BROCKTON — For the past three years on Election Day, while Brockton Public Schools students stayed home, staff and faculty participated in the Achieving Change Together conference, an internal professional development training for staff across the district that focuses on issues relating to diversity.
According to Darnell Williams from the Brockton Public School Department of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), the goal of the conference was to “help them understand EDI in their classrooms and the school-wide level.”
"It was a huge day," he said.
The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion office, which opened in 2021, has worked to decolonize and diversify the school district’s curriculum and instruction materials.
“I am proud of what my team has accomplished in just 3 years,” said Assistant Superintendent Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Renee Heywood said.
In late-March, Heywood and Williams, who serves as the senior administrator of professional growth and school culture for the department, found out their jobs would be removed from the district next year. As Brockton schools wrangle with budget constraints, district leaders eliminated the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion department and created a director-level position to carry out the work of the office.
“Hiring one director without a team and not having an assistant superintendent with districtwide authority is not sufficient for a district such as Brockton,” Heywood said.
Heywood and her team have developed a list of programs and services for both students and faculty in Brockton Public Schools. According to Williams, it’s unclear how those services will continue going into next year as no meetings have been held with the department.
“It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense,” Williams said. “This will become a low priority for the district.”
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What the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion office does
The department's website homepage lists several ways the office helps students and teachers:
Reviewingschool policies, procedures, and practices to ensure they are equitable and inclusive of all employees and students and that they promote positive relationships.
Supportingthe district in creating positive and academically rigorous school learning environments for educators, staff, and students through affinity spaces and groups.
Supportingemployees of color through affinity spaces and groups that promote inclusion and agency.
Supportingemployees in professional learning workshops that center our work in the Focus Areas and on equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice.
Supportingeducators in using instructional curriculum materials that decolonize learning for students by providing more "mirrors and windows".
Supporting students through BPS Community Mentor program.
Collaborating on affinity spaces and groups that promote inclusion and engagement for students.
Bridging community organizations to the students (i.e., college/career access, health & wellness agencies, etc.)
Preparing schools for integrating trauma-informed care and restorative practices as the approach for restoring harm
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The school district's Director of Communications Jordan Mayblum said, "The budget realities we're facing require that we prioritize classroom-level support for a growing population of students from diversebackgrounds as well as those with special education needs, which this restructuring ultimately enables."
Bringing in diverse staff
Angel Cosme, a special education teacher at West Middle School, said the office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion helped him land his current job. He had applied to several Brockton Public Schools positions but wasn't hearing back, even though he previously taught life skills in the district.
"I've pushed to get him hired for that," Williams said.
The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion department works to bring in more teachers and staff of color, since more than 80% of students in BPS identify as students of color and over 70% of teachers are white.
Williams said that a member of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion office is present during staff job interviews to ensure personal biases or prejudices of the hiring team aren't impacting a potential candidate during the hiring process.
The department also created an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion "starter kit" for elementary and middle schools that includes library books from diverse authors, calendars, flags and other resources to use in classrooms. It also made an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion glossary of terms to be used across Brockton Public Schools.
Williams said this cut reflects a "national trend" that's happening in schools across the country.
"When there's a slash of a budget, oftentimes EDI is the first to be on the chopping block," Williams said. "In fact, it is happening in Brockton."
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Student peer mentorship
The department's work doesn't just revolve around racial justice issues but supports students with disabilities and other student communities that are usually left out.
Tyler Curry, an eighth-grade student at West Middle School, told school committee members that he's been bullied by his peers and the office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion helped improve his school life.
"Cutting off the EDI, I think that would be wrong for everyone," Curry said at a May 29 school committee meeting. "The EDI is helping all of us and I can't just do nothing for it."
"I want to keep EDI so life in school could be better than now," he said.
Curry is part of West Middle School's student equity council, a group of peer mentors who advocate for the voices of other students. The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion department oversees the student equity councils at all Brockton Public Schools middle schools, and Cosme is the faculty advisor for the team at West Middle School.
At the high school level, the department oversees the student ambassador program at Brockton High, Promise High School and the Edison Day Academy.
“For many of my peers and for myself, the EDI program has been nothing short of lifechanging,” Brockton High student ambassador Amelia Vieira said at a school board meeting on April 9. “It provided us with a platform to share our experiences and our voices and affect change within our school community.”
Without the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion department, Cosme hopes the student equity council and ambassador programs become school clubs so students can continue their peer mentorship. Williams said that no one knows who will take on the office's work next year, or if the district-wide professional development conference will stay in place.
"This EDI office got created because of the blood, sweat and tears of community members to push for this type of work," Williams said.
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: What is Brockton Public Schools' Equity, Diversity, Inclusion office?
