2023-02-08-LHRC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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SJ - Additionally, is the racial diversity among teachers spread evenly across departments in schools or are they clustered within subjects like World Language? A note that Brookline Public Schools has greater racial diversity among its teachers suggests LPS can do more to increase the diversity of its teachers. While LPS has improved racial diversity of its staff is above state level averages, there is more work to do. Part of the reasons Brookline’s number may be higher can be due to the fact that they began actively looking at diversifying staff as early as 2008 and they are a lso more Black and Brown residents in their town which might offer some advantages in recruiting educators of color (EOC). Part of the work in recruiting EoC is to capitalize on the fact that Lexington is actually majority students of color. LPS also wants to provide a more complete picture of the diversity of the district including capturing data and recruiting staff representation along other areas of identity such as LGBTQIA+ identity and religion. The district also looks at staff diversity by building and department to assess whether greater support needs to be provided. Implementing a new staff survey to capture data along other categories of identity and understanding where intersectionality’s exist will help with an even more in-depth analysis of DEI efforts at LPS. JH - How does the district recruit more diverse candidates? The district has guidelines and information on its Equity website and links within the report that. Employees of color provide feedback on practices that are useful for retention. LPS struggles wi th teacher shortages as with all districts nationwide as well as a reduced pipeline of candidates of color in the education pipeline. LPS does not require licensure as a prerequisite for hiring as one step that enables the district to expand on the pool of possible candidates and will work with those individuals to get to licensure if needed. LPS also is partnering with Quincy Public Schools to recruit candidates into teacher education programs to increase the pipeline of educators of color. MS - expressed interest in data around disciplinary outcomes for LGBTQ students. The Systemic Barriers Report does not have the ability to track discipline data based on sexual orientation and gender identity because this information is not attached to the individual discipline incidents. However, data from the Youth at Risk Behavior Survey is included and provides some information about the experiences of LGBTQ youth at school and this information protects the anonymity of the students. AI - Students can often feel more comfortable connecting to a counselor or social worker who they can relate to. How many counselors are BIPOC at LPS? LPS does have a diverse mental health support staff and is in the process of redistributing caseloads to spread the work more evenly and will work on the needs of students who may benefit more from being assigned to a counselor they see reflected in themselves. An LHRC member emphasized getting this message out to students because most students assume they have to go to the counselor assigned to them. About 1/3 of mental health staff are BIPOC. At the same point, the district is also cognizant that this work often results in additional emotional labor. While many staff with marginalized identities choose to support affinity spaces, the leaders of these departments are careful not to set this as an expectation. The year three training for new staff is provided to ensure staff can meet the needs of all students regardless of their identity. In fact, a recent focus group of some Black students at LHS, the students listed staff they most identified with and not all were Black. CD - Noticing that bullying has gone up. Looking at the bullying incidents and recognizing that it is particularly challenging at the elementary level and also that t here is a difference between allegations and confirmed instances. What is the process once an