Tonight's meeting was focused on the latino community but was bilingual so everyone could follow along. Plan 6 was presented but did not included detailed maps as have been presented for Plan 3.
There was good turnout with some comments from parents.
One parent expressed concern about some postings on the internet that were less than favorable towards an increase in spanish language students at Eastwood. He challenged the hispanic community to reach out and change perceptions.
There was also some concern about resources being available for ESL teaching and other programs like BLAST at Peter Boscow and the parent was reassured that the district would review those resources and make sure that nothing was lost in the transition.
Several other parents were concerned about keeping standards high for the kids and ensuring that school quality based on state tests was maintained - more of a general concern about really challenging hispanic kids in the schools. Mr. Pérez suggested that perhaps the district should bring the superintendent and some other district representatives back in another meeting to hear those kinds of concerns.
There were also some concerns about racism that might be brought out by school changes and what the district was doing to address the problem. Mr. Pérez pointed out that racism is a community issue as opposed to a school issue and that the district would make sure teachers had appropriate training to properly address any racism that might be encountered in the school environment.
After the meeting, one of the parents from Eastwood asked if we had heard the comment by the first parent and she wanted to reassure him that the school was an 'open arms' school. I think he was a little surprised when she approached him and (with some translation help from Mr. Pérez) expressed concern. The parent made it clear that he didn't feel that it was a reflection on Eastwood in general but wanted to make sure his children would feel welcomed at Eastwood.
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2 comments:
Mark, I deeply appreciate the openness and transparency you are bringing to this boundary process.
Discussions that involve race can be forbidding. Nobody wants to put their foot in their mouth, but we have to be able to address those issues that affect the integrity of the education of all our children.
The big goal of the Hillsboro School District is to prepare all our students to be functional world citizens. That was, and remains, my goal.
All that is prefatory to saying that I'm very pleased with the education my son got at W.L. Henry Elementary, which had then, and has now, a diverse population k-12.
My son attended W.L. Henry Elementary School on the first leg of his educational journey, and both my wife, a teacher, and I were quite pleased with his experience, from kindergarten through sixth grade.
Those educational experiences are defined by the teachers and parental support.
Frankly, I find it difficult to imagine having sent my kid to a school in Hillsboro that would not have met my expectations.
The hispanic community is a vital part of what defines us as a community in the greater Hillsboro area and, for many of us, includes our extended families.
I think Mr. Pérez got it right when he noted that racism is a community issue but that schools must be prepared for it when encountered.
Bottom line: All children enrolled in our public schools need to feel welcome; we as parents need to make sure that comes through not only in the boundary process but daily with our children, in both action and words.
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