Haslett Presents Updates on Equity Plan
The Haslett Public Schools Board of Education reviewed pertinent data relating to its equity plan at the Nov. 13 meeting.
The equity plan, which was written and approved in 2022, has wrapped the data collection phase of its implementation. Stephanie Livingston, Haslett High School’s interventionist, instructional coach and district diversity, equity and inclusion coordinator, presented demographics, in-progress facets of the plan and areas for growth.
One particular undertaking, Livingston said, is developing a curriculum through an equity lens.
“We look at identity,” Livingston said. “How will the unit help students learn something about themselves or others in our world? What will students understand and be able to apply in new ways as a result of this unit?”
Including curriculum, the equity plan highlights 6 areas of interest the district intends to target, including:
Governance and leadership
Student-centered support programming
Family and community engagement
Recruitment, hiring, development and retention
Curriculum and instruction
Professional learning
Trustee Korine Wawrzynski serves on the board’s DEI committee and says that everyone—from students and staff to community members—will be positively affected by these efforts.
“The goal of the DEI plan is to make our school and community more inclusive, welcoming and accessible for all students and families,” Wawrzynski said. “I think when a lot of people think about DEI work, they think of race and ethnicity. We’re most certainly looking at race and ethnicity, but we’re also looking at gender.
“We’re looking at students who have parents who have been to college and those who don’t. We’re looking at learning disabilities. We’re looking at accessibility. It’s to make schools better for everyone.”
Some of these efforts focus on a change in communications, such as referring to students’ primary caregivers as grownups instead of mom and dad, as well as contextualizing outdated historical language in the classroom.
Others are administrative tasks, like conducting an annual equity audit, creating a subcommittee to respond to incidents of bias and a retention survey to preserve current employees.
The superintendent student advisory, which recently added two freshman members, aims to make students part of the process by allowing them to participate at board meetings and provide updates on school-wide happenings and concerns.
“As someone who works with a lot of college students, I think it’s always great if you can include student voice and student perspective into anything,” Wawrzynski said.
The demographic data uncovered that Haslett employees do not reflect the student body in terms of race or gender. Sixty-three percent of staff are female, and though the precise number was not discussed, the overwhelming majority are white. This is a stark contrast to the student body of 2,638, whose demographic breakdown includes:
White – 72.9%
Hispanic/Latino – 10.4%
Two or more races – 8.6%
Asian – 4.6%
Black/African American – 3.3%
American Indian/Alaskan – 0.2%
Livingston noted that a majority female staff is very similar to national and state trends, because “generally it’s women who go into teaching.”
Wawrzynski also spoke to the importance of having a staff that mirrors the student body and how, historically, it could be beneficial for any district or community.
“Trying to hire more teachers that look like our students and have the life experiences of our students, I think that will be helpful,” Wawrzynski said. “Research has shown that it also helps some of those historically excluded and minoritized groups to perform better.”
A disparity shown during the meeting also outlined discipline referrals and how males, as well as Black, Hispanic/Latino and special education students were overrepresented compared to white, Asian and American Indian/Alaskan Native students.
“Some of these groups are very small, so when we talk about some of this data, there’s some soft tissue there,” Livingston said. “If you have a group of students and there might be only three students who identify in that particular group and one of them has an issue–let’s say they cheated on a test–that goes in our discipline referral system. That’s going to skew that data quite a bit if there are only three students in that group.”
Another gap outlined by the data was standardized test scores and how certain groups of students are less likely to have scores meeting or exceeding the school average.
English language learners
Students receiving free/reduced lunches
Students with disabilities
Black/African American students
Hispanic students of any race
Students of two or more races
To combat this, a variety of programs, interventions and updated curriculum materials have or will be implemented.
“We’ve identified that achievement gap,” Wawrzynski said. “Now it goes back to teachers who control some parts of the curriculum and how things are taught. They can start to come up with recommendations and methods of reaching these populations that are underperforming compared to other students.”
Jeff Kessner, a Haslett resident who spoke at the board meeting, believes taxpayer money should not be spent on the DEI initiatives such as staff equity classes and meetings. He claims he made FOIA requests for Haslett Public Schools records and reported that this would entail 11,515 copies to be made for a cost of $3,382.
“That could be devoted to education and we might actually get our M-STEP scores back to pre-pandemic levels,” he said, speaking about the time it would take to fulfill his FOIA request.
Kessner said he continues to rail against DEI plans and implementations.
“I know through my FOIA requests that it’s laced with critical race theory, racism and Marxist ideology. I have the receipts. Haslett has great teachers, and I do mean great teachers. They should not be burdened with countless hours of indoctrination, which then filters into the classrooms.”
Reflecting on the public comment segment of these meetings, Wawrzynski said she tends to take these remarks with a grain of salt.
“It’s sometimes hard to hear the public comment,” Wawrzynski said. “Sometimes it’s spot on and other times, I’m really wondering where it’s coming from. Even if I disagree with the perspective, I think it’s important to hear the angle that they’re coming from and their concerns.”
Though it’s early in the equity plan’s progression, Wawrzynski is eager to see the outcome of these efforts in the coming years.
“I think we’re making good progress,” Wawrzynski said. “Three years in, I’ll be curious to see which milestones we’ve achieved and why.”