School district brainstorms improvements for equity and excellence

CORRECTION: Due to a reporting error, the original version of this article misrepresented the sponsors of the community forum. The forum was co-sponsored by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP, Organizing Against Racism, the CHCCS Multicultural Student Achievement Network and the CHCCS PTA Council. Due to a reporting error, the original version of this article also misrepresented Judy Jones' teaching career. Jones first started teaching in the district in 1984 at Chapel Hill High School, where she taught her first black students. The article has been updated to reflect these changes.

Kyesha Clark, a junior at Carrboro High School, said she did not notice diversity at her school until the school system was redistricted.

“They redistricted everything, but you still couldn’t see the equality in the honors classes,” Clark said.

She said she began seeing more African-American students in the hallway, but that diversity disappeared once she entered her classrooms. It appeared to her that there were a surplus of minority students in standard classes, while upper-level classes were exclusively white students.

“I’m the one cocoa puff in a bowl of milk,” Clark said.

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP, Organizing Against Racism, the CHCCS Multicultural Student Achievement Network and the CHCCS PTA Council hosted a community forum on Saturday to discuss how to achieve higher levels of equality and improve academic performance of minority students. Students, parents, faculty, the School Board and administration convened at the Northside Elementary gymnasium as they voiced their concerns about experiences of inequality in the school system.

The lack of of diversity in the classroom is just one fault among many in the school system, Clark said. She said she asked her guidance counselor for a recommendation, but said she was denied as the counselor told her she did not think Clark would be able to get into college.

To implement reforms to promote equality, the school system introduced the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Equity Task Force at Saturday’s meeting.

A representative from the task force, Sheldon Lanier, who is the equity leadership and AVID director for CHCCS, discussed anticipated reforms, including more three-day equity trainings for teachers and changing the in-school suspension position at the middle school level to a positive behavior and student support specialist. Lanier told the crowd it was not just changing a job title but changing the job description.

Establishing the task force is just a starting point for improving the school system as the academic-achievement gap continues to increase.

Grade level proficiency statistics from 2014-15 show that minority students continue to fall behind their peers. While 90 percent of white students were at least at grade level proficiency, only 42 percent of black and 47 percent of Latino students were proficient.

“Your programs and piecemeal efforts aren’t working,” parent Stephanie Perry said to the crowd. “The school system in Chapel Hill works for some kids but not for other kids — particularly African-American children.”

Judy Jones, now a substitute teacher, started teaching in the district in 1984. Jones said she transferred to Chapel Hill High School after moving from California in 1984, where she said she taught her first black students. She said she remains a firm advocate for equity training for teachers and students.

“It’s absolutely needed,” Jones said. “Not just for faculty and staff but students too. We are so focused on GPA and test scores that we forget that these people are going off to live in an actual world. We need to do more social and emotional learning for these kids.”

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