The Monroe County NAACP says the MCCSC school board should not vote on a draft Racial Equity Policy just yet.
The group agreed with concerns raised during MCCSC’s December board meeting, when the policy’s first reading occurred, but it wants a stronger policy.
The school corporation asked a student ambassador group to write a Racial Equity Policy with school administrators last fall. The action was in response to former and current Black students who spoke about their experiences with racism while in school.
Russ Skiba, a member of the local NAACP chapter, spoke in December. He said the policy raises the right issues, but he wants to see more accountability.
"It simply assigns to the superintendent the task of creating and implementing action items with no timelines or benchmarks,” Skiba said.
Sabrah Wagner, a high school senior and a member of the student equity ambassador group, said at the December meeting that it’s important for MCCSC to have a policy that addresses racism. But she said the policy needs more consistent communication among students, administrators, and school board members.
"It's problematic and ineffective to create a policy that doesn't have a way to be implemented via guidelines," Wagner said. "The policy mentions progressive discipline but doesn't outline the specific steps that are required to utilize progressive discipline.”
At the reading in December, Superintendent Jeff Hauswald said creation of the policy is a first step, and developing enforcement guidelines for the policy will come later.
The NAACP chapter wants the district to delay voting to allow time for more review and community input.
In an emailed statement Monday, MCCSC administration said it has met with NAACP officials and has committed to working with them to address their concerns.
