The school board's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee meets on Tuesday, 2/6, 6-8 pm in the Champlain Elementary School Library. At our meeting tomorrow, we'll be focusing on two topics: first, a follow up on the report about the School Resource Officers, which was presented to the committee last week by representatives of the Burlington Police Department. You can see the report on Board Docs (https://www.boarddocs.com/vt/bsdvt/Board.nsf/vpublic?open); last week's discussion with the presenting officers was so rich that we decided to carry over the conversation to this week's meeting. The committee will be looking at what we have learned, and what we'd like to learn, about the presence of police in the schools. If you have questions or comments--now or later--please let me know.

Secondly, we'll be continuing the conversation we started last week about the Montpelier school district's decision to fly the Black Lives Matter flag (part of their ongoing anti-racism and cultural awareness work). You may have seen in the news that there is a student-led proposal emerging regarding a similar action in Burlington. The students are currently working with district administration and board leadership as they develop their proposal. While their proposal is not coming before the committee as an agenda item tomorrow, it's possible that we may hear more about it. I know that the district administration is working with the students to ensure that their proposal is developed with support and appropriate connections on the board and in the district, and I look forward to seeing their work. As the February board agenda is created, I'll keep you posted.

In sum: tomorrow's meeting will be a continuation of some rich discussion from our January meeting. While the committee meeting itself is not a community forum, there is public comment, and I welcome questions and comments about the school resource officers and race and culture issues in our schools.

Susanmarie Harrington
sharrington@bsdvt.org

Oct 27, 2024, 4 to 5:30 PM

Oct 27, 2024, 7 PM

Nov 2, 2024, 10 to 11 AM