and Hispanic students.

Black and Hispanic students are disciplined at a higher rate than white or Asian students, according to an Office of Civil Rights report released in September, after a five-year look at district disciplinary data. Though OCR found no evidence of "intentional discrimination or any wrongdoing by RPS."

But with growing concern about the results, community members say regardless of if the district is at fault, the results are worrisome — and some hope to become involved in the process of solving the problem.

"I guess I should take comfort in the fact that there are other districts that share the commonality of disproportionality, but I don't," said board Vice Chair Gary Smith. "It may be a national problem, but I think we have to own this and take local responsibility to get some results."

Smith said he wants to prioritize engaging with community members to come up with solutions.

Kolloh Nimley, with the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage was one of the first to respond with concern. She and Assistant Superintendent Brenda Lewis have set the date for a community engagement session to get input and solicit involvement from community members. The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 7 with a location to be determined.

The district will present the data and discuss ways to solve the problem, but one of the outstanding questions is why this disparity is happening in the first place, said Don Barlow, a community member and pastor with Rochester Community Baptist Church. Barlow addressed the board Tuesday night in the public comments portion.

The compliance review ended in a compliance agreement with OCR, the specifics of which are being implemented. Already the district created a new special assignment principal position for "culturally responsive teaching and learning." It is possible the district will re-assess its disciplinary policy, and it is continuing to implement Positive Behavior Interventions and Support.

The district is working with Great Lakes Equity Center, an Indianapolis-based Department of Education initiative that provides "technical assistance, resources and professional learning opportunities related to equity, civil rights and systemic school reform," for the Midwest, according to its website.

The specifics of that partnership will be discussed at the community meeting as well as looking at possible causes for the higher rates of suspension.

"I think it is important before a strategy can truly be developed the reasons for the suspensions or expulsions should be identified," Barlow said. He expects the board will be "highly responsive and highly accountable" to sharing the data and the reasons behind it.

Of the students who received office referrals in the 2014-15 school year, 63 percent of those came from less than 5 percent of students, according to the district's analysis.

Of the district's almost 17,500 students, 64 percent are white; 14 percent are black; 9 percent are Hispanic and 12 percent are Asian.

But Rochester is not alone, the district looked at comparable districts, including Mankato, North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale and South Washington County, all of which had similar rates of disproportionate discipline.

But school board members weren't exactly comforted by that Tuesday night.

"Let's be a leader, and let's be proactive and be a leader about remedies we can do to move in the right direction here," Smith said.

"Let's be a leader, and let's be proactive and be a leader about remedies we can do to move in the right direction here," Gary Smith said.

"Let's be a leader, and let's be proactive and be a leader about remedies we can do to move in the right direction here," Gary Smith said.

Back to Table of Content

openbeam-5-step---1-plan

I believe that the above kind of community conversation is important but not enough.

We need to follow up with actions.

How about as part of the community engagement session, let's engage community organizations such as: Diversity Council ; IMAA ; Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) ; Rochester-area Chamber of Commerce ?

1. Review and analyze root causes and contributing factors - do a thorough social determinants analysis

2. Review what organizations are missioned to address the root causes and what projects aim to address the root causes?

3. How well are these organization/projects doing? And why?

4. How can they better work together?

5. What are missing?

And last but not least, don't invent, go back to review what Olmsted County 21st Century Diversity Taskforce has suggested before: which ideas work and didn't?

Back to Table of Content

Related Reports

Other Closing referral disparities (resolution agreement with Office of Civil Rights) Pinned Reports

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Impact Lvl2:

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Impact Lvl1: Children & Youth, Diversity and Inclusion, Education
Impact Lvl2: C2C: 8th Grade Math, C2C: Post-Secondary, C2C: Workforce Participation, Higher-Education

2018-2019 Report presented to RPS school board and comparison with 2018 reporting.

Project Report of Closing referral disparities (resolution agreement with Office of Civil Rights) : August 24, 2017 : August 2017 Update of June 27 RPS Board Study of 2016-2017 discipline data
Impact Lvl1: Children & Youth, Diversity and Inclusion, Education
Impact Lvl2:

August updating the 2017-06-27 RPS Board Study of discipline data with school breakdown.

Sections

An openBEAM 5+1 proposal to address school disciplinary dispairty

Highlights

Contents

Background

openbeam-5-step---1-plan

1. Review and analyze root causes and contributing factors - do a thorough social determinants analysis

2. Review what organizations are missioned to address the root causes and what projects aim to address the root causes?

3. How well are these organization/projects doing? And why?

4. How can they better work together?

5. What are missing?

And last but not least, don't invent, go back to review what Olmsted County 21st Century Diversity Taskforce has suggested before: which ideas work and didn't?

Related Reports

Other Closing referral disparities (resolution agreement with Office of Civil Rights) Pinned Reports

Pinned Rochester Public Schools organization and project reports

Aging: Age-Friendly Olmsted County (AFOC) Plan

Co-designing: Co-design Tracker

Diversity and Inclusion: Mobilizing Olmsted Voices for Equity (M.O.V.E)

Diversity and Inclusion: City of Rochester: 2020 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Action Plan

Economic Development: Destination Medical Center (DMC)

Education: Rochester Public Schools Strategic Plan

Education: Developing and Executing on Cradle to Career Plan

Governance/Public Policy: Planning To Succeed: Rochester 2040 Comprehensive Plan (P2S)

Health Determinants: Community Health Assessment Process

Housing: City of Rochester Home Ownership Creation Program

Housing: Coalition for Rochester Area Housing

Medical Services: Mayo Clinic Bold Forward Unbound

Mobility: LINK - Bus Rapid Transit

Recreation & Open Space: Rochester Sports and Recreation Complex

Sustainability: Sustainability and Resiliency Action Plan

Vision/Identity: America's City for Health

Vision/Identity: Rochester Vision 2050

Workforce Development: Targeted Business Enterprise Utilization

Workforce Development: Equity in the Built Environment (Bloomberg)