Diversity, equity and inclusion is a conceptual framework that aims to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people. | PxHere.com
Diversity, equity and inclusion is a conceptual framework that aims to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people. | PxHere.com
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee (DEIAC) provided the Saline Area School Board with a presentation of its current efforts at its Jan. 24 Board of Education Meeting.
The role of the committee is to assess the current district environment relating to DEI, recommend changes based on those assessments and monitor the progress or positive impacts. DEIAC also gathers data and presents its findings to the school board and other leadership teams on a quarterly basis.
DEIAC recently hired Channon Washington to be the director of their DEI efforts and, in six months, she has made huge impacts, conducting various analyses and meeting with teacher teams to discuss training and efforts, organized community lessons for ninth graders, worked with student athletes, and talked and worked with a variety of social justice and support agencies in the county.
The presentation was led by Cory Belote, Munya Elawar and Frank Marcinkiewicz, who stated that DEIAC has added seven new members in the past few months, along with hosting a DEIAC open house, in which they had about 100 attendees who wanted information on the committee.
The committee’s next big project is refreshing their three-year plan, which is up for review in 2023. The plan guides their efforts and measures their growth.
“I just want to say thank you all for what you do and the hard work and important work that our volunteers and committee members do,” board member Susan Estep said at the meeting. “I'm excited, and I think the rest of the committee (is too), about our new newest members and how the current members kind of hold that historical piece. And then I feel like we're getting new ideas and questions that we wouldn’t necessarily have asked ourselves. So I think that's been really great and refreshing, and I just want to say thank you. I'm excited for what comes forward with the three-year plan (for) the next three years.”
The DEIAC will continue its subcommittee efforts, which include groups focused on hiring and retention, new families, gender neutrality and social identity freedom.
The committee encouraged board members and community members to get involved and ask questions of them at any time.
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