Monroe County Community School Corporation adopts “anti-racism” policy with goal to eliminate “microaggressions in all forms”

On February 28, 2023, the Monroe County Community School Corporation adopted a new policy titled “Anti-Racism.” The policy states that the district’s board “acknowledges the historical, complex and contemporary realities of systemic policies, practices, procedures and behaviors that perpetuate racial inequities in our schools.” The policy explains that the board “commits to being proactively anti-racist in our policies.” The district then explains in the policy:

The purpose of this policy is to confront, mitigate and eliminate racism, racist behaviors and microaggressions in all forms. We affirm our commitment to establishing and maintaining a racially safe and inclusive school environment and community grounded in educational equity, that values, respects, and honors student voice and belonging (Mitra, 2009). We commit to disrupt and dismantle any and all practices and behaviors that do not center equity and that result in disparate educational outcomes between racial and other marginalized groups.

The policy also explains that “equity” will be implemented into the curriculum taught to students with a goal being “to provide instruction centered on principles of equity.” Both staff and students will be taught about “microaggressions” with a goal being to “engage students and staff in collaborative educational opportunities so that they are equipped to recognize and respond effectively to microaggressions, bias, and racism.”

The district cites the National Education Association (NEA) in explaining that “anti-racism” is “the work of actively opposing racism by advocating for changes in political, economic, and social life.” One goal for the district was also to implement a “safe incident reporting system to make it clear that any act of racial discrimination (which may include race-based bullying and harassment, and other behaviors or threats of harm) by administration, staff, or students will not be tolerated in MCCSC schools.”

The school district’s homepage has a “tip line” that “is available for the reporting of issues related safety and discrimination.” This tip line appears similar to the “safe incident reporting system” mentioned in the anti-racism policy. The school district explains for the tip line:

MCCSC is dedicated to providing a school culture that is safe and welcoming to all students – and we have diversity and inclusion leaders on our staff to help foster this through dialogue and behavior education. While we continue to work in this area, there are times when actions of others don’t live up to the standards we set for ourselves or our students. Please use this tool as a way to inform us of issues related to racism, sexism, gender bias or any other issues related to discrimination.

The tip line has categories of “alleged bullying” to choose from that include “gender,” “gender identity,” and “sexual orientation.”