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PHOENIXVILLE, PA The June 14 meeting of the Phoenixville area school district board of directors included several extensions of regular contracts and other regular business, but public comments brought a controversial tone related to the initiatives and district equity policy.
During the public comment period of the meeting, some parents in the Phoenixville-area school district asked to know what the district meant by “fairness.”
Michael Stevens asked the board, “What is an equity team? What do you mean by “fairness”? and What is an achievement gap? ”
Ben Martin of East Pikeland insisted that “critical breed theory is based on the idea that our society is designed to benefit some.” He told the PASD board: “It hurts the children. He said the CRT is a destructive and unethical ideology.
Martin told the board that the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination based on skin color and declared the use of the term “whiteness” to be racist.
Phoenixville area school district school board chair Blake Emmanuel told meeting attendees that equity is part of the district’s strategic plan.
Blake noted that “critical race theory is not even a part of the curriculum” in the district.
The PASD declares that through its sustained initiatives “we work diligently in the pursuit of equity”. Some of these initiatives include staffing; the district created a position of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leader, a position of Educational and Student Resilience Advisor, a second position of Home and School Visitor / Social Worker, a district welfare post and added two instructional coach posts.
Professional development in the district for the final academic year included training staff on ‘implicit biases’ in November 2020. Earlier this year, the district hosted an inaugural mini-conference on PASD equity with workshops that included an introduction to understanding white supremacy; Cultivating inclusive communities: how to be an LGBTQ + ally; Culturally Appropriate Education: Improving Education, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Empathy: the foundation of restorative practices; and structural racism as a cause of poverty in America.
PASD board member Christopher Caltagirone said in response to comments that nothing in the strategic plan talks about critical breed theory. He cautioned against “surrendering to hysteria” and said some comments came from “a multitude of misinformation”.
Caltagirone urged the board to approach the issue of fairness and race boldly and “not give in” to “hysteria” from sources who get their information from Wikipedia, which he called of “frightening”.
Similar remarks criticizing Critical Race Theory were brought to the Tredyffin / Easttown School Board at a meeting the same evening, in what was a larger movement around Critical Race Theory targeting school districts and the school curriculum.
Also at the PASD meeting, student representatives Aubrey Wright and Scout Woronko called on the board to continue to make mental health resources available and to be “proactive and non-reactive” in the face of a health crisis. mental health of students worsened by the pandemic. .
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