School Equity Advisory Committee Will Now Include Elementary School Families
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by The School Equity Advisory Committee
The School Equity Advisory Committee (SEAC), is a parent/caregiver and community-led committee that advises the Amherst Regional and Pelham School Districts’ School Committees, and the School Superintendent. SEAC has a long history of working toward equity in the Amherst Regional Public Schools (Amherst Regional High School and Amherst Regional Middle School).
In the coming months, SEAC will be expanding its work to include the families of elementary school students. SEAC’s mission is to ensure academic opportunity for all students and to work to ensure that every student thrives emotionally, socially, and academically. This requires fostering a culture of inclusion, support, and belonging to empower all students to reach their full potential. SEAC advises the Superintendent and School Committees on ways to achieve equitable excellence, focusing on the diverse racial, ethnic, socio-economic, cultural, religious, ability, and gender differences within the student body, with a focus on three key areas:
- Culture, Community, and School Climate: Promoting a climate of respect and safety for all students.
- Discipline Disparities: Addressing disproportionate discipline rates among marginalized student groups.
- Academic Excellence and Equity: Ensuring equitable access to academic excellence.
While these focus areas are separate challenges with distinct solutions, they are all interrelated: disciplinary disparities lead to academic disparities and vice versa; a school culture and climate that does not promote safety and respect for all will inevitably impact disciplinary disparities and the ability to achieve academic excellence. To learn more, see the most recent SEAC report to the Regional School Committee.
SEAC meets monthly, alternating between community building, the sharing of caregiver concerns, and meetings with the district’s leadership. The public is invited to join us at our two upcoming Amherst events:
- First Day Celebration on Mon., Aug. 25th, 4:30-6:30 pm at Kendrick Park.
- Welcome Potluck ~ all families, on Wed., Sept. 24th, 4-6pm at Groff Park.
For more information contact: Alyssa Melnick alyssa@mmelnick.com or 917-544-3408.
The School Equity Advisory Committee/SEAC, has existed in many different formats since its beginning many years ago. The first time I sat with a group of community members, we called ourselves Anti-Racism at Marks Meadow. Sadly, they closed that awesome school, but the fight for fairness continued. OASIS, Occupy Amherst Schools in Solidarity, was the next group of mothers and others fighting for our children who were getting side-swiped by an unfair system that chooses to disproportionately discipline Black, brown, and poor white children. I can forward anyone interested in seeing the charts that show this disproportionate method of punishing children simply because they are not white and rich. (Better still, read the SEAC report -page 5.) The School Equity Task Force/SETF, was later founded by Dr. Amilcar Shabazz when a Black teacher was racially attacked while teaching at ARHS. The first meeting of SETF was so crowded that there was literally standing room only. That group was demoted, so to speak, to an advisory committee from a task force to a group that will “advise” the school committee heads. What drives me to write is that I have been in all of these groups, all these years later, just to see that the Restorative Justice position that was fought so hard and long for was eliminated! The expulsion of a child of color occurred in their freshman year for an “offense” that the family knows was overlooked when their peers were doing the same thing! It is time to step up and stop punishing certain children for being children and behaving childishly. (Real example: One hour after school detention for not throwing food items and recycle items in proper bins.) Stop targeting a child simply to catch them and get them in trouble-like getting expelled or suspended. I mean, really-is that the job of a dean? I remain hopeful, however, that the situation can only get better now that we have a new administrative crew aboard. One thought that haunts me is, would any of the school committee, and many different administrative positions, and all the teachers and staff, including bus drivers, cafeteria chefs, maintenance engineers, exist if they weren’t there to serve our children? Sometimes I believe this is forgotten and sad enough-our children get short-changed, not the above-mentioned’s pockets. SEAC’s next meeting is on Wednesday, October 29th, ARHS Library, 6-8 pm. We hope to grow the group and continue the “good fight” for fairness, aka equity for all children, all the days of their school life. I write as an individual. Thank you for reading. Hope to see you then.