SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Frontier and Union 38 regional school districts have released a mission statement and goals for the Anti-Racism and Equity Committee that was established earlier this summer.
“A lot of great work is there,” commented Superintendent Darius Modestow at a recent Frontier School Committee meeting. “They set the foundation of a lot of work that has to now get done in our community.”
The mission statement, which has been posted to the districts’ website, outlines goals in four areas: professional development, curriculum, school policy and procedure, and school culture. Within each area, goals are identified at both the elementary and secondary level.
Amanda Mozea, who was hired by the district as a consultant for the committee, spoke about these goals — specifically for the elementary level curriculum — at Tuesday’s school committee meeting for the Conway Grammar School. Mozea, herself an alumna of Frontier Regional School and Sunderland Elementary School, studied racial inequality in college.
The first goal for the elementary level curriculum, she explained, is to create a common vocabulary and understanding of anti-racist work.
“The goal is that teachers who are teaching kindergartners or teaching third-graders or teaching sixth-graders all have developmentally appropriate ways of approaching this work and bringing it into their classrooms,” she said.
Mozea said anti-racism education is especially important in early years, because children start to recognize racial differences as young as 4 years old.
“Even our youngest kids recognize racial differences and are starting to internalize negative concepts,” she said.
The second goal is to develop five book recommendations per grade level that feature diverse protagonists and diverse plots.
“That’s huge,” Mozea said. “It’s a really natural way to bring up these conversations in class.”
The third goal is ongoing, she said, and more broadly defined than the first two.
“The third goal is to really revamp the curriculum so it is more inclusive, more truthful and more honest historically,” she said.
In the area of professional development, the committee has already held workshops for teachers.
“I think there were people who were really moved and engaged,” she said.
Phil Kantor, a school committee member for the Conway Grammar School, asked Mozea on Tuesday if the district is doing enough.
The short answer was no — but Mozea elaborated.
“This is a process, and I think that, frankly, before the alumni letter, I was like, ‘This district is beyond hope,” she said, referring to a July letter signed by 285 alumni that called for reform in race education. “I was a little Black girl in this district, and it was not easy. It really was not easy.”
The receipt of the letter coincided with the formation of the Anti-Racism and Equity Committee, which is made up of administrators, teachers, parents and students.
Since beginning her work with the districts, however, Mozea said she has been overwhelmed by the positive response — and not just from the people involved in the committee.
“But also the teachers who have really risen to the challenge of having uncomfortable conversations, recognizing that what they have been doing isn’t enough and who are actively working to counter that,” she said.
Mozea told Kantor she thinks the efforts being made now are a mechanism for long-term, institutional change.
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne