Black Lives Matter at School Petition to MCPS Board of Education/ “Las Vidas Negras Importan” en la Escuela Petición a la Junta de Educación de MCPS
To read this petition in Spanish, click here:/ Para leer la petición en Español haga clic
aquí:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AfXdk8DulYgCQ6b4rpUFiWSbntY8Q4bBkIaSbGALyAU/edit?usp=sharing 

TO: MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOARD OF EDUCATION

ORIGINATION DATE: Feb. 1, 2021

We, the undersigned members of the Glen Haven Elementary School community and other allies from across Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) respectfully request that MCPS make a commitment to our students, staff, and community members of color by committing to the public support and implementation of Black Lives Matter (BLM) at School Week of Action for the 2021-2022 school year and beyond.

>MCPS has operated under the mantra "All means all" for the past four years but has not made a full commitment to honor our students of color by dedicating time and effort to include them in a culturally responsive curriculum framework.
>>>For example, an audit completed by the Glen Haven ILT found that characters of color were grossly underrepresented in the literature used within the Benchmark Advance ELA curriculum.

>MCPS has been a national leader in education. However, over time we have lost this prestige as we have continued to trail neighboring districts in our efforts to be a more inclusive, anti-racist school district. MCPS has taken a lackluster, and sometimes hypocritical, approach to support the implementation of initiatives that empower students of color as our growing communities continue to become more diverse.

>The Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action has been endorsed by the National Education Association, the Maryland State Education Association, and the Montgomery County Alliance of Black School Educators.

>Since the year 2016 the following states and/or school districts have begun implementing the BLM at School Week of Action: Seattle; Philadelphia; Prince George's County, MD; Howard County, MD; Anne Arundel, MD; Baltimore City, MD; Queen Anne's County, MD; and, District of Columbia Public Schools.

>The guiding principles of Black Lives Matter at School are directly in line with the inclusive agenda of MCPS:
>>>Restorative Justice, Empathy, Loving Engagement, Diversity, Globalism, Queer Affirming, Trans Affirming, Collective Value, Intergenerational, Black Families, Black villages, Unapologetically Black, and Black Women.
>>>End zero tolerance, Mandate Black history and ethnic studies, Hire more Black teachers, Fund counselors not cops.

>We are less than one year from the unjust deaths of Ahmaud Arbery (February 23, 2020), Brianna Taylor (March 13, 2020), and George Floyd (May 25, 2020), and the white supremacist insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The inability of our school system to publicly proclaim that Black Lives Matter at School contributes to the ongoing trauma felt from those and similar events.

>Our students and staff of color deserve to see themselves represented and celebrated within the messages we send, the literature we read, the projects we complete, the history we teach, and throughout the school buildings that they attend.

We ask that you make the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action a county-wide initiative for the 2021-2022 school year.  “All” can’t mean “All” until Black Lives Matter at School.

Thank you for your service to the students of Montgomery County.

Respectfully submitted,
The Undersigned.  


By completing this petition, I certify that I am a student, parent/caregiver, or faculty staff at Glen Haven Elementary School or another MCPS school or office with a vested interest in supporting the MCPS Board of Education's public support and implementation of Black Lives Matter (BLM) at School Week of Action for the 2021-2022 school year and beyond.
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