Education Equity in North Penn School District:

SMART Goal Recommendations

Whereas, we, the diverse students, student allies, and concerned community members of North Penn
School district recognize that the district serves as a microcosm of the greater community and that
issues of discrimination and unconscious bias are therefore seen in the district at all levels, we establish
the following goals for North Penn School District:

 Conduct mandatory teacher and staff training on recognizing unconscious bias and increasing
cultural proficiency by the end of the 2018-2019 school year. Training programs should go
beyond theory and include teacher/staff/administration reflection of practices as well as role-
playing situations where unconscious bias may arise.
 Identify ways curriculum can be modified to increase black history, world history (including but
not limited to African history, Central/South American history, Middle Eastern history and
Asian/Pacific Islander History), increase cultural awareness, and highlight achievements of black
people and other people of color. Implement the new curriculum within individual
schools/classrooms by 2020. This is for the benefit for all of the students of North Penn School
District.
 Ensure that all new teachers receive training on unconscious bias and cultural competency as
part of their induction process.

Whereas we believe that the demographic of the professional staff should represent the population it
serves, we establish the following goals addressing hiring practices at NPSD:

 Establish a recruitment plan to expand diversity in North Penn School District, especially in
professional positions by the end of the 2018-2019 school year. Recruitment plan should:
o Revise job postings to include language indicating the district’s commitment to diversity
in hiring, particularly those in professional positions.
o District attendance at career fairs that value diversity and whose attendees represent a
diverse cross-section of the population.
o Review hiring practices for biases that may be built into the system.
o Develop accountability standards for human resources to reach these goals.
 Establish that 15% to 20% of new professional full-time hires each year identify as a black or
other person of color starting with the 2019-2020 school year hires.
 Focus efforts at substitute teacher fair to hire black substitute teachers or other substitute
teachers of color starting with substitute teaching hiring efforts this school year.
 Refer to the substitute teacher pool to give preference to black substitute teachers and other
substitute teachers of color for open full-time teaching positions. The demographics of each
school should be represented in equal percentage by the professional staff.
 District human resources should work on a recruitment plan so that the teachers and
administrators of any individual school represent the population it serves.
 Review teacher exit interviews to determine the reason for leaving. Focus on teacher retention
rates for teachers of color.
 Examine the staff evaluation process to identify staff members who may need additional
training on bias by the 2019-2020 school year. This evaluation should look at academic
 improvement/achievement of black students and other students of color within the classroom,
discipline rates of black students and other students of color and include student feedback.
Staff members identified as needing additional training will be offered training within the same
school year. If the staff member’s evaluation on bias does not improve in the next round of
evaluations following training, additional ways to hold staff member accountable must be
explored.
 Establish a panel of diverse teachers, staff, and administration in the school district. Interview
the panel to determine how they feel supported and what problems they identify within the
district by January 2019. Use feedback to establish a plan to address issues by the end of the
2019-2020 school year.
 Publish demographic information of professional staff make-up for each school along with the
student demographic information for that school. If there is a discrepancy between student and
professional staff representation, district will develop a progressive plan to close the
representation gap.

Whereas we believe that any initiative involving cultural competency and inclusion in the district needs
to be deliberate and establish accountability procedures, we establish the following goals:

 Establish a diversity mission statement for each school in the district by the end of the 2018-
2019 school year. Mission statement should be written by a diverse group of students, teachers,
parents, and staff members within the schools. This group will establish ways to meet the
mission statement within the school to meet the needs of its population.
 The diversity mission statement will be treated as a living document. The group will meet
quarterly to review progress towards meeting the mission statement and review the impact on
students and teachers.
 Hold at least one district-wide panel discussion on race and diversity in the North Penn School
District this 2018-2019 school year. These discussions should include a time for parents,
students and teachers to report any concerns/incidents they have or to share any initiatives that
may be working in their school, so these can be replicated across the district. Increase the
number of panel discussions to three in the 2019-2020 school year.
 Review procedure for lodging a complaint, issue, or reporting bullying within the district.
Establish guidelines that make the procedure easy, non-threatening, fair and transparent. Post
these procedures on the website and deliver it to individual schools by January 31, 2019.
Students, parents, teachers, and staff should be able to lodge these complaints and issues
ensured that there will be no retribution. These issues and complaints can be lodged
anonymously, if so chosen.
 Develop a mediation and reconciliation panel to review any diversity complaint that was not
satisfactorily addressed according to the parties involved. This mediation and reconciliation
panel will review the evidence to find fair, equitable solution to the problem. The mediation
and reconciliation panel will be established by the 2019-2020 school year and have members of
the student body, teachers, support staff, administration, parents, and school board members.
 Train teachers and staff members in trauma-informed practices.
 Establish trauma-informed practices that will benefit all students and staff regardless of race,
class, color, creed, or sexual orientation. Train staff and administration on trauma-informed
 practices and cultural sensitivity issues by June 2019. These practices should be put into place to
help students feel safe, secure, valued, and eliminate issues before they occur.
 Ask teachers to describe challenges they experience in their schools with students, curriculum,
district policies and administration. Ask teachers for input on how these challenges can be
addressed within the district.

Whereas we recognize that research shows that black students and other students of color are
disciplined at a higher rate and endure more severe penalties than their white counterparts, we
establish that North Penn School District cannot address the problem without recognizing the extent of
the problem within the district. We also recognize that the district cannot improve for all of its students
without a plan to address the issue. We establish the following goals:

 Conduct a school-by-school study on discipline procedures, discipline rates, and discipline

penalties for similar infractions during the 2018-2019 school year. This study will not include
student names, but will include information about student race and gender. Study will be used
to inform ways to improve discipline procedures and make penalties for similar infractions
equitable across all races.
 Compile a discipline study report by the beginning 2019-2020 school year. This report should
display statistics per school as well as the district as a whole.
 Depending on the results of the study, recommendations on how to address discipline
disparities should be issued to staff by January 2020. These recommendations should include
checks and balances to ensure race-centered discipline disparity rates are improving.
 Establish guidelines using trauma-informed practices and cultural awareness guidelines when
addressing discipline issues by June 2019.

Finally, whereas, upon feedback from black students and other students of color in the district, we
recognize that these students do not feel their academic or extra-curricular opportunities are as equal or
encouraged as their counterparts. We establish the following goals:

 Establish a “wheel of experience” that can be instituted at the elementary level. Students will be
exposed to different opportunities during the year (i.e. sports, instruments, languages, drama,
clubs, etc.)
 Review methods by which teachers recommend students for honors and AP classes. Establish
efforts to encourage more black students and other students of color to take these classes.