Protecting Students through Executive Limitations 6: Education Program

Over the last four months, I have been working on a revised version of Executive Limitation 6: Educational Program. Our Executive Limitations are part of the governing documents that help hold our Superintendent accountable. As we are coming up on the annual Superintendent evaluation, I want to ensure that previous resolutions are cemented into district policy. Before the 2021 shift to Policy Governance, the Board of Education passed several resolutions to ensure protections for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, AAPI, and LGBTQIA + communities.

In 2018 the Board of Education unanimously passed the Safe and Welcoming Schools Resolution in response to the growing threat from the former administration in the White House.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the District shall do everything in its lawful power to protect our students’ confidential information and ensure that our students’ learning environments are not disrupted by immigration enforcement actions, including but not limited to the following actions:

Read the full resolution here.

In 2019 the Board of Education unanimously passed the Black Excellence Resolution. This required schools to develop a plan to boost the success of black and African-American students by embracing their strengths rather than focusing on the challenges they face. Source: Chalkbeat

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT, the Board embraces the excellence of Black and African-American students and will prioritize and target their academic achievement. To this end, the Board directs the Superintendent to create a plan by May 31, 2019 to be operationalized by the start of the 2019–20 school year that utilizes the tools, systems, resources and talent that exist within our district and community and increases the investment of students and their families in their own successes by focusing on the following three main areas of work, and therefore see marked improvement for Black or African-American students over the next three years:

Read the full resolution here.

In January 2020, the Board of Education unanimously passed the LGBTQIA + inclusion resolution, of which I was the prime sponsor. This required the district to implement all gender restrooms; the resolution also says the district affirms students’ and teachers’ right to be open about their sexual orientation or gender identity and speak about their family lives. It also says the district will continue to honor students’ gender identity at school. Source: Chalkbeat

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the District shall make available for all students, team members, and DPS community members, at least one all-gender restroom facility in currently existing DPS facilities and a commitment to including a minimum of one all-gender restroom facility in all new facilities construction; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the District supports students and team members by affirming their right to be “out” with students, staff, and community members — the right to be open about their sexual orientation or gender identity and to speak about their personal and family lives in the same manner as their non-LGBTQIA+ peers; it is never appropriate to discipline a team member who in good faith comes out to another member of the DPS community; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the District supports the right of its employees to post in their classrooms, offices, or halls a rainbow flag or other sign of support for LGBTQIA+ students or staff, because these are symbols consistent with the District’s equity-based curriculum; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the District will continue to honor and respect a student’s self-reported gender identity and gender expression at school regardless of outside adult acknowledgement or acceptance; the District will work to support adults important to the child on greater acceptance and acknowledgement; however, the District will not wait for such adult acceptance or require parents’ or guardians’ consent before honoring the student’s self-reported gender identity and gender expression; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the District will continue to push the federal and state government and national corporations to eliminate binary categories that prohibit students from self-identifying outside of those non-binary gender categories; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Board, the District, and appropriate stakeholders commit to both the urgency and the need for long-term, sustainable, and well-informed action around LGBTQIA+ inclusivity.

Read the full resolution here.

In October 2020, the Board of Education unanimously passed the Know Justice Know Peace Resolution, of which I was the prime sponsor. Under the leadership of then-Principal Kim Grayson from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Early College, four Black women created the Know Justice, Know Peace Podcast, which required calls for consistency across the district in assessing and revising curriculum to create “transformational, humanizing, anti-racist and asset-based” lessons in every school subject. It includes constant opportunities for feedback, especially from students and teachers, and requires specific internal and external reviews of 11th-grade civics, economics, and 8th-grade U.S. history. K-5 students will have a revamped social studies curriculum as well.

Teachers and administrators will receive ongoing professional development training where they will learn how to discuss racially traumatic situations in a sensitive manner. They will also be supported in lessons that celebrate the narratives of people of color and their contributions to the world. And libraries will get more support to celebrate literature from and about marginalized communities. Source: Colorado Sun

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Board embraces the ideas that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. To that end, the Board directs the Superintendent to operationalize the plan by the start of the 2021–2022 school year to ensure that all schools within the family of Denver Public Schools’ curriculum and professional practices include comprehensive historical and contemporary contributions Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, over the next two years:

Developing Consistent Processes for Curriculum Revisions: For our central office teams that develop resources and supports, professional learning will begin this fall and will include: Development of culturally responsive lenses to select transformational, humanizing, antiracist, and asset-based texts and resources; implementation of culturally responsive lens with sample DPS curricula all course work including literacy, history, math, science, and electives; and pilot curricula with teacher leaders.

Engage in Feedback Loops: Leaders, teachers, and students will engage in data collection at the beginning and end of each unit of study in all content areas to determine where the class has made gains; both in terms of competency and culturally responsiveness, as well as focus on how they can continue to improve. Additionally, this feedback loop will include content revision so that the curriculum remains as transformational, humanizing, antiracist, and asset-based as possible.

Internal & External Curriculum Review, Revisions, and Resource Adoptions: DPS Academics Division will review our Civics and Economics courses in 11th grade by Spring 2021. They have sought and will continue to seek external review of 8th grade US History curriculum. DPS will begin the process of selecting a culturally representative, current and relevant social studies curriculum for grades K-5. DPS will continue to work on literacy curriculum revisions to lift the voices and experiences of The Black Community and systemically marginalized communities in a transformational, humanizing, antiracist, and asset-based manner. We will also ensure that school libraries (K-12) have the resources needed to celebrate BIPOC literature both fiction and non-fiction.

Professional learning for Teachers and Leaders in K-12 for literacy; 6–12 for Social Studies: Teachers and leaders will receive ongoing professional development to implement the revised curriculum, which elevates the history and culture of systemically marginalized communities and humanizes the voices and experiences of historically underrepresented communities. We will ensure that teachers are capable of delivering lessons that focus on Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities trauma with sensitivity. Additionally, we will ensure that lessons celebrate Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities narratives and contributions that transcend beyond traumatic events.

Read the full resolution here.

I have spent time over the last four months drafting this proposed policy change in collaboration with resources at School Board Partners and folks within Denver Public Schools to ensure we can take steps to codify the work mentioned above into policy. This will add new and existing protections to key groups within the Denver Public Schools community.

KEY: BOLD = New Proposed Language

Policy Type: Executive Limitation 6

Educational Program

The Superintendent will adapt and develop the educational program of the district as necessary to make reasonable progress toward meeting content standards, fulfilling the Board’s Ends policies, and meeting the general academic educational needs of each student in the district.

Accordingly, the Superintendent will:

1. Develop a plan to implement content standards that meet or exceed the model state content standards, ensure that educational programs of the district actively address the needs of exceptional students and students with disabilities, and consciously avoid gender, race, language, or cultural bias, including any policies or practices that may hinder student participation in athletic and/or extracurricular activities because of gender identity, sexual identity or orientation, and conform with all timelines established by law;

2. Take steps to involve educators, parents/guardians, families, students, business persons, members of the community, and the district accountability committee — with a focus on Black, Indigenous, Latinx, LGBTQIA+, and AAPI people — in the review of content standards, curriculum, and programs of instruction as necessary to ensure the standards are culturally- and linguistically-responsive, rigorous, and inclusive of the intersecting, complex identities of students;

3. Revise the district-adopted curriculum to align the curriculum with the district’s adopted content, inclusion, and equity standards and focus on equity to assure students make progress as defined by DPS and as required by state and federal law;

4. Develop assessments that will adequately measure each student’s progress toward achievement of the content standards, inclusion, social-emotional well-being, and health and safety;

5. Include both courses to meet the general academic needs of each student and opportunities for individual students to develop specific talents and interests in more specialized fields through career pathways;

6. Address the needs of students of various racial, cultural, and academic backgrounds, and eliminate barriers while providing supports to achieving equitable outcomes for success, including taking all steps possible in their lawful power to prevent any type of federal immigration law enforcement activities from interfering with achieving equitable outcomes for students;

7. Include all legally required courses and district-required courses in cultural competency, financial literacy, and comprehensive health education. Health education will include mental, physical, social, emotional, and sexual well-being in accordance with District Policy IHAM; and

8. Seek waivers of state laws and regulations that impede the district’s progress toward achieving its Board’s Ends.

9. Report to the Board biannually, at a minimum, the following indicators of the district’s progress towards implementing culturally responsive curricula and assessments:

a) A list of current texts in all subject areas utilized in DPS classrooms and school libraries that are appropriately representative of the historical contributions made by Black, Indigenous, and Latino people in our country. The list will include a brief summary of how each text elevates the work, achievements, and contributions of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, LGBTQIA+, and AAPI people.

b) A list of mandatory professional learning activities the district conducted in the previous six months relevant to supporting teachers to successfully implement curricula that is inclusive of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, LGBTQIA+, and AAPI people. The list will include staff participation rates and a summary of participant feedback ratings on the quality of the professional learning experiences. The Superintendent and Board Members shall participate in these professional learning experiences relevant to their respective roles and responsibilities.

c) Student achievement data indicates what percentage of students have mastered cultural competency and responsiveness standards, as measured by gains between the beginning and end of each unit of study in all content areas.

10. Report to the Board biannually, at a minimum, the following indicators of the district’s progress towards eliminating racial disproportionalities and disproportionalities based on sexual orientation or gender identity in academic outcomes, exclusionary discipline, special education identification, and advanced coursework enrollment:

a) The percentage of students demonstrating proficiency in ELA and math on state assessments, disaggregated by race and LGBTQIA+.

b) The percentage of students graduating on time, disaggregated by race and LGBTQIA+.

c) The percentage of students identified with a disability performing on grade level, disaggregated by race and LGBTQIA+.

d) Risk ratios of students receiving out-of-school suspensions, disaggregated by race and LGBTQIA+ Risk ratios of students being expelled from school, disaggregated by race and LGBTQIA+.

e) Risk ratios of students identified for special education programs, disaggregated by race and LGBTQIA+.

g) Percentage of students applying for, selected for, and enrolling in advanced coursework opportunities, disaggregated by race and LGBTQIA+.

Adopted: [October 21, 2021]

LEGAL REFS.: Colo. Const. Art. IX, Sec. 15 (school board directors have control of instruction in district)

Colo. Const. Art. IX, Sect. 15 (Board has control of instruction within the district)

C.R.S. 22–7–1013 (adoption of academic standards; alignment of curriculum)

C.R.S. 22–20–101 et seq. (Exceptional Children´s Educational Act)

C.R.S. 22–20–201 et seq. (education of gifted children)

C.R.S. 22–32–109 (Board duty to determine educational program and prescribe textbooks) C.R.S. 22–32–110 (Board power to exclude immoral or pernicious materials and books)

This has been added to the September 22nd agenda and will be co-sponsored by Directors Quattlebaum, Esserman, and Lindsay. I look forward to engaging the community in the coming weeks before its final passage at the October or November monthly voting meeting.