District equity policy revisions underway

BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e Douglas County school board considered a plethora of policy changes, including proposed revisions to the equity and parent engagement policies from board President Mike Peterson.

For more than a year the board has been discussing potential changes to the district’s equity policy, but the April 25 special meeting was the rst time actual language revisions were discussed. ough the board didn’t vote on any changes, the conversation kicked o the editing process, which will continue at a May 8 work session. e discussion opened with concerns from board members Elizabeth Hanson and Susan Meek about the process. Hanson said she believed the board wasn’t following the process it had laid out in the February 2022 resolution directing the superintendent to recommend changes to the policy since Peterson drafted the new language.

Peterson drafted changes to the equity policy that would expand the de nition of diversity, add metrics for success and allow the superintendent to seek resources beyond the Equity Advisory Council to implement the policy.

Much of the original policy remains in tact.

Peterson said his changes focused on clearing up ambiguity, de ning educational equity in Douglas County and providing speci c goals. He added that the community survey results on the equity policy guided his suggestions.

“ e rst (intent) was to presume positive intent, keep elements of the original policy, but commit to continuous improvement,” he said.

She added that Kane and district sta have not put forth speci c recommendations to change the policy, so she doesn’t support revisions.

“We have heard from both our community and our superintendent that there are no implementation barriers that they can easily and readily point out in the policy and based on the assurance that we gave our community that we were going to follow this process, we can’t change course at this point,” she said. “If we change course at this point, we are creating a lot of mistrust within our community.”

Hanson motioned for the board to rea rm the original equity policy, but it failed 4-2, with the majority of the board attesting they were following an appropriate process.

Board member David Ray was absent.

“ is is not a special, magical policy that we cannot touch or amend,” Peterson said. “It is ultimately up to this board, at any point, to decide to amend, improve, rescind, replace or dispose of any policy we see t.”

Board members Christy Williams, Kaylee Winegar and Becky Myers also indicated they still support changing the policy.

After Hanson’s motion failed, Meek said she took issue with the board having a rst reading of a policy before a work session, when it will a learned lied, was it Douglas administrators reported presumably reading sion, document,” reading and with son’s ing updates o ent