Environmental Charter Schools
Minutes
Equity and Diversity Committee Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday November 27, 2018 at 4:30 PM
Location
ECHS Auxiliary Office, 2625 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Suite 100, Redondo Beach, CA 90278
ECMS-I Members:
Equity & Diversity Taskforce Charter
The Equity & Diversity Taskforce promotes and supports ECS’s work to develop a school culture that fosters equity, inclusion and an appreciation of the diversity within our community.
Recent events in our nation have drawn attention to structures and processes that have historically disadvantaged people of color and persist today. We acknowledge that ECS, as an educational institution, is situated within a historical context and is not immune to the biases and structural inequities that have disenfranchised the communities we serve. As a public education leader in Los Angeles, we have a powerful responsibility to respond proactively and to embrace opportunities to change the structures and processes within our institution that undermine our efforts to educate and empower ECS students.
We need to critically examine our practices with an eye to continual growth, modeling the lifelong learning and critical thinking that will empower our students to be quality stewards of their communities and our world.
History of this Work
The Taskforce will build upon the work already begun at our three campuses, including Arlene Ford’s Great Minds Inquiry at ECHS in 2011-2014, the ongoing efforts of the ECHS Equity & Pedagogy Coalition and collaborative work of ECMS with Tyrone Howard in 2015-16.
Call to Action
The Equity & Diversity Taskforce will examine data on topics such as student achievement, school discipline, school climate and enrollment trends/retention; address the roots of bias; share insights and suggest possible resources or actions to ECS leadership. The Taskforce membership will include parent, student, teacher, staff, administration and Board representation. Community members may also serve on the Taskforce.
The goals of the Committee include:
THE ORDER OF BUSINESS MAY BE CHANGED WITHOUT NOTICE
Notice is hereby given that the order of consideration of matters on this agenda may be changed without prior notice.
PUBLIC SPEAKERS AT STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Notice is hereby given that consistent with the requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act, special presentations not mentioned in the agenda may be made at this meeting. However, any such presentation will be for information only. The public should be aware that the Committee is unable by law to deliberate or take action on items raised during the Presentations from the Floor section.
Environmental Charter Schools recognizes that it benefits greatly from public input and perspective. Individuals are invited to address the Committee on any topic or subject matter that falls within the Committee's purview. Speakers may sign up in person immediately prior to the beginning of the Committee meeting by speaking with the Committee Chair.
Should a member of the public wish to speak on matters not listed on the agenda, they may speak during the Presentations from the Floor section of the agenda. Speakers will be given a maximum of three (3) minutes each to address the Committee (non-English speakers utilizing translators will be given a maximum of six (6) minutes each). Please note that the Committee allows a maximum of 10 minutes to each subject as determined by the Committee Chair.
Should a member of the public wish to speak on matters listed on the agenda, they may speak during the Presentations from the Floor section of the agenda. Speakers will be given a maximum of five (5) minutes each to address the Committee (non-English speakers utilizing translators will be given a maximum of ten (10) minutes each).
The public should be aware that the Committee is unable by law to deliberate or take action on items raised during the Presentations from the Floor section.
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION WILL BE PROVIDED FOR ANY INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY
Pursuant to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, any individual with a disability who requires reasonable accommodation to attend or participate in this meeting of the Governing Board may request assistance by contacting ECS at (310) 214-3408, option 5.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information concerning this agenda or for materials relating to this meeting, please contact ECS at (310) 214-3408, option 5.
- Tashanda Giles Jones
- Danny Cristales
- Dr. Qiana O'Leary
- Sabrina Johnson
- KC Villoria
- Sara Diaz
- Ernie Levroney
- Jenina Ramirez
- Danielle Kelsick (chair)
- Alison Diaz
Equity & Diversity Taskforce Charter
The Equity & Diversity Taskforce promotes and supports ECS’s work to develop a school culture that fosters equity, inclusion and an appreciation of the diversity within our community.
Recent events in our nation have drawn attention to structures and processes that have historically disadvantaged people of color and persist today. We acknowledge that ECS, as an educational institution, is situated within a historical context and is not immune to the biases and structural inequities that have disenfranchised the communities we serve. As a public education leader in Los Angeles, we have a powerful responsibility to respond proactively and to embrace opportunities to change the structures and processes within our institution that undermine our efforts to educate and empower ECS students.
We need to critically examine our practices with an eye to continual growth, modeling the lifelong learning and critical thinking that will empower our students to be quality stewards of their communities and our world.
History of this Work
The Taskforce will build upon the work already begun at our three campuses, including Arlene Ford’s Great Minds Inquiry at ECHS in 2011-2014, the ongoing efforts of the ECHS Equity & Pedagogy Coalition and collaborative work of ECMS with Tyrone Howard in 2015-16.
Call to Action
The Equity & Diversity Taskforce will examine data on topics such as student achievement, school discipline, school climate and enrollment trends/retention; address the roots of bias; share insights and suggest possible resources or actions to ECS leadership. The Taskforce membership will include parent, student, teacher, staff, administration and Board representation. Community members may also serve on the Taskforce.
The goals of the Committee include:
- Provide a fresh perspective on ECS data sets, considering where data suggest there may be bias or structures/processes that are unfair.
- Support ECS leadership in identifying resources to help develop the ECS community’s capacity to be inclusive and recognize and mitigate bias.
- Develop metrics or benchmarks to help measure effectiveness of equity initiatives.
THE ORDER OF BUSINESS MAY BE CHANGED WITHOUT NOTICE
Notice is hereby given that the order of consideration of matters on this agenda may be changed without prior notice.
PUBLIC SPEAKERS AT STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Notice is hereby given that consistent with the requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act, special presentations not mentioned in the agenda may be made at this meeting. However, any such presentation will be for information only. The public should be aware that the Committee is unable by law to deliberate or take action on items raised during the Presentations from the Floor section.
Environmental Charter Schools recognizes that it benefits greatly from public input and perspective. Individuals are invited to address the Committee on any topic or subject matter that falls within the Committee's purview. Speakers may sign up in person immediately prior to the beginning of the Committee meeting by speaking with the Committee Chair.
Should a member of the public wish to speak on matters not listed on the agenda, they may speak during the Presentations from the Floor section of the agenda. Speakers will be given a maximum of three (3) minutes each to address the Committee (non-English speakers utilizing translators will be given a maximum of six (6) minutes each). Please note that the Committee allows a maximum of 10 minutes to each subject as determined by the Committee Chair.
Should a member of the public wish to speak on matters listed on the agenda, they may speak during the Presentations from the Floor section of the agenda. Speakers will be given a maximum of five (5) minutes each to address the Committee (non-English speakers utilizing translators will be given a maximum of ten (10) minutes each).
The public should be aware that the Committee is unable by law to deliberate or take action on items raised during the Presentations from the Floor section.
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION WILL BE PROVIDED FOR ANY INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY
Pursuant to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, any individual with a disability who requires reasonable accommodation to attend or participate in this meeting of the Governing Board may request assistance by contacting ECS at (310) 214-3408, option 5.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information concerning this agenda or for materials relating to this meeting, please contact ECS at (310) 214-3408, option 5.
Committee Members Present
Alison Diaz, Danielle Kelsick, Danny Cristales, Ernie Levroney, Jenina Ramirez, KC Fabiero, Qiana O'Leary, Sabrina Johnson, Tashanda Giles Jones
Committee Members Absent
Sara Diaz
Guests Present
Dave Trejo, Dr. Beth Bernstein-Yamashiro, Farnaz Golshani-Flechner, Jeremiah David, Julie Vo, Kami Cotler, Robert Maxwell, Sarah Jamieson
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance and Guests
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
Danielle Kelsick called a meeting of the Equity and Diversity Committee of Environmental Charter Schools to order on Tuesday Nov 27, 2018 at 4:33 PM.
II. Presentations from the Floor
A.
Presentation from the Floor on Non Agenda Items
None.
B.
Presentations from the Floor on Agenda Items
None.
III. Discussion Items / Updates
A.
Meeting Overview
Committee goals were proposed. Two suggestions were shared: 1) adding a goal for stakeholder engagement with a focus on parents. 2) changing the shared focus goal to be more explicitly about increasing African-American student achievement.
The continuing shared focus of improving enrollment, retention, and achievement outcomes of African American students at ECS was reinforced.
The committee then went into the opener conducting a design challenge activity.
The continuing shared focus of improving enrollment, retention, and achievement outcomes of African American students at ECS was reinforced.
The committee then went into the opener conducting a design challenge activity.
B.
Opener
The opener activity was conducted and a reflection period on how it could apply to the committee's goals and actions ensued.
IV. Study Sessions
A.
SMARTE Goal & Action Plan Feedback
The committee conducted the study session by breaking out into site-based groups.
groups. At the conclusion of the study session, the following feedback that was shared among school sites, Home Office, and board members was most resonant with each school:
ECMS-Inglewood: Provide incentives and prizes for parents that attend workshops. Delve into testing data collection and identifying which action/attack plans for which specific tests are most effective in improving academic outcomes.
ECHS: Collect a subset of data on African American 11th grade students while collecting the larger set of equity data as planned in goal 1. Specifically, interview African American students and select a representative sample of 5 students. Share this student interview data with teachers so that they know these students' stories. This sharing will the prototype, which can be iterated through the equity-centered design cycle.
ECMS-Gardena: Focus more on building the efficacy of student learning, with the theory that improving achievement for all students will also increase the achievement of African American students.
groups. At the conclusion of the study session, the following feedback that was shared among school sites, Home Office, and board members was most resonant with each school:
ECMS-Inglewood: Provide incentives and prizes for parents that attend workshops. Delve into testing data collection and identifying which action/attack plans for which specific tests are most effective in improving academic outcomes.
ECHS: Collect a subset of data on African American 11th grade students while collecting the larger set of equity data as planned in goal 1. Specifically, interview African American students and select a representative sample of 5 students. Share this student interview data with teachers so that they know these students' stories. This sharing will the prototype, which can be iterated through the equity-centered design cycle.
ECMS-Gardena: Focus more on building the efficacy of student learning, with the theory that improving achievement for all students will also increase the achievement of African American students.
B.
Data Exploration
Data Manager Robert Maxwell presented training on the Schoolzilla Mosaic program for data analysis for equity and diversity purposes.
V. Action Items
A.
Approve Revised Committee Goals
Tabled.
VI. Closing Items
A.
Closing Discussion
Closing information was shared by Danielle Kelsick relating to the timeline ahead for EDC work as well as upcoming PD opportunities.
Committee Member Tashanda Giles-Jones appreciated taking the time out to hear and discuss what other sites are doing, igniting creative solutions to challenging equity and diversity issues.
Committee Member Alison Diaz appreciated the design cycle learning process, from initial prototype to testing to ending prototype.
Committee Member Dr. O'Leary appreciated the feedback from multiple perspectives toward creating an equitable and diverse school environment.
Committee Member KC Fabiero appreciated the presence of Sarah Jamieson (Senior Manager of Recruitment & Talent) since equitable and inclusive practices are crucial for organizational recruitment and retention.
Committee Member Jenina Ramirez appreciated having the opportunity to visit the ECMS-Gardena as an ECS board member.
Committee Member Tashanda Giles-Jones appreciated taking the time out to hear and discuss what other sites are doing, igniting creative solutions to challenging equity and diversity issues.
Committee Member Alison Diaz appreciated the design cycle learning process, from initial prototype to testing to ending prototype.
Committee Member Dr. O'Leary appreciated the feedback from multiple perspectives toward creating an equitable and diverse school environment.
Committee Member KC Fabiero appreciated the presence of Sarah Jamieson (Senior Manager of Recruitment & Talent) since equitable and inclusive practices are crucial for organizational recruitment and retention.
Committee Member Jenina Ramirez appreciated having the opportunity to visit the ECMS-Gardena as an ECS board member.
B.
Adjourn Meeting
Danny Cristales made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Alison Diaz seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
| Roll Call | |
|---|---|
| Ernie Levroney |
Aye
|
| Qiana O'Leary |
Aye
|
| KC Fabiero |
Aye
|
| Tashanda Giles Jones |
Aye
|
| Danielle Kelsick |
Aye
|
| Sabrina Johnson |
Aye
|
| Alison Diaz |
Aye
|
| Jenina Ramirez |
Aye
|
| Danny Cristales |
Aye
|
| Sara Diaz |
Absent
|
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:32 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Danielle Kelsick