LYNN — Superintendent Dr. Patrick Tutwiler has announced two initiatives aimed at improving cultural competency, inclusivity and combating racism in the Lynn Public Schools will be implemented this school year.
Tutwiler said the new initiatives, which include professional development for staff and developing inclusivity panels for students, are part of the school district’s commitment to evolve in response to recent events related to racial injustice and inclusion.
Both projects launching this school year are part of the “Resolution in Support of Eradicating Racism” that was adopted by the School Committee in June following the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer, he said.
“Clear in our strategic plan and in 2019-2020 district improvement goals, there was an existing effort to be better, more evolved, more responsive in the realm of cultural competence, race and inclusion,” said Tutwiler.
“Events in the late spring involving the untimely and unnecessary death of George Floyd, and the nation’s response, has spurred a sense of urgency around the work.”
Starting in January, all staff will be expected to participate in training that will be focused on helping them recognize where and how racism can present itself in teaching and learning, and in the district’s schools as a whole, Tutwiler said.
The yearlong staff training, which has been designed by the school district in partnership with Matthew Rodriguez, a Chicago-based facilitator, will also provide teachers with the skills to develop strategies to confront those types of issues, Tutwiler said.
The second effort will establish inclusivity panels at the high school level, which will involve coaching students on how to take on a leadership role in understanding and addressing issues around race that exist at their schools, Tutwiler said.
The district’s inclusivity panels will be modeled after a strategy called Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), which is an approach to scientific inquiry and social change grounded in principles of equity.
Through that approach, young people are engaged in identifying problems relevant to their own lives, conducting research to understand the problems, and advocating for changes based on research-based evidence, Tutwiler said.
“This will not only be a learning exercise as they are taught how to effectively research the problem, it will also be a change vehicle as they partner with educators in the building to address the identified issues,” he said.
According to the district framework, the inclusivity panels will begin in September and extend throughout the school year. In May or June, youth leaders will be expected to host a community forum on the YPAR process that their panels have been based on.
“This school year will indeed be unlike no other,” said Tutwiler. “Nonetheless, there is opportunity in every difficulty. We are taking significant steps forward to be better, more evolved, and more responsive.”
