MLKS’ PUBLIC STATEMENT
Re: SSCD’s “Equity, Inclusivity, and Diversity in Education” Policy & Regulations (draft)
11 May 2021
Dear Superintendent Patton, Trustees of the Saratoga Springs School Board, and all SSCSD Equity and Inclusion Committee Stakeholders,
We at MLK Saratoga are so grateful, inspired, and heartened by the "Equity, Inclusivity and Diversity in Education" policy draft that we have been able to review. Thank you for this public inclusion.
We commend you on moving forward with this focus, which decades of metrics-based research has shown to benefit individuals, communities, businesses, and ultimately our health, as a nation. Your care and attention to wordsmithing a "living" policy that can grow as Saratoga Springs rises to meet an unknown future that serves our city and people, directly, is beautifully evident throughout, including your communications to the community, at large: "The district is not adopting any particular diversity and equity program or curriculum, but rather continues to examine what is best for our school community."
Furthermore, we recognize the 39-member district-wide Equity and Inclusion Committee as evidence of SSCSD's commitment to engaging diverse voices across ages, educational roles, and community impact in creating an "equitable learning opportunities for every student." This common sense, deepening vision of providing education that reaches and meets each and every child -- no matter their challenges, socio-economic level, gender, race, orientation, or ethnic background -- creates a stronger, more cohesive community, as each child, in turn, impacts their family, which impacts all of us in a myriad of ways. This is how we "grow" each other in awareness, understanding, and connection. This is Community.
MLKSaratoga continues to work toward peace by promoting racial, social, economic and climate justice right here in our Saratoga community. We use Performance, the Arts, and Dialogue to foster and deepen cross-cultural understanding, so we can continue to build toward a more unified, thriving community that is safe and just for all. MLK Saratoga is well aligned with your goals and will highlight your ongoing work to meet the needs of all of our children by sharing your efforts with our membership and providing information links over our website. We will also work to contribute productively to this ongoing community dialogue and to offset the mis- and disinformation that the Fear of Change so often churns up.
As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. captured so clearly, "Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." Thank you for your courage to lean into what has gone unspoken, ignored, and unchanged for so, so long. Together, we ARE growing a more inclusive and equitable Saratoga Springs for all!
Sincerely,
Lezlie Dana, President