It’s been a few months since a group of parents made their concerns about racist bullying in Highland Park elementary and middle schools public at a Board of Education meeting.
Since then, a parent group has reported fewer instances of racist slurs, and the school district officials said they are building up their response to racism and exclusion.
At a February board meeting, a number of North Shore School District 112 parents shared their children’s experiences of being called racial slurs, as well as becoming targets of other types of bullying used against Black students.
Parents said there was not sufficient accountability for the aggressors, and demanded more action from the school district.
Janea Harris, District 112 parent and co-founder of Insight Advocacy, a group advocating for inclusion and diversity in the North Shore, said since the February outcry the use of racial slurs has decreased in district middle schools.
“The good thing that has happened is that now people are aware — parents, teachers, everyone,” Harris said. “When it comes to issues like this, awareness is the one thing that’s so important because people no longer have deniability.”
The parent and former educator applauded the work that has been done by the school district, but still called for more urgency and community support.
While the district has been working on improving inclusion and diversity for years, Superintendent Michael Lubelfeld said it “ramped up” efforts earlier this year for culturally responsive teaching, learning and overall anti-racist conduct.
Lubelfeld said the district introduced a motivational speaker for students, cultural training for teachers, new curriculum and engaged students, staff and stakeholders in community surveys.
“We will continue to do our best to educate our children and our community so that we can prevent instances of intolerance that include bullying, racial harassment or any harassment for any reason of any child,” he said. “We’ll continue to do everything in our power to help mitigate this and prevent it. We’re never really done.”
At a Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Lubelfeld announced two focus group sessions for staff, parents, students and the community at large with Sarena Shivers, an educational equity consultant from Chicago.
Lubelfeld said Shivers will guide the group through understanding social identities, implicit bias, recognizing and minimizing microaggressions and identifying privilege.
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Later in June, Lubelfeld shared Tuesday, that teachers and administrators will attend a culturally responsive teaching and leadership boot camp with Sonya Whitacker, a Chicago-based educational consultant.
Harris said this is a “positive report” from the district, and she was happy to see diversity efforts back in “full swing” at the district.
“Even though they’ve laid out a fabulous plan, I would like to see the district continue to move with a sense of urgency,” Harris said. “For kids, a year or two is an infinite amount of time because their life changes so much.”
While waiting for a response from the school district to improve cultural awareness, Harris said Insight Advocacy and parents from District 112 are not sitting idle, but are hosting and engaging in conversations about diversity and inclusion with the broader community.
“This is no longer just about the misuse of a word,” Harris said. “We say it’s about valuing another person’s right to exist, and for us all to enjoy the same benefits and peace that our community is supposed to provide.”
Community support
The focus group and boot-camp training sessions with educational consultants are partly informed by surveys distributed to the students and community at large, Lubelfeld said.
A survey asking middle school students how the district can do a better job of ensuring every student feels like they belong and are respected in the schools received 1,051 responses. Lubelfeld said almost every middle school student participated.
The superintendent characterized the student responses as “honest” and “unfiltered.”
Many students asked for more freedom during the school day, a later start time, more choice in how and what they learn, and asked for teachers to offer classroom experiences that are responsive to the student voice, Lubelfeld said.
A survey of staff, parents and community members received 482 responses, over half from parents, about 170 from staff and 47 from community members, he said. The main thematic takeaways from the community responses were more community involvement, disciplinary measures, staff training and cultural awareness, according to the superintendent.
Janea Harris speaks during the public comment section of a North Shore School District 112 Board of Education meeting at Northwood Middle School in Highland Park on Feb. 13, 2024. “N-word-use bullying and racial intimidation have been detrimental to the mental health of our children,” she said during the February meeting. “How unfortunate that Jim Crow behavior is a reality in our district.” (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Harris said she has “quietly” received messages of support from community members via text and email.
“The one thing that I would like to ask those community members is to give me loud, bold support, because that’s what we need,” she said. “That’s the only way things change.”
The district also updated some curricula to be more culturally relevant, according to Lubelfeld.
In April, the Board of Education approved new curricular resources for science at the middle school sites. The board also adopted new language arts, English and Spanish curriculum for the elementary schools.
Lubelfeld said the materials are, “reflective of the latest research in inclusive and culturally responsive recommendations,” and will be implemented for the upcoming school year.
“Every grade level, every student will be exposed to and be in learning environments with updated materials in this domain of culturally responsive education,” he said.
The Board of Education will also engage in strategic planning for the district later this summer to set forth the district’s mission, values and goals. Lubelfeld anticipates the strategic plan to be reflective of the bullying and equity concerns brought forth by parents.
chilles@chicagotribune.com
