By Ashley M. Casey
Associate Editor
In an effort to improve racial diversity and inclusion of people of all abilities in the school district, the Baldwinsville Board of Education has approved a mission statement drafted by the Diversity and Equity Committee, led by Syracuse Education Commissioner Derrick Dorsey.
The board voted unanimously to approve the document at its Jan. 27 meeting.
Diversity and Equity Mission Statement
The BCSD is committed to providing an inclusive and equitable environment for all students, staff and families. We value and embrace diversity within our schools and our community. We believe that each individual is unique, and acceptance of our individual differences regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, age, abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, and other ideologies provides an opportunity for all to enhance their knowledge, recognize their value, and grow to reach their full potential. Through our work we will ensure that all students are prepared to live productive and responsible lives as citizens in the ever changing global community.
BCSD formed the Diversity and Equity Committee last fall to address the district’s changing racial and socioeconomic demographics as well as factors such as disabilities, social-emotional learning and technology.
“I think that you need to be proud of your district. This is courageous work that you’re doing,” Dorsey said at the BOE meeting. “To notice that things are changing — socioeconomic status, there’s a huge differential. There’s people entering into the district with different races and ethnicities and even gender identities which we didn’t think about years ago.”
Dorsey, who has served on the Syracuse City School District BOE since 2013, was the director of InterFaith Works’ Community Wide Dialogue to End Racism for eight years. The program has hosted more than 550 dialogue circles for 18,000 participants since 1995, including suburban and city students, law enforcement and the communities they serve, and other groups in Central New York.
“One of the unique pieces of that program is bringing together city and suburb schools to begin to break down stereotypes and white privilege, how to become an ally,” Dorsey said.
According to a post on the School Administrators Association of New York State’s website written by BCSD Director of Elementary Curriculum and Instruction Tony Cardamone, the committee is one of several approaches the district is implementing to make B’ville a more inclusive school community.
“Our superintendent, Mr. Matthew J. McDonald, has led us on a quest to not only explore the needs and challenges of our students, but to embrace their diversity in all its forms. Central to this is the belief that diversity is not just the color of one’s skin, but much more. His goal is for all students to have a personal connection with each other and with adults throughout each building. This has led our district to look at diversity from many angles,” Cardamone wrote.
In addition to the committee, the district is creating a more inclusive environment through the Positivity Project, which promotes healthy relationships by focusing on a series of “character strengths.” The district also has implemented BIMAS (Behavior Intervention Monitoring and Assessment System) to gauge students’ social-emotional needs and has provided professional development designed to improve teachers’ cultural competence and support for students with disabilities.
Diversity in the district
Tony Cardamone, director of elementary curriculum and instruction, wrote a post on the School Administrators Association of New York State’s website in October 2019 addressing the BCSD’s Diversity and Equity Committee.
According to Cardamone, here are some statistics about race, disabilities and socioeconomic status in the BCSD from the 2018-19 school year.
• Race: 88.2% White, 4.2% Hispanic/Latino, 4.4% Multi-racial, 1.9% Black or African American, 1.1% Asian/Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.
• Students with disabilities: In 2018, 15% of BCSD students were identified as having a disability, up from 11% in 2007.
• Socioeconomic status: In 2018, 29% of BCSD students were identified as economically disadvantaged, compared to 13% in 2007.
Read Cardamone’s full post at saanys.org/news/diversity-one-districts-journey.
Dorsey explained the concepts of equity versus equality and diversity versus inclusion.
“Equity, everyone gets a pair of shoes that fits; equality, everyone just gets a pair of shoes,” he said. “Diversity [means] you get invited to the party; inclusion is you get asked to dance at the party.”
Dorsey said the committee — made up of BCSD faculty, staff, administrators, families and students — met for five sessions to draft the mission statement.
“We look at it as a living, breathing document,” he said.
The mission statement is meant to act as a guide for short-term and long-term policy recommendations and to help improve relationships among students, teachers and the greater school community.
BOE members Jim Goulet and Christy Bond shared one concern about the mission statement. The original draft specified “acceptance of our individual differences regardless of … physical abilities.” Goulet and Bond pointed out that there are developmental and intellectual disabilities as well.
“It may be as simple as just taking out the word ‘physical.’ It’s ‘abilities,’” suggested Joe DeBarbieri, deputy superintendent.
BOE member Jeff Marier asked where the mission statement can be found.
“I think it’s great. I just want to make sure we get the full benefit out of it so people know about it,” he said.
David Kilcourse, human resources official for the district, said the statement will be posted on the district’s website, and administrators will work with BCSD Public Information Specialist Sarah Buckshot to get the word out to the community. He added that the committee’s work does not end with the mission statement.
“It’s been very eye-opening,” he said. “The more people we have at the table, the more perspectives we have.”
The board thanked Dorsey and the committee for their work.
“I hope we’re having difficult conversations because that’s the only way we’re going to really dig deep and find out what the solutions are,” Bond said.
