Salt Lake City School Board: 100 S 400 E in SLC

NEWS RELEASE

Rally organized to protest Salt
Lake City School District
Reorganization Plan

Contact:  Josie Valdez, 801-550-1206

Salt Lake City, 15 November 2015 —  Leaders of various cultural and ethnically diverse groups have come together to voice their concern over the recent reorganization plan which was announced by Superintendent McKell Withers and the Salt Lake City School Board. A rally is planned for Tuesday, November 17, at 6pm to voice concern over this issue.

Members of this group attended the school board meeting held November 3 to express their concerns. Presentations made by Josie Valdez, former vice-chair of the Utah State Democratic Party, Stanley Ellington, community activist, and Dr. Paula Smith, professor at the University of Utah, expressed the following concerns:

• Superintendent McKell has overstepped his authority and has not followed regulations outlined in State law.
• The board has failed to follow the procedures outlined in the Salt Lake City School Board Handbook.
• The reorganization plan has marginalized and demoted the Equity Department in the re-organization resulting in all ALL-WHITE administration.
• These WHITE administrators were appointed.  The group  demanded competitive hiring practices be followed to allow for qualified minorities to apply for consideration.
• The group demanded that the reorganization not be allowed to proceed until laws are followed, rules and procedures are observed and ethnic minority personnel be allowed to apply for positions within the administration.

“We are concerned about the callous manner in which this reorganization has occurred.” states Josie Valdez.  “The reorganization was done with little or no input from our ethnic communities. This is totally unacceptable when 57% of the students in the Salt Lake School District are ethnic students.”

PDF of Advisory and Background Information