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pretty pumped to be at a school board meeting i didn’t feel the need to warn my lawyer i’d be at
charlottesville city school board: theater kids singing a selection from the heathers musical to celebrate a grant that will send them on a trip to NYC
albemarle county school board: a plainclothes cop punching my friend in the face
albemarle county school board: a plainclothes cop punching my friend in the face
the first (non-musical) public comment is an educator congratulating & thanking the school board for their work on education, training, and policy reform for equity.
next up is @ZyahnaB & the CHS black student union.
they’re introducing a campaign called #EqualAccessNow. cville city schools are nationally ranked, but for whom? there is a real achievement gap for students of color.
the math pass rate for black students was 59% vs 92% for white students. reading pass rates had a similar gap.
several black students will now share their experiences as students of color in charlottesville city schools.
“it was hard being one of three black students in an honors class,” one student says. students of color feel singled out & as though teachers have lower expectations of them. #EqualAccessNow
“i feel as if my english teacher talks to me differently than the white students in my class,” a student reads from another student’s statement #EqualAccessNow
“i feel it’s important for black students to feel comfortable in the learning environment,” says another student.
@ZyahnaB notes that the district is making efforts to address racism, “but there is much work to be done.”
@ZyahnaB notes that the district is making efforts to address racism, “but there is much work to be done.”
they call for more students of color to be indentured for and tracked into the QUEST and gifted programs, hiring more minority teachers (“we can count one one hand the number of black teachers teaching core classes at CHS”)
the african american history class at CHS is currently an elective class - they’re asking for it to be made a history class. “why would it not be a history class? it’s history.”
#EqualAccessNow
#EqualAccessNow
“it’s time for some very radical and deep change.” - @ZyahnaB, founder of the petition to remove charlottesville’s racist monuments & chair of the CHS black student union. she is a force for change & incredible activist & leader.
#EqualAccessNow
#EqualAccessNow
“we as a board, we hear you. we thank you for coming out,” school board member juan wade
“we know this is not something that is gonna change overnight,” he says. he says one of the reasons he got on the school board was to fix the hiring diversity problem.
“we know this is not something that is gonna change overnight,” he says. he says one of the reasons he got on the school board was to fix the hiring diversity problem.
“the more we work together on this, the stronger we’ll be,” dr rosa atkins of the school board, committing to work with students & the community to make the needed changes.
weird, we got all the way through a public comment period without a cop putting his hand on his gun. amazing. actually, i don’t even see any cops. other public meetings should take note: treat the public with dignity & respect. don’t threaten us. hear us.
some white guy was accepting recognition for something i wasn’t listening to. as he walked away from the podium he said, “where’s my applause? they got applause.” 
lotta issues gotta share the awareness in october. hope there’s enough to go around.
the student representative on the school board says he wants to second the comments we heard from the black student union. “i’ve been a student at charlottesville city schools for 12 years and every year i see fewer and fewer students who look like me.”
“classrooms do not look like the lunch room,” he says of the demographics of STEM classes.
he says he is passionate about getting more kids of color interested in STEM.
he says he is passionate about getting more kids of color interested in STEM.
after a full THIRTY MINUTES of incredibly mundane announcements and comments from school board members, we’re on to the resolution!
so good to hear a school board member juan wade acknowledge the hard work of @hatefreeacps on this issue
the resolution being read at the charlottesville city school board meeting says clothing with hate symbols is “prohibited and will not be tolerated in our schools” 👏👏👏
one board member suggests amending “the confederate battle flag” to “confederate imagery” (which is a good change — there were many confederate flags!)
“we are not the people in the trenches doing the work,” says leah puryear. regardless of their elected position on the board, they exist to serve students, parents, and teachers.
board member amy laufer asks what their involvement with the county school board will be on this issue. juan wade said the dialogue has begun, “we probably will not have one resolution for both districts... every district is different.”
“charlottesville is uniquely positioned to deal with this because of what happened,” juan wade says, referring to the events of last august.
“our students cannot learn if they do not feel safe.”
“we know we’re gonna get some blowback - we already have.”
“our students cannot learn if they do not feel safe.”
“we know we’re gonna get some blowback - we already have.”
“kudos to our school board for taking such a strong position on this,” says dr rosa atkins. she compares it to the days of separate but equal, when people stood up & said “although it is the law, it should not be tolerated.”
“we find ourselves now in this defining moment...”
“we find ourselves now in this defining moment...”
“i thank the @hatefreeacps for engaging us and having a dialogue with us,” says dr atkins.
(amazing how much easier it is to have a dialogue when you aren’t having parents dragged from the building by a small army of county cops. hopefully the county board is taking notes.)
(amazing how much easier it is to have a dialogue when you aren’t having parents dragged from the building by a small army of county cops. hopefully the county board is taking notes.)
overall enrollment is up, but the number of black students is down — there are currently 1329 black students in cville city schools, down 412 since 2008
(though a board member points out that they’ve changed the way the question is asked since 2008)
(though a board member points out that they’ve changed the way the question is asked since 2008)
there is a 37% gap in the pass rates on the math SOL between black & white students. the gap between hispanic and white students is 20%.
looking at reading SOL pass rates, statewide the pass rate is 86% for white students, 67% for black students. in charlottesville, the pass rate for white students is 89%, and 50% for black students.
the presenter says black students in cville city schools are particularly struggling with questions on nonfiction reading. “in order to be a successful reader, one must gather background knowledge.”
this is appalling. this nationally ranked school district is failing its black students.
black students in charlottesville city schools are not only trailing behind their white classmates, they aren’t meeting state standards.
one of the things the students from the black student union talked about earlier tonight was not being encouraged to take (or even being actively discouraged from taking) advanced placement & honors classes. the numbers are ble8RDb
8RDbblack students make up 31% of enrollment, but are markedly underrepresented in the gifted program
ah damn, i wanted to stay at least through the proposed legislative priorities but i have to be somewhere else at 8. also these chairs are VERY uncomfortable.
