The latest statistics from the SLCPD tell us that gang membership is on the rise. Those statistics match the concerns that members of the community have expressed to me over the last few months.

For the last two decades the school district has used a prevention / intervention program called Colors of Success.

This program provides a fulltime case worker in the school that can work directly with a student and their family to steer away from gang involvement.

“With gang activity simmering to new levels across the Salt Lake Valley, there's a renewed sense of urgency for anti-gang initiatives like Colors of Success, said Bordeaux, who accepted a community leadership award from the FBI on Thursday on behalf of the program.”

(Salt Lake Tribune: Colors of Success anti-gang initiative honored by FBI Gang suppression)

In 2009, Colors of Success was in 13 schools within the district. Due to state budget cuts and other budget reductions, that number has dwindled over the years.

Oddly enough, the school district recently submitted a grant proposal to the State that would divert limited gang prevention/intervention funds into an existing curriculum program (Techniques for Tough Times) taught by a social studies teacher at East High School.

HERE IS A COPY OF THE GRANT PROPOSAL: District Grant Proposal

In a recent school board meeting: May 6, 2014 School Board Meeting

The Title I Director in response to my question stated:

“Techniques for Tough Times is about learning social skills and it is not meant as an intervention program”.

This latest blow to gang prevention/intervention from within, now limits Colors to 3-4 campuses when school starts this fall.

This is yet another example of an “out of touch”, Central Office. Gang membership and activity is on the rise and the school bureaucracy responds by funneling money away from Color of Success.

I am still in the process of gathering information on this issue: DISTRICT GRAMA RESPONSE

At the end of the day, the school district has now become complicit in the rise of gang activity within my community.

Curtis Linton, Archie Archuleta, Michael Clara -Following the 06/05/14 Equity Leadership Team Meeting

This past Thursday (06/05/2014) the Salt Lake City School District held its second Equity Leadership Team Meeting for 2014.

BACKGROUND:
The Equity Leadership Team had its inception in the district, in 2008. The September 1, 2009, School Board meeting the minutes sate the following:

“Kathleen Christy and Curtis Linton, School Improvement Network, told board members tonight’s report would provide a brief history of the Equity Leadership Team. Mr. Linton said the group was formed last year to look for ways to understand and close the racial achievement gap.

 Mr. Linton reported equity in the schools means providing educational opportunities and skills for all students so students can do what they want to do without barriers. He also suggested the district look at the various cultures to make sure all students are represented and included…”

It appears that the Equity Leadership Team fell out of favor with the district and they stopped meeting after 2011.

At our June 3, 2014, School Board meeting, the board president denied knowing anything about this committee’s existence, purpose or function, she also stated that the school board was not aware of the first meeting that was held on May 22, 2014.

Here is the video on that discussion:  School Board Discussion: Utah Consolidated Achievement Plan (video)

FIRST EQUITY LEADERSHIP TEAM MEETING (05/22-/14) for 2014

In the January 21, 2014 School Bard meeting, I requested that the district reconvene this group. This request was again made to the district following a community meeting with Rosa Salamanca of the U.S. Department of Justice, last month.

In mid-May of this year an email went out which included members of the school board. I was the only school board member to attend that meeting.

All members of the groups were asked to commit to the Four Agreements of Courageous Conversation:

•             Stay engaged

•             Experience discomfort

•             Speak your truth

•             Expect and accept non-closure

Here is my summary of that meeting:

Associate Superintendent of Educational Equity?

SECOND EQUITY LEADERSHIP TEAM MEETING (06/05-/14) for 2014

This meeting was held at Horizonte Alternative High School. The meeting started off oddly enough, with Superintendent McKell Withers stating that he rejected the idea of the district adding an Associate Superintendent of Educational Equity and Diversity within the organization of the district. He went on to recount all of the “good things” the district is doing for students of color.

He stated that those in the community that were calling for an Associate Superintendent of Educational Equity and Diversity were “uninformed” and were damaging their “own creditability”.  He made other critical comments about the idea, but I didn’t hear any support for what he was saying from those in attendance. He answered a couple of questions and then prematurely left the meeting. So he “spoke his truth” but didn’t “stay engaged” and avoided “experiencing discomfort”.

The balance of the meeting revolved around the need to weave equity into all aspects of the district. Several times in the meeting, I pointed out that the deficiencies being discussed are easily solved with the shepherding of an Associate Superintendent of Educational Equity and Diversity.

I for one remain convinced that our district will not see substantive change until changes are made to the organizational structure of the school district. The status quo is simply not working, no matter how much the school superintendent yells from the roof top that all is well.

3 June 2014

Hand Delivered
Kristi Swett, President
Salt Lake City Board of Education
℅ Salt Lake City School District
440 East 100 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84111-1891

Re: Associate Superintendent of Educational Equity & Diversity 

Dear President Swett,

On behalf of the residents and students that I represent, I am submitting this letter to express my support for the Salt Lake City School District creating the new position:

Associate Superintendent of Educational Equity & Diversity

The idea for this position within the organizational structure of the district had its genesis in two recent community/school meetings. The attached picture is a few of the participants (Senator James Evans, Mr. Archie Archuleta, Ms. Jennifer Sanchez and Michael Clára) that attended the meeting on May 1, 2014, held at the Salt Lake City School District’s Westside Community Learning Center.

This meeting was facilitated by Ms. Rosa Salamanca who is a conciliation specialist with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) out of Denver, Colorado. The stated purpose of the meeting:

To Identify and Address Educational Access Concerns
For Race and Ethnic Youth Attending The Salt Lake City School District

In this meeting, and in conjunction with the district’s recently reconvened Equity Leadership Team (see attached) that met on May 22, 2014, we concluded that beliefs in educational equity, no matter how powerful or how compelling, make little difference in the absence of practices that translate those beliefs into day-to-day reality in our schools.

We also established the need to develop a district-wide approach in which all schools, not just isolated campuses, are places in which children of color experience the same kind of school success that most of their peers have always enjoyed.

“Rather than focusing reform efforts primarily upon the building as the focus of school change, a district-level approach acknowledges the critical role of the central office and school board in making learning improvement. The strategic linking together of many institutional elements can support improved learning outcomes.” (James Berry and Charles Achilles, 1999)

A recent article by the Salt Lake Tribune (June 2, 2014), highlighted this very point:

Latino Students Boast Highland High’s Top Graduation Rate

The subtitle of the article states:

“Latinos aren’t singled out by special programs; rather, programs help all students…”

That was one of the questions raised in the May 22, 2014, Equity Leadership Team meeting; which school programs and philosophies contribute to student success and which ones do not? It is difficult to make that determination because there is currently a patchwork of programs and initiatives throughout the district that make for an inconsistent application of processes and policies. Additionally, our current practices leave unanswered questions as to why school policies apply to one group of parents but not others i.e.:

Clara: Salt Lake City Minority Parents Left Out of Principal Selection
Salt Lake Tribune, May 14, 2014

 Another recent example, there appears to be confusion on the district level as to what is a “gang prevention” program and what is not. This type of confusion then spills over into the schools in my community as local administrators and parents struggle to make decisions on how to keep our schools safe.

On today’s school board agenda, the Utah Consolidation Application (UCA) is listed on the consent agenda.

The UCA states that in order to respond to Achievement Gap Disparities, the district will “Conduct equity audits of various district programs and practices”. In the year and half that I have served on the school board, I have yet to see a copy of an Equity Audit. Are we even doing them? How often do we do them? Who sees them? etc…. It now appears that the administration is having difficulty providing me with copies of the Equity Audits that have been conducted to date. I have requested that the item be transferred from the consent agenda to the action agenda.

To that end, I am fully endorsing the recommendation that the district elevate the current position of Assistant Superintendent of Equity and Advocacy (Director I, same level of a principal) to that of an Associate Superintendent of Educational Equity and Diversity. This will then allow for the implementation of focused equity practices throughout the district. I am convinced that this position would go a long way in addressing the issues of inattention that I have cited above and that I have attempted to address over the past year and half of service on the school board.

The latest enrollment numbers, shows the Salt Lake City School District with a population of 24,723 students, ethnic minority student’s account for 57% of that number. Yet there is reluctance on the district’s part to address the unique issues facing our students of color.

Many community and education leaders in our diversity-enhanced schools want to move beyond blame and want to continue the work to transform our district to serve all of our students. I am convinced that we will see rapid change and get on the path to collaboration if the school board will take the bold step of elevating the current position of Assistant Superintendent to that of Associate Superintendent of Educational Equity & Diversity. Creating this new position will serve to demonstrate the school district’s commitment to addressing the unique unmet needs of 57% of our current student population.

Shalom,

J. Michael Clára
Board Member, District 2

PDF Version of Letter

PDF Attachements

Michael with Kathleen Christy, Assistant Superintendent

A bold and resourceful way to address the issues facing a Majority-Minority School District is to propose to the school board that they hire an Associate Superintendent of Educational Equity that reports directly to them.

The latest enrollment numbers shows the Salt Lake City School District with a student population of 24,723 students, ethnic minority student’s account for 57% of that number. Yet there is reluctance on the district’s part to address the unique issues facing our students of color.

I draw that conclusion from my own experience; my second month on the board (February 2013), I asked that we explore the reasons for the high turnover rate of teachers in Title I Schools. That request fell on closed ears and I was compelled to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

This past month I questioned why the ethnic minority parents from my neighborhoods were not allowed to participate in the principal selection process, yet the district is allowing eastside parents to participate in the selection process. Again, there is currently no will on the district level to redress that wrong.

Clearly, all is not well, as some view the district’s increasing diversity as a problem rather than an opportunity. As demonstrated on my blog, there are numerous instances where acting in my role as an elected member of the Salt Lake City Board of Education, I have raised a warning voice about the district’s neglect of the ethnic minority student /parent population in the Salt Lake City School District. The truth of the matter is, our diversity-enhanced school district will continue experiencing rapid growth in the number of students of color and culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Over the past five months, I have had multiple private and group meetings about ways to address the issues facing a rapidly changing district. Two major meetings have occurred in the past month, the City Weekly reported on one of them:

“Salt Lake City School Board member Michael Clara represents the Glendale neighborhood. He had already organized a meeting with the Latino community and the United States Department of Justice about the inequities of the school district…”
(Community Searches For Answers In Courtroom Shooting Of Siale Angilau, City Weekly – 05/07/14)

The other meeting occurred yesterday, with the reconvened Equity Leadership Team at the Salt Lake City School District.

Here is the invitation of for that meeting: ELT Invitation

Here is the agenda for that meting: ELT AGENDA

The conclusions reached at these meetings, are that as a school district with rapidly transitioning schools, a permanent ethnic minority advisory group, chaired by a community member that reports directly to the school board on a consistent and regular basis needs to be established. This committee would work within the office of the newly established Associate Superintendent of Educational Equity.

This will allow us to reexamine everything we’re doing. Continuing with business as usual will mean failure or mediocrity for too many of our students, as the data related to racial, cultural, linguistic, and economic achievement gaps demonstrate. Rapidly changing demographics demand that we engage in a vigorous, ongoing, and systemic process of CHANGE in order to function effectively in this highly diverse environment.

Many community and education leaders in our diversity-enhanced schools want to move beyond blame and want to continue the work to transform our district to serve all their students well. I am convinced that he will see rapid change and get on the path to collaboration if the school board will take the bold step of elevating the current position of Assistant Superintendent (same level of a school principal) Kathleen Christy, to that of Associate Superintendent of Educational Equity. Creating this new position demonstrates the school district’s commitment to addressing the unique unmet needs of 57% of our current student population.

16 May 2014

Delivered via Electronic Mail
Janet, Roberts, Business Administrator
Salt Lake City School District
440 East 100 South
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111

Re: Supplementing or Supplanting Title I Money?

Dear Ms. Roberts,
In the May 6, 2014, School Board meeting, during the budget discussion about class size reduction, you distributed two documents:

1. 1.       Salt Lake City School District 2014-2015 Budget Development
2. Salt Lake City School District 2014—15 Spring Staffing Projections

Document #2, is showing two different models of class size reduction, staffing projections, per school. I noted that several schools would receive ZERO FTE, even after the board committed additional district wide funding for that purpose. I was to understand that some schools would not receive an additional FTE because they would still meet the new teacher/student ratio as determined by the school board.

For some odd reason, the document listed no school names, only a three digit identifier under the column labeled SCHOOL. When I got home and located a key to the school numbers, I discovered that many of the Title I schools were projected to not receive an additional FTE even after the school board votes to commit additional funding towards class size reduction. I believe that is the result of you looking at the current teacher/student ration. In looking at the ratios for Title I Schools, I would suggest the following question be asked:

“Is the school able to appropriately serve all the students without Title I funds and not go over the required maximum number of students in a class at a particular grade level?”

One of the principals in my neighborhood suggested that the following steps be taken in order to verify that the District’s class size reduction efforts do indeed supplement and not supplant funding in the Title I schools:

1. Run a PowerSchool report for the grade in the school which has a class size reduction activity in the School wide Program application. PowerSchool will report the number of students in the grade and the number of classroom teachers assigned to that grade level (do not include music, art, physical education or other supplemental teachers that work with students at this grade level).

2. Subtract the Title I funded teachers for that grade level from the total number of classroom teachers for that grade level.

3. Divide the number of students at the grade level by the number of non-Title I teachers assigned to that grade level.

4. If the figure determined in #3 is at or below the state required maximum number of students per class in that grade level, then the school’s activity is supplemental.

5. If the figure in step #3 is above the state required maximum number of students per class in that grade level, then the school’s activity is not supplemental and may be considered supplanting.

Simply put, in order to determine compliance with the supplement not supplant requirement, we must determine which services a district would have provided to students in Title I schools in the absence of Title I funds. To that end, can you please provide me a revised classroom reduction model, using the steps outlined above?

As you are aware, the District may use Title I funds to supplement programs and services that are provided for, with state and local funds for the education of students participating in Title I programs. In no case may Title I funds be used to supplant—take the place of—state and local funds. Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.

Shalom,

J. Michael Clára
Board Member, District 2

cc: Title I, Principals & SIC Chairs

PDF Version of Letter