0130: Equity and Accountability

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0000: Governance

Adoption Date: June 11, 2019

Revised: July 25, 2024

All students have an inherent right to an equitable, accessible, inclusive, and culturally responsive learning environment. The District values students’ diverse ideas and contributions, and believes that students’ identities and backgrounds should actively contribute to their successful academic outcomes and that of their peers. Diversity is a core strength of our District and requires that we work systemically to eliminate racial inequalities and inequities for all marginalized students.

I. Commitments

The Board commits to:

Affirming, inspiring and serving each and every student in our diverse community, especially students who have been marginalized and face significant barriers. The Board is also committed through their governance and oversight to creating opportunities and removing barriers to identify and nurture strengths in each and every student to ensure our community can in turn be strengthened by each and every did

Provide system-wide direction, support, oversight, and shared accountability to advance equity and eliminate inequities in our Bellevue School District community.
Participate in ongoing Board development and learning opportunities about inequities and biases that impact students, staff and families in our community, and about effective strategies for addressing them.
Work with the District staff to implement the Equity Driven Decision Making (EDDM) Process codified in the accompanying procedure (Procedure 0130P). Ensure the application and documentation of the EDDM process in the in policy review and new policy development process, selection of curriculum materials, development of District-wide and program specific plans, budgets and decisions with a significant impact on the community.
Use the Equity Driven Decision Making Process (EDDM) to ensure our policies address inequities and biases that cause harm or fear. Our policies will crate a sense of belonging, and will dismantle academic and psychological barriers for students, which can contribute to reduced academic participation and performance.
Ensure our policies address racism and occurrences of racial tension in ways that both provide positive guidelines and expectations, and that direct development of robust reporting and investigations processes.
Work with the District to develop, maintain, and apply a consistent collection of Critical Criteria, approved by the Board and specified in an accompanying procedure, to the creation and review of all District policies and any Board approvals of District plans, budgets, and curriculum materials.
Ensure our policies directly address racism and occurrences of racial tension in ways that both provide positive guidelines and expectations, and that direct development of robust reporting and investigation processes.
Review and update policies regularly to ensure they proactively advance an equitable and exceptional education for all students consistent with Policy 0200 and Procedure 0200P.

This policy establishes that our District shall:

Adopt curriculum, and teaching and learning strategies, that leverage, reflect, and affirm the unique experiences and social, racial, cultural, linguistic, and familial backgrounds of our Bellevue School District community.
Ensure that all students have equitable access to and provision of resources based on their unique needs, including but not limited to, English language learning, advanced learning, free and reduced-price lunches, special education, and homelessness supports.
Ensure that all students have equitable access to all District programs including but not limited to all District choice schools, college and career readiness and counseling, sports and activities, and Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate coursework.
Provide concerted universal instructional efforts and extensive and varied intervention opportunities to support all students, including those who face barriers and inequities, to meet key milestones for student growth and achievement, and their own personal growth and learning goals.
Ensure disciplinary actions are undertaken without bias and/or disproportionality.
Work with the employee groups and staff to ensure that, at least once every three years, and within the first year for all newly hired staff, every staff member participates in professional development that addresses implicit bias, anti-discrimination, cultural responsiveness, and inclusion. For those staff who work directly with the instruction of students and for those who support such staff, the professional development will include training on culturally responsive instruction and inclusive practices. The Superintendent will ensure professional development in these instructional practices is ongoing and will provide job-embedded opportunities for collaborative learning and application of these practices with respect to other instructional priorities.
Implement hiring processes that proactively support the District’s commitment to hiring, recruitment, and retention of highly qualified staff of color and that promote and honor other aspects of a diverse workforce.
Apply the Equity Driven Decision Making process defined in Procedure 0130P to the policy review and and new policy development process, the selection of curriculum materials, development of and the construction of District-wide and program specific plans and budgets and decisions with a significant impact on the community.
Develop reporting, investigation, communication and accountability processes, particularly related to actions of racism and occurrences of racial tension or other discriminatory actions. Ensure these processes
1. Identify expected behaviors and behaviors we cannot accept. I
2. Provide clear responsibilities for staff who observe such behaviors, including any required reporting or other actions.
3. Include guidelines for how staff and volunteers should address racial and other discriminatory tensions that arise in classrooms, hallways, playgrounds, buses, and any other school environments.
4. Account for power differences among those reporting, those to whom they report, and those who may be enacting or enabling racism or discrimination.
5. Include clear expectations for follow-up with all relevant parties (including those the actions impact, those reporting, and those alleged to be enacting unwelcome behaviors).
Foster strong partnerships with diverse groups of parents and stakeholders and increase direct family engagement, especially with families whose students may be marginalized or face barriers.

The Superintendent or designee shall create and maintain procedures, associated with this policy and other relevant policies (cross-referenced in the procedure associated with this policy) as appropriate, to guide how each of the above District commitments will be implemented. The procedure associated with this policy should document and maintain clear measures of success related to each District commitment.

II. Context and Need for Equity and Accountability Policy

Equity is rooted in the values of our District and we must intentionally and continually work to achieve it. We can only serve each and every student if we live our District values, including showing respect and compassion for each other. Racism, discrimination, and marginalization of any people or groups of people, whether intentional or not, have no place in our community. Such actions damage not only those individuals and groups at which they are directed, but also our community as a whole.

We acknowledge the inequities that many of our students face and that we are challenged to address. District data confirm what broader research shows: many factors impact a student’s performance, including but not limited to race, income level, disability, gender, country of origin, mobility, and English proficiency. While these factors may be related to one another, each can independently impact students; and students who experience multiple factors can experience greater barriers.

We recognize that students face inequities that are associated with aspects of their identities and their contexts, including race, ethnicity, culture, disability and learning differences, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, and when they are acquiring English, or are experiencing homelessness or low-income. We are committed to addressing these inequities and helping each and every student to equitably access learning opportunities in our District to enable them all to thrive.

A. Racial Equity

We are working to ensure that all students, regardless of race, experience a supportive and barrier free learning environment. The District acknowledges the historic existence of institutionalized racism which has systematically limited the educational and societal advancement of people of color, including Black, Hispanic/LatinX, Native American, Asian, and Pacific Islander. The specific barriers of students and families of color exist within a larger, racial context. Historic and contemporary BSD data measuring student achievement, performance, and well-being demonstrate an obvious and predictable gap in outcomes, opportunities, and sense of belonging for students of color, most notably Black/African American and Hispanic/LatinX students, and also Native American, Pacific Islander, and Southeast Asian students.

District and other data sources show that there are many ways that students of color experience school differently. In particular, students of color experience forms of racism and unconscious bias that impact all aspects of their educational experience and that impede and limit how successful students of color can be. Additionally, when students are marginalized from participating fully with peers, all students lose valuable
contributions to their learning. This policy aims to pro-actively promote a culture that supports students of all races and backgrounds, and to address both institutional practices and the behaviors of any individuals in the system that perpetuate any sort of biased actions or ambivalence that allows biased actions to inhibit students of color from accessing the opportunities of our District.

B. Inclusion and Full Engagement

We are working to achieve inclusion in our schools such that all students and families have safe and equitable access, feel a deep sense of belonging, and experience a welcoming classroom and school community where instruction is strengths-based, aligned to or exceeds grade-level and subject standards, and to the maximum extent possible, takes place with all grade-level or subject peers. While this goal extends to all our students, it is especially relevant for students with disabilities and students acquiring
English.

The District recognizes that students with disabilities can be marginalized and often separated from their peer community. We also recognize that these students face additional barriers when they come from other marginalized groups, particularly students of color. The District is committed to addressing inequities and biases towards students and families whose voice or access has been marginalized in conjunction with their disabilities, and the District is committed to minimizing situations that separate students from their peers and peer learning environments.

C. Approach to Address Inequities

District efforts to bridge inequities will include a combination of programmatic, cultural and systemic efforts. We recognize that each group faces different barriers, challenges and needs, and that the experiences of different groups of students cannot all be addressed in the same ways. While the District may focus particular efforts to address specific inequities, the District will implement such efforts in a way that allows them to serve any students who need such supports.

III. Accountability

To ensure that we are truly serving each and every student, especially those who have been marginalized and those who experience barriers, we will monitor our effectiveness and report on our progress.

A. Annual Equity & Accountability Reporting & Recommendations

Policy 0150 codifies the District's Planning, Progress Monitoring and Reporting Process, consistent with the District's commitment to Equity and Accountability. In accordance with Policy 0150, the Superintendent will review the District's commitments to equity and accountability annually to ensure that annual and strategic plans advance the equity commitments. To ensure that progress on the Districts' commitments to equity and accountability is monitored, the work of the District to address these commitments will be incorporated into the annual plan of the district.

Procedure 0150P describes the progress monitoring and reporting process including content, timing and cadence, organization and formatting, submission process and definitions of technical terms.

B. Regular ongoing Equity and Accountability Reporting

In all reports to the Board and in all District direction-setting reports, outcome data will be disaggregated for students who have been marginalized or who experience barriers.

Within the context of its strategic and annual planning process, the District will identify and monitor key targets for student growth and achievement. Such targets should hold equitably high expectations for all students and should appropriately account for social emotional and academic growth.

Equity Driven Decision Making (EDDM)

The District’s process for equity driven decision making is described in Procedure 0130P. Application of the process must be documented for:

1.   New policies and polices that undergo a full review.
2.   All District plans, budgets and curriculum materials presented to the Board for approval.
3.   Decisions that have significant community impact.

The Superintendent or designee, in collaboration with the Board, will develop and maintain tools to support the District's Equity Driven Decision Making Process and will include these as exhibits to Procedure 0130P.

Cross References

Legal References

WA Administrative Code Chapter 392-190 - Equal educational opportunity-Unlawful Discrimination Prohibited
Title 28A.640 RCW Sexual Equality
Title 28A.642 RCW Discrimination Prohibition