F.W. Parker Charter Essential School

Minutes

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee Meeting

Date and Time

Tuesday September 8, 2026 at 6:00 PM

Location

This meeting is hosted online.  http://parker.school/deicommittee

Committee Members Present

B. Harrigan (remote), C. Beasley (remote), E. Moura (remote), K. Grabarek (remote), K. Kintzing (remote), L. Hayner (remote), T. Testa (remote)

Committee Members Absent

M. Silva-Rosa

I. Opening Items

A.

Record Attendance

B.

Call the Meeting to Order

T. Testa called a meeting of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of F.W. Parker Charter Essential School to order on Tuesday Sep 8, 2026 at 6:04 PM.

C.

Approve Minutes

K. Kintzing made a motion to approve the minutes from DEI Committee Meeting on 06-08-26.
K. Grabarek seconded the motion.
The committee VOTED to approve the motion.

II. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

A.

Opening Connections

B.

Review PD Modules

  1. Review three DEI PD Modules. Tiffany
    1. Seeing the System — implicit bias & systemic barriers - Recognizing implicit bias in decision making.
    2. Talking Across Difference — engagement & trust
    3. Deciding With Equity — budgeting & resource allocation

 

  1. Tuning a Plan Protocol from CLEE-Module 1
    1. Tiffany described the three PD sessions for the year ahead at the Board of Trustees. Describe and facilitated the tuning protocol.
    2. Caroline presented the DEI PD and Facilitation Guide for the Board of Trustees. Focus on the first of the three modules to be delivered at the Board of Trustees Retreat. The three work together – one into the other.
    3. The first one looks at equity and inclusion within the Board and Committees. The first session focuses on implicit bias and systemic barriers. The goal is for all BOT decisions to be rooted on a foundation of equity.
    4. All of the sessions are built on What, So What, Now What. 
    5. We are trying to build routines – thinking routines – with equity at the center
    6. Articulates why this is important – and why this is important at Parker
    7. Which students are served well, and which students are not served well, by current practice.
    8. Opportunity to repeat the routine with regularity. There will be “thinking homework” where BOT members practice what we learn at subcommittee meetings.
    9. Clarifying questions?
      1. Is there pre-thinking that we should do?
      2. Is there a specific prompt for subcommittees to consider as part of their homework? 

Yes, who is served well – and who is not – by the work of this subcommittee?

C.

Tuning Protocol for First Module

  1. Committee members reviewed the Facilitation Guide and Slides
  2. Warm feedback – where does it connect?
    1. We are learning an important skill – that will be useful later on
    2. Appreciate that we applied the learning to real work – SOA data
    3. We did something similar last year – we are doing this again with clarity and conviction
    4. Mindset practice – to be applied in the work of your subcommittee
    5. Doable ask – thinking about the work that the subcommittee is doing, but through a different lens

 

  1. Cool feedback – where does it not connect?
    1. Not sure this session is about identifying systemic barriers. This is about building and practicing skills to do that later in the year in your subcommittees.
    2. Clarify how and why we want to use the SOA data – is it for information sharing or deep analysis? Brian said more for info, to be applied to the work to follow.
    3. Slides may be clearer with less info – separate the “Practice” slide into two
    4. Clarify how homework will be shared in the next meeting. Be more explicit on how people share the results of their homework so everyone does it.
    5. It may feel a little odd to apply this to our subcommittee work.
    6. The second meeting will include recap and discussion of homework. Perhaps we pair BOT members across subcommittees for lookback discussion
    7. We can ask subcommittee members to share equity discussions when presenting goals
    8. Are there other skills that need PD? Yes, to be embedded in sessions 2 and 3. All of the sessions are responding to needs identified by the BOT in last year’s survey.

III. Closing Items

A.

Adjourn Meeting

There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:56 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
T. Testa