SJPS Works Toward an Impartial Education
history
On November 9, 2020, SJPS’s Board of Education decided on the “2020-2021 Resolution to Foster Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Throughout St. Joseph Public Schools.” The seven members of the Board passed it unanimously. Many events occurred prior to the conclusion.
In 2018, the school district drew up a new improvement plan, setting objectives such as creating a learner-centered culture and a system of support for students.
When Mrs. Ann Cardon was superintendent of SJPS, she began working with the high school’s students to better understand the experience of minority populations in the school district: Black or African-American, LGBTQIA+, economically disadvantaged, and more.
She engaged in fishbowl activities with the students and other employees of the district.
A fishbowl activity is a teaching strategy implemented for students to share and deliberate over questions with a small group discussing in the middle; the rest of the participants listen and reflect in a circle outside in the shape of a fishbowl.
After Mrs. Cardon’s departure from SJPS, the district’s superintendent successors Dr. Thomas Bruce and interim superintendent Mrs. Kelly Gaideski continued the work she had started. Present at the fishbowl conversations, Mrs. Gaideski witnessed first-hand the student conversations.
“We sat on the outside as administrators and listened to some of our students talk about their experience in the high school—and it wasn’t equitable. It was raw. All of us understand that this is urgent work and necessary work,” Mrs. Gaideski shared.
As conversations between administrators and board members carried on, action evolved from them. Mr. Barry Conybeare, President of the SJPS Board of Education, organized mandatory diversity training for the members of the Board in the fall of 2019. The training they attended, hosted by Lakeland’s Population Health Center, specifically focused on physical and emotional trauma and its effects on the prosperity of children.
“I wanted to start a conversation at the Board level to make sure we were all understanding some of these same issues and starting to have the same concepts to work from,” Mr. Conybeare said.
Eventually, the ideas of the administration members came to fruition in the November resolution.
committees
To help execute the commitments and policies the resolution speaks of, the district is working according to the Building Equitable Learning Environments (BELE) Network’s Framework.
The BELE Network is one of “inspired educators, researchers, nonprofit organizations, and funders... collectively creating the resources and tools to build a better, equitable version of public education in America so every student can unlock their full potential,” according to their website. For more information, go to belenetwork.org.
The BELE Framework suggests four areas to prioritize positive outcomes for students: Teaching and Learning; Schoolwide Systems & Structures; Family, Caregiver & Community Partnerships; and District & State Policies. Fittingly, SJPS is in the process of creating four committees focused on each of these points. Every committee will be composed of administrators, a Board member, a teacher from each school level,* a student, and a parent.
Organizers are looking for student members; if you are interested in applying for a position within one of these committees, fill out this application.
Overarching the four BELE-outlined committees, the Task Force for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (TIDE) has already been formed. Luke Bingaman, 12, De'Asia Branch, 12, Norah Judge, 12, and Myla Jackson, 11, are student members of the group.
The inclusion of these student leaders is essential to TIDE’s main purpose, which is for “students [to] have an inclusive learning environment that is celebratory of our diversity and working towards equitable… learning environments,” Mrs. Gaideski said.
The majority of the labor required by the resolution and its initiative will fall upon the strategic committees.
“This is a lifetime project—a long-term project. We’re trying to build a system,” Mr. Conybeare said.
For the complicated, systemic equity issues that lie within a school district, it will take time and incremental change for student experiences in the district to enhance—especially those of minority populations, he concluded. In addition, district leaders suggest programs, new educational materials, professional development sessions, and more must be set up and take place for progress to occur.
survey
To acquire foundational information for the district, the committee’s initial project will be a survey conducted for all students at Upton and SJHS. Along with other Berrien County school districts, SJPS is working with Berrien Regional Educational Service Agency (BRESA) to generate the survey. After collecting a county-level database of information from the survey, BRESA will send each participating district’s data back to them.
For St. Joe students, an allotted time in class will be dedicated to filling out the survey, and is set to publish in the near future. Students are encouraged to honestly complete survey questions to better the integrity of the information being collected. No identifying questions will be asked, but some of demographic nature will be identified so results can be separated by different populations within St. Joseph Public Schools.
“We’re hoping we get 95% [or higher] participation and [that] everyone will fill out the demographics because it will allow us to look at [the] population as a whole,” Mr. Conybeare said.
completed and future plans**
In addition to signing the resolution and helping TIDE, Board members participated in Brave Talks run by Spectrum Health Lakeland, where community members discuss and examine structural racism’s impact.
This past Martin Luther King Jr. Day, SJPS staff, administration, and Board members were introduced to the United Way 21-Day Equity Challenge. The challenge helps educate the community about becoming an ally, building an equitable culture, learning the history of racism in Southwest Michigan, and more through self-reflective practices.
Within the classroom of elementary schools, classroom libraries have been reviewed and diversified to ensure children can read books with characters that reflect their appearances. Strategic novel selection, multicultural art showcasing, and curriculum adjustments are other actions that have been administered in the district, as reported by TIDE.
Also at the elementary level, the organization Calling All Colors helps children in the area interact and “participate in structured activities to foster understanding of ethnic/racial stereotypes while developing problem-solving skills,” the group’s Facebook “About” page stated. SJPS has hosted events with Calling All Colors and other local schools.
Clubs relating to the matter of equity have also been developed at the high school, such as Social Justice Club and Gay-Straight Alliance Club (GSA)***.
One prominent club that began last school year that had impacted many students is the Boys & Girls Club, whose mission is to “enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens,” according to the Boys & Girls Club of America website. When the organization can return to school, the club’s gathering space will be expanded accordingly to keep participants safe.
To offer support sessions for students, GoTime was created to ensure educational success in the school day.
The more equitable disciplinary method, restorative justice, has been implemented at all levels in SJPS to replace zero tolerance ones which “contribute to high rates of suspension, especially for minority populations,” the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) reports. Restorative justice has the fundamental beliefs of “respect, accountability, healing, and empathy,” according to MDE and requires wrong-doers to fix mistakes and emend with victims.
According to district leaders, these goals and strategies require students to genuinely participate to attain better equity in our schools.
“We want their participation. We want them to be part of the solution that we’re trying to come up with to move us forward in creating this strategic plan—then carrying it out most importantly,” Mrs. Gaideski said.
*=“Level” indicating elementary, middle, and high school.
**=Want to know more about what's been done already? Check out this infographic put together by TIDE.
***= The listed clubs are not the only ones building equity in SJHS.
photo by Leyla Dumke