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A message from the Board of Education
LA CROSSE, Wis., (June 2, 2020) – In the midst of this global pandemic, school district administrators and public health officials are trying to come up with strategies for how to best protect students, educators, their families, and our community when school resumes, whether in July for year-round schools or September for all others.
At the same time, we need to come up with strategies for how we are going to address the systemic racism that continues to exist in our education system, including our local school districts.
Unlike the novel coronavirus, racism in education is nothing new.
Today, institutional racism in education is largely reinforced by policies and practices that appear “race neutral” or “colorblind” on the surface, but result in racialized outcomes.
In the United States in 2020, racial disparities continue to exist in rates of graduation, educational attainment, special-education referrals, access to rigorous coursework, and highly qualified teachers, to name but a few examples.
In Wisconsin, according to a report by The Civil Rights Project, black high school students are suspended at a higher rate than anywhere else in the country and we have the second-highest disparity in suspension rates between white and black elementary students.
Based on the Nation’s Report Card, Wisconsin has the largest achievement gap between white and black students.
Within the past decade, here in La Crosse, the juvenile arrest rate — which reflects a disproportionate number of juveniles of color — has been higher than those in comparable counties, the state, and the nation, according to a 2018 research report by the La Crosse County Juvenile Justice Best Practices Stakeholder Group.
We recognize through our conversations with people in the community, there is often some confusion about what a school board member in the School District of La Crosse can and cannot do.
For example, the governance structure of our school board does not give board members authority to directly intervene in personnel or curricular matters.
However, one of the most important responsibilities we have as a school board is establishing board policies for the district and ensuring those policies are carried out with fidelity.
These include policies governing equity, diversity, and inclusion.
In addition, we can and should speak out against injustice. To be clear, we are angry, saddened, and deeply frustrated by the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the continual unjust killings of countless other black and brown people.
We publicly renew our conviction to support our administrators, teachers, and staff in the School District of La Crosse in advancing antiracism in our district and ensuring that all our students, as well as our staff, feel safe, welcome and included in our schools.
We will continue to engage in this work transparently and collaboratively with stakeholder groups in our community. We pledge to center voices of color in our antiracism work, recognizing that our students, staff, and families of color are the only ones who can speak authoritatively about their everyday lived experiences in our schools and our community.
We also recognize that systems of oppression work together to produce injustice.
Not only do we need to combat racism in our schools, but sexism, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, and all other systems of inequality and privilege.
We cannot promise we will always “get it right” when it comes to this work, but we can promise when we make a misstep, we will acknowledge it, learn from it, make amends and start again with a commitment to do better.
With humility and integrity, we will consider the significance of our own identities when it comes to engaging in equity work and commit to ongoing education, critical self-reflection, and asking ourselves, our district and our community the hard questions.
We will hold ourselves accountable, but as publicly elected officials, you can and should hold us accountable as well.
School District of La Crosse School Board
Laurie Cooper Stoll, President
Dawn Comeau
Juan Jimenez
Brenda Leahy
Pelli Lee
Jeff Meyer
Brad Quarberg
Shaundel Spivey
Keonte Turner
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A message from the Superintendent of Schools
LA CROSSE, Wis., (June 2, 2020) – Our public schools remain a wonderfully diverse representation of our great community. We are by no means a perfect institution, but our goal as educators is to stand in defense of each child — no matter their differences — to ensure that every student each day in school is afforded the respect and dignity that EVERY human being should expect from others. The din from America’s streets is loud right now. People can hear the noise. But who is listening to the children?
As your superintendent of schools, I stand in support of every Black child and family in our community who has had to witness, yet again, the senseless murder of a Black person on a city street in America. As a white person, I will never fully understand or comprehend the hurt and pain that accompanies decades and centuries of oppression. But I acknowledge that institutions, including schools, have played a role in the journey that has contributed to our current events of the day.
In the School District of La Crosse, our commitment to our students and to our community is to see each child as an individual worthy of love, compassion, and empathy. Our commitment is to continually look inward at our own practices and change those that oppress and marginalize children. Over the past years, we have made progress in this area, but we have much further to go than the distance we have already traveled. Hearing our children is one thing, but listening is fundamental to making change. What we HAVE learned is that we must first actively listen to our children and then we must amplify their voices and take action to improve. We must ensure that each child each day is embraced as a learner who has an equal place in our schools and an equal place in the hearts of adults around them.
Hearing our children is one thing, but listening is fundamental to understanding. If you are struggling, like I am, with the appropriate words to help discuss this with a child, our school counselors have compiled a short list of resources that you may find helpful. Better days are in front of us, but the BEST days will be those when each learner comes to school knowing that race, gender, sexual preference, socio-economic status, and ability status are not pre-determinants of destiny.
My best to you,
Randy Nelson
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Parent resources from our school counselors
– How To Talk to Children About Tragedy in the Media
– Racism and Violence: Using Your Power as a Parent to Support Children Aged Two to Five
– Resources for Parents: Healthy Communication About Race