Jumpstarting the journey 

District leadership began exploring ways to determine and address the root cause of the disparities. This work has been methodical and strategic since 2017. With the discrepancies appearing in academics and behavior across all grade levels, district administrators began engaging in professional learning that included addressing disproportionality through culturally-responsive systems and practices. Seeing the importance of broadening this work, the district expanded opportunities for additional staff members to engage in professional learning through conferences, book studies, cohort trainings and more.  

With each new resource explored, the district’s resolve grew stronger. In 2019, the district formed a Root Cause Team to examine district academic and behavior data, as well as the beliefs, policies, and practices contributing to disproportionality. This team, made up of 50 administrators, instructional and non-instructional staff, board members and parents/guardians, worked with New York University's Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, a leader in helping school districts to identify systems and practices that lead to disproportionality and recognize areas for growth.  

In addition to student academic data, the Root Cause team looked at staff perception surveys to gain a better understanding of their beliefs and perceptions about how district practices play a role in student achievement. Of the more than 850 staff members districtwide, 66% of them responded to the survey. The survey had five focus areas that included intervention and referral processes, self-efficacy, practitioner’s perspectives on culture and race, and administrator and program director perceptions of teaching.  

District Equity Team: an advisory group and accountability partner to ensure we are making progress towards achieving our goal.  

School-building Equity Teams: six groups that will support each school’s work in helping stakeholders understand and implement culturally-responsive sustaining practices.  

Focus Area Teams: five teams that will guide the work of the five focus improvement, which include data systems; multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), recruitment, hiring and retention; restorative practices; and teaching and learning. 

The Strategic Plan for Equity is grounded by the guiding principles outlined in the district’s moral imperative, which was adopted by the Board of Education in October 2020: 

The Gates Chili Central School District has a moral duty to serve its students and families. Every student must be able to receive an equitable education where they are represented, protected and able to thrive. The district acknowledges the presence of white privilege and bias and how this perpetuates systematic racism. The Gates Chili Central School District is committed to the necessary growth required to develop and sustain equity and dismantle disproportionality.  

Ready to hit the road 

The district officially launched its Strategic Plan for Equity in February 2021 during a districtwide staff meeting. That meeting featured a video in which more than 30 staff members and students from across the district came together to tell the story of Gates Chili's journey to equity thus far. The end of the video issued a call to action to join one of the district’s equity teams. Within hours of that districtwide meeting, nearly 100 of our 800 staff members had signed up to join an equity team. Additionally, the Strategic Plan for Equity and accompanying video were shared with the community via the district newsletter and social media channels. Another 20 non-staff members followed the call to action and signed up to serve on the district’s equity team. 

By June 2021, equity teams had been formed and met for their initial meetings to define their team’s purposes and intended outcomes. Core components of all equity team meetings include agreed-upon team contract and norms to ensure common language and practices and community-building circles to foster a sense of trust and highlight successes and struggles along the way.  

Everyone drives DEI efforts 

With a new school year came the opportunity to relaunch the district’s strategic plan. When staff returned in the fall of 2021, Superintendent Christopher Dailey brought all staff together to build awareness about the plan and re-establish the commitment that every staff member plays a significant role in diversity, equity and inclusion. This meant that support staff, who historically did not participate in districtwide training, had the opportunity to engage in trainings that focused on identifying and understanding personal bias.  

With all staff having engaged in foundational equity work, the district held superintendent’s conference days in October 2021 and March 2022 to continue to move the entire district along in their personal journeys. October’s national conference-style conference day was attended by more than 800 faculty, staff, students and community members, and featured a keynote presentation by national speaker Dr. Omekongo Dibinga titled “Finding Common Ground in Uncommon Times” aiming to bring everyone together around DEI work. The day also included 20+ breakout sessions facilitated by staff and local DEI experts on a variety of topics including the history of racism in Rochester, LGBTQIA+ issues, inequity in athletics, food inequity and more.  

Then, in March all staff came back together with a focus on how understanding someone’s story plays a role in equity. The keynote featured three regional DEI experts and three alumni and was facilitated by current students. Staff also had the opportunity to discuss their takeaways from the keynote during community-building circles. Staff feedback demonstrated that these conference days were an overwhelming success, with 98% of staff surveyed reporting the professional learning was engaging and relevant. 

Over the course of the school year, equity teams and staff members throughout the district were essential in weaving equity into the fabric of every discussion and decision about instruction, operations and district policy. While not an exhaustive list, efforts such as library and classroom materials audits, book studies with staff and community members, examining building and district data, and challenging systems and practices during conversations about race, bias and accessibility, played a key role in eliminating systemic barriers and creating sustainable alternatives for the future.