Derby school board approves strategic plan after compromise on diversity and inclusion

Weeks after rejecting a proposed strategic plan over mentions of diversity and inclusion, the Derby Board of Education has adopted a five-year plan with less specific language on inclusivity.

The initial proposal called for equity “regardless of race, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, socio-economic status, age, gender, and thoughts or beliefs.”

The plan approved 5-2 by the board calls for “intentionally embracing” differences and providing equal opportunities “regardless of each person’s unique characteristics, thoughts and/or opinions.”

“We had to meet in the middle because the reality is, the board wanted to swipe all of the work that we did, negate it and come up with their own thing,” said Marilyn Shaw, who co-chaired the culture subcommittee that recommended the original wording.

Shaw and co-chair Kayla Eldridge reached the compromise with board member Andy Watkins, who was in the 4-3 conservative majority that initially voted against the plan. Shaw said board members deriding diversity and inclusion as political buzzwords sends the wrong message.

“I specifically chose to be co-chair of the culture group just because I wanted to ensure that there was representation and we weren’t watering down or ignoring stuff that is going on,” Shaw said.

Shaw, who is Black, pulled her two children out of Derby schools this year after she said they complained about being called racial slurs multiple times a week. Last year, her nephew was one of the Black students whose photos were posted to a social media page with derogatory wording.

“Kids [were] being insensitive and posting our kids on a page calling them monkeys and two-for-one for sale and here’s a $1.50 monkey for sale,” Shaw said.

District spokesperson Katie Carlson confirmed the incident to The Eagle, saying Derby’s administration and police thoroughly investigated the social media page.

“There was definitely a page that had very hurtful and harmful comments to some of our Black students,” Carlson said. “This page obviously went way too far and had completely inappropriate things you would never want said about your child.”

Carlson said she could not provide information about the investigation or whether anyone involved in the incident was punished.

When the district sent out a survey asking students, parents, staff and community members to share their experiences and seeking volunteers to help develop the strategic plan, Shaw leapt at the opportunity.

“I want my kids to be able to go to school and get the same healthy educational experience as the person sitting next to them,” she said.

Over the course of several months, the culture group formed its recommendation based on survey results calling for diversity and inclusion in Derby schools, Shaw said. Many stakeholders with wide-ranging political beliefs participated in the process.

But school board President Michael Blankenship contended that focusing on diversity wouldn’t help Derby students succeed academically.

“Rather than trying to point out our differences … we should try to find things that make us unite,” Blankenship said.

Blankenship and Robyn Pearman voted against the updated strategic plan at Monday’s meeting.

“I just want to focus on academics, which is the reason that parents send their kids to us,” Blankenship said afterward. “The data out there shows that we’re not doing very well and we need to shift our focus.”

After the board rejected the first version of the strategic plan, Shaw contacted conservative board members to see if they could reach a compromise.

“We weren’t willing to remove the idea or the foundation of what we wanted presented,” Shaw said. “I told Michael (Blankenship) and I told Andy (Watkins) there’s a difference between being included and being tolerated. As Black people, me and my kids know when we’re being tolerated in a space and when we’re being included and accepted in that space.”

According to district demographic data, 80% of Derby students are white and less than 5% are Black.

In February, Derby High School principal Tim Hamblin came under fire for showing a four-minute video that mentioned white privilege during a staff meeting. Board members forced Hamblin to apologize after a teacher who attended the meeting complained the video was offensive and created a hostile work environment.

Watkins was the first board member to demand an apology from Hamblin over the video. He was also the board member who agreed to meet with Shaw and Eldridge in an effort to find middle ground on the culture goals.

“We sat and we ate and we talked about our families,” Shaw said. “We actually got to know each other on a personal level so that we could understand where our passion, our history with all of it comes from.”

Watkins presented the updated language at a September school board workshop.

“We wanted to try and preserve what the culture and climate subcommittee for the strategic plan had put together while at the same time finding a way that it could really appeal to all students, staff, community members — or at least as much as possible,” Watkins said.

The approved strategic plan calls for Superintendent Heather Bohaty to create a diversity, safety and belonging committee to advise on issues in Derby schools.

This story was originally published September 27, 2022 at 5:26 AM.