A statement from the Mt. Angel School District Board of Directors
June 9, 2020
In the last 2 weeks, the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis erupted in focus of many in our nation and world on institutional racism and discrimination that perpetuates harm and disadvantage for people of color. This week, it became clear our community and schools in Mt. Angel are not apart from it all.
Our school system plays an important role in the virtues of our students and community, and we wholeheartedly condemn racism in any form.
We have foundational elements in place to help us serve our students and community better. Two of our formally adopted values state that our district:
1. Embraces diversity and believes we are stronger together, and
2. Develops, models and celebrates virtuous citizenship
Earlier in 2020, we crafted an equity lens, which we will continue to develop with input from administration, faculty, and the community. The values stated as a driver for decisions in that guide are:
1. All students benefit from the district's programs
2. We strive to eliminate barriers to provide access to an equal education
3. Every student feels welcome, safe, valued, and confident in their learning
4. We meet students where they are and provide what each student needs
5. District staff feel welcome, safe, valued, and confident in their work environments
6. We seek continuous improvement throughout the district
We are united today in calling out the strength and truth of these values and beliefs -that allow no space for tolerating racism.
We stand united in support of the people of our school district: our students, our staff, our School Resource Officers, our administrators, our community members - to forge ahead with these values and beliefs driving and guiding our work in education. We are committed to doing better for all of our students.
As Superintendent Stoops said last week, "This is not a time for hatred, blame, or persecution. This is a time for unity and compassion for others." We challenge each of you, and ourselves, to strive ahead in just this way- in every action, reaction, and interaction with one another.
Let us learn more and do better. In the words of John F. Kennedy, "The greater our knowledge increases, the more our ignorance unfolds."
