Everyone Needs to Own Equity - Our Journey in Helping Create an Inclusive Equity Team for District (Central) Office Support Staff

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Co-presenters: Chandu Vemuri

and Michele Vollmer

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Before We Begin

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Please add any key takeaways, observations/notes, personal experiences and resources on our padlet: https://padlet.com/mcvollm/zgswhw35sh5h8e2d

Thank you!!

Who We Are

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Chandu Vemuri

Executive Assistant to the Superintendent

Michele Vollmer

Administrative Assistant to the Director of Student Policy & School Operations

Sun Prairie Demographics

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• 750 Teachers
• 1,236 Employees
• 89 Bus Routes*
• $115 Million Operating Budget
• $20.8 Million Debt Service
• 70 Sports Teams (including Club Sports)
• 71 Interest Based Clubs
• 30 Advanced Placement Courses
• 50 Arts and Music Courses
• Largest Summer School Program in the State*
• One of the Fastest Growing Districts in the State

*Information is from last year due to COVID irregularities we are currently experiencing

Who is the SPASD DSC?

• Over 100 employees
• Includes all District Wide Administrators and Support Staff including:
• Superintendent & Assistant Superintendents’ offices
• Directors of Elementary and Secondary Teaching
• Student Services
• Technology
• School Operations and Student Policy
• Systemic Equity and Inclusion
• Professional Development
• Human Resources
• Business and Finance
• School Nutrition
• Facilities and Grounds

**Note: The Athletics and Activities office is housed at the high school, but the Director is part of District Cabinet and all District Wide leadership teams.

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Why This Project

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• Book Study
• Annual Goal
• Identified an Opportunity - Common Purpose
• Full administration support

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Sun Prairie’s Equity Framework

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Link to SPASD District Website

How We Got Started

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• Administration Approval/Support
• Realistic Goal Setting/Timeline (~6 months)
• Identifying participants (Beyond Diversity)
• Meeting with various school Equity Teams & PEG
• Creating a Plan (Meeting topics, homework, etc.)
• Recruiting speakers/presenters
• Planning Meeting Flow (Speaker(s), Small Group Reflection with guided conversations, Large Group debrief)

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Our DSC Equity Team Meetings

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1. Guest Speaker: Luis Versalles, Director of PreK-12 District Partnerships, Pacific Education Group
2. Guest Speaker: Dr. John Diamond, Professor of Education and Kellner Family Distinguished Chair in Urban Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, Faculty Affiliate in Afro-American Studies and Educational Policy Studies at UW - Madison
3. SPASD DSC Coworker Panel on Racial Disparities & Perspectives at Work, Home, & School
4. Data Dive
5. SPASD Student Panel

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Now What?

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• Next steps
• Presentation to Cabinet of findings and recommendations
• Collaboration with new Director of Equity
• Forming DSC Equity Team for 2021-2022
• 2021-2022 DSC Equity Team
• Get all staff trained at minimum on Beyond Diversity
• DSC events, book studies, projects
• Sharing our experience with as many as possible (i.e. at Summer Summit) to continue the work, connections, and progress within and outside of our district!

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Interactive Discussion

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• Have others tried something similar?
• What has worked or not worked for you?
• What did you really like about what you heard from us? What would you do different?
• How can we continue to close the gaps between District Office and School Staff? With students? With our peers?

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Please don’t forget to add any key takeaways, observations/notes, and resources on our padlet: https://padlet.com/mcvollm/zgswhw35sh5h8e2d

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Thank You for joining us today and engaging in this conversation!