Midlothian ISD takes “a bold stand against systemic racism and work toward diversity, equity, and inclusion transformation among students and staff”

On July 20, 2020, Midlothian held a Diversity Council meeting “to end discrimination and continue developing an action, implementation, monitoring and evaluation plan that celebrates the power of
diversity.”

On their timeline, the district states that they’ve “received Midlothians for Change recommendations.” Midlothians for Change is a local third party organization, outside of the district’s oversight; for that reason, community members are not able to file a Freedom of Information Act as they are with the school district. Below are excerpts from the Midlothians for Change letter:

Midlothian’s Professional Development Action Team used the following resources for their research and agenda (see above slides):

Anti Defamation League
DEI – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
CASEL – Social Emotional Learning as a lever for Equity
Teaching Tolerance
Kirwan Institute
Courageous Conversations
Leadership ISD Brave/R Space Academy
Leadership ISD Brave/R Leadership Academy
Harvard Study
Medium

Various Books:
● Unconscious Bias “Turning Unconscious Bias Into
Conscious Thought”: A Book About People by by Phil L.
Claybrooke & Harvey Phelps

● Blind Spot: Hidden Bias of Good People by Mahzarin R.
Banaji & Anthony G. Greenwald

● The Person You Mean to Be by Dolly Chugh

● How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi

● White Fragility by Robin Diangelo

● Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally
and Historically Responsive Literacy by Gholdy
Muhammad

● Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach
Social Comprehension by Sara K. Ahmed

● Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary
Imagination by Toni Morrison

● Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain:
Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students by
Zaretta L. Hammond

The district has also hired a Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: