Dr. Pat Deklotz, Superintendent of Schools, and Members of the Board of Education

Kettle Moraine School District

563 A J Allen Circle

Wales, WI 53183

262-968-6300

deklotzp@kmsd.edu

Dear Dr. Pat Deklotz and esteemed Members of the Kettle Moraine School District Board of Education:

We are Kettle Moraine School District alumni, current students, faculty and community members. We write to respectfully insist that the Kettle Moraine School District (i) implement a comprehensive Elementary, Middle and High School curricula plan inclusive of our country’s diverse history, particularly Black history, and specifically addressing systemic racism and White privilege; (ii) require diversity and inclusion training for all faculty and (iii) share the plan with the community to encourage neighboring districts to do the same.

As you are likely aware, major protests have broken out across the country-- including in multiple parts of Wisconsin (Madison, Milwaukee, Waukesha, etc.), where many members of the community and KMSD alumni are present-- in the wake of a policeman’s videotaped murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The American people are heartbroken and angry at the loss of another Black life at the hands of police, and they are speaking out against racist policies and advocating for anti-racism education.

Conversations and education about endemic racism (i.e., the racist policies that have shaped and continue to shape this country) must not only take place in the streets of the United States, but also in primary and secondary educational institutions including KMSD. We have a responsibility to examine the roles that privilege and bias play within our own walls. This is all the more true because the Kettle Moraine School District starts teaching students as young as four. Children form their own ideas about race as early as the age of five. Though KMSD is predominantly white, our fellow students of color have been subject to both overt and covert racism within our school buildings. This is simply unacceptable, and KM must view this as a reflection of what we have failed to teach our students. You have the power and responsibility to broaden your students’ understanding of the world. We should take pride in grooming the next generation of leaders, and those leaders must understand how far we are from, and how we must fight for, racial equality.

We cherish our public education and the values we learned and examined while we were students. The Kettle Moraine School District has historically been and remains a predominantly white institution, students, faculty, and administrators alike. While we were students at KM, this fact was rarely, if ever, discussed. We were not taught how to examine or question our own role in supporting structural racism or the ways in which the majority of the student body benefited from it. We recognize that there have been efforts made in the past to increase diversity awareness amongst students, and we also acknowledge and applaud current efforts led by Dr. Pamela Martin in documenting how racism impacts our current students. It is crucial to elevate the current work being done in conjunction with implementing an anti-racism curricula to ensure all students are reached.

Though some look at recent events and believe the world has changed in recent years, the reality is that racism has been consistent and rampant for people of color in our country, our state, and our towns. To quote Will Smith, “Racism isn’t getting worse. It’s getting filmed.” In recent years, the American populace has mourned the unnecessary deaths of too many people of color, often after bearing witness to police brutality via videos circulated on social media. The phrase “white privilege” has entered the vernacular. More and more Americans have realized that the time for a serious reckoning with the nation’s racial reality has long since come. We believe that the Kettle Moraine School District should participate in that reckoning and take a leadership role in making positive change. You have the ability to empower your students through thoughtful education and for those simply born with privilege to become advocates on these important issues.  

i) Accordingly, we believe it is necessary for the KMSD to implement a comprehensive plan for addressing these issues at the Elementary, Middle and High School levels. We have a responsibility to current students and future generations of KMSD students to incorporate lessons of systemic racism, privilege and American history from the Black perspective into its ongoing curricula. Teaching materials can and should be sourced from a variety of modern mediums like books, podcasts and documentaries that are better able to reflect the rapid pace at which our society is evolving. We ask that these materials include works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) authors. The Kettle Moraine School District must ensure that these conversations are not optional, which could lead to students of color bearing the burden of having these difficult discussions while white students opt out. We acknowledge that there is some work being done to incorporate diversity conversations into advisory spaces at the high school level. However, we firmly believe that these discussions must be incorporated into core content classes using research-based work. It is worth iterating that the burden should not be placed on individual teachers to create said curriculum, as many resources and examples already exist.The district must undertake these discussions with a self-critical eye, fostering conversations about how predominantly white institutions like KMSD itself, and public school systems like it, perpetuate racist policies-- even if it does not intend to do so.

ii) Further, diversity and inclusion continuous education should be provided for all faculty. Learning never ends for any of us when it comes to these topics. An active awareness of unconscious bias should be built into the faculty and staff culture. The district should fund resource groups for its employees to build relationships across different roles through shared background or experience as related to one’s identity in order to build a culture of inclusion to lead students by example. Implicit bias training is also encouraged.

iii) We also believe that the Kettle Moraine School District should release this plan to its community so that KMSD can be held accountable and help model this necessary change for public school systems everywhere, especially in southeastern Wisconsin. We encourage you to formalize this engagement by forming an Advisory Board composed of parents, faculty, staff, alumni and other stakeholders. Any plan to address these issues can only be made stronger by inviting as diverse a group as possible to comment on it, now and into the future.

Finally, KMSD must recognize its role as a community leader and encourage its peer schools to create their own plans for addressing these issues within their own walls. At this moment we have an opportunity to lead by example. There is no reason not to.

We know firsthand the innumerable ways a KMSD education benefits any student who walks through the doors. But, without serious self-reflection on the part of the schools and their largely white and privileged student body, KMSD is also doing its students a grave disservice.

Signed,

Students, Alumni, Parents, Faculty and Community Members

Attachment: 1168 Signatures