Update on LGBTQIA-inclusive Equity & Diversity Policy and a Deeper Dive

NOTE: This post is an update to Equity & Diversity Policy Recommendations for LGBTQIA+ Students

Over the past few weeks, through the help of our Council, our JCPS SBDM Liaison Dr. Shawna Stenton and Liz Erwin with the Kentucky Association of School Councils, we’ve received a lot of enthusiastic and constructive feedback from educators around the Commonwealth about our LGBTQIA-inclusive Equity and Diversity policy.

From that feedback I’ve made some updates to that policy, and you can read the current LPAS Equity & Diversity Policy DRAFT (20220309) here.

Our first reading of this revised policy will be tomorrow Tuesday March 15th at our standing SBDM Meeting. Based upon initial feedback, I expect it to pass.

I’ll admit that I’m both encouraged and suprised that this approach - adding LGBTQIA-inclusive language to Equity & Diversity - seems to be a novel concept within JCPS. There are a handful of schools with LGBTQIA inclusive policies, but no other schools that we are aware of have given the level of recognition or proactivity to LGBTQIA that our policy will (if adopted).

In fact, there is a good chance that this policy could become the foundation for other JCPS schools. That’s humbling.

What’s New

Regarding the changes we heard from a half-dozen educators from JCPS and around the Commonwealth, and to a person they praised this approach.

There were two major points of feedback, which we’ve adopted:

“In a nutshell, they may want to include language that ensure that all policies are reviewed through the lens of their vulnerable LBGTQIA population.”

We’ve done that, clarifying prior language regarding the perspectives through which we see our community and how we apply these in policy and action. And I’ve codified these perspectives in an open-ended list of what I’ve termed “inherent attributes”.

Here’s the new language:

We understand that each student has a unique mix of inherent attributes, and that to fulfill our commitment, we will consider this diversity in all actions and policies created or reviewed, giving special consideration to demonstrably vulnerable populations. These inherent attributes include, but are not limited to: gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Ad-Hoc versus Standing Committee

Our initial draft indicated this would be a standing committee with trained personnel. There was some thoughtful feebdack regarding the need for a standing committee (vs a time-limited, ‘ad-hoc’ committee). I, too, shared this concern with the Council early on. In reviewing the SBDM Handbook and feedback from our families - I think that having a standing committee makes the most sense. Why? I believe this community needs a consistent, engaged presence - and not a time-limited (ad hoc) one.

Want to see the draft as it stands, with revisions marked? Read the DRAFT policy here.

A Deeper Dive (and Some Reflection)

If I had to summarize what we’re trying to do with this policy update, it’s this:

It’s about proactive recognition. Everything else follows from that.

In regards to Equity and Diversity, we already recognize many attributes of our student population: gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability. These are the lenses through which we are committed to seeing our students and families. In the case of student groups where we have considerable work to do, like race, we have specific commitees and tools.

Despite district-wide Equal Education Opportunity policies and an active Diversity, Equity and Poverty group within JCPS that both identify sexual orientation and gender identity, SBDMs have never officially recognized these inherent attributes in Equity and Diversity policy. But these families and students are here - at every grade level, and we’re tasked with providing them equal opportunity.

In 2017, a handful of schools (Atherton High School, Meyzeek Middle, maybe others) adopted inclusive policies - but by using SBDM’s authority over “Use of School Space” and the District’s Equal Education Opportunity policy to do so. You can read Atherton’s policy here.) These policies were groundbreaking when adopted in 2017, but they feel like stopgaps now, considering JCPS’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Poverty. It’s time that these “demonstably vulnerable” communities were recognized at a higher level, and given more careful, consistent consideration.

We’ve seen considerable progress in policy around race with the establishment of Racial Equity Committees and the use of the Racial Equity Analysis Protocol (REAP) for policies. I’ve seen how this consideration has affected nearly ever facet of a school. Staffing, policy, budget, communication and classroom instruction. Race is real, our struggles with the past and future of it are real, and we’re making real, thoughful progress there. While race is substantively different than LGBTQIA issues and therefore should be conceived of differently, they both share a need for recognition.

That’s what our policy seeks - recognition as a first step. Here’s how we are doing it:

Three Components

1. Look Ahead & Be Prepared

Creating an “affirming space” for LGBTQIA students and their families won’t fit into a single “bathroom use” policy. I’m being flippant there, but the fact of the matter is that the issues that face and will face LGBTQIA families and students are many. Sports, pronoun use, forms that require a binary gender assignment, name changes, teacher training, curriculum and texts.

By factoring sexual orientation and gender identity into Equity & Diversity, codifying review and setting up a standing committee, we recognize, we realize this community and we can listen to and act for this community.

2. Be Clear About What Diversity Means, And What We’ll Do With That

“Inclusive” is a term that you’ll often hear when speaking about equity, diversity or LGBTQIA issues. The approach that I’ve taken is to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the list of attributes our SBDM Council should consider in all actions.

I’ve codified this into a commitment with and open-ended list of what I’ve termed “inherent attributes”:

We understand that each student has a unique mix of inherent attributes, and that to fulfill our commitment, we will consider this diversity in all actions and policies created or reviewed, giving special consideration to demonstrably vulnerable populations. These inherent attributes include, but are not limited to: gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.

3. Have A Ready Team

Consistency throughout the school experience is necessary for LGBTQIA families and students. Sexual orientation and gender identity, unlike race, are things that emerge and mature through a student’s school experience. These changes can be disorienting and ostracizing.

A standing committee would send a clear message to admin, staff and families that the school is committed to current and future issues in a substantial way. A standing committee would also be responsible for informing future policies, whatever those might be.

As I mentioned in my February 2022 meeting notes - JCPS and LPAS have both just recently made considerable steps in this direction, training “support coaches” like Ms. Sanchez and setting up LGBTQIA committees, respectively.