BVSD Values Diversity and Promotes Understanding

Definition: The district ensures that staff and students work and learn in an environment where all people protect and respect the rights of all individuals.

Rationale

• All human beings have inherent worth.
• All students, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or religion, deserve a quality education.
• BVSD will not tolerate discrimination, intimidation, harassment or violence based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or religion.
• Healthy school communities respect differences, welcome diversity and promote cultural plurality.
• Racial, ethnic and cultural diversity should be evident across all employee groups and central administration.

Indicators

• All students, staff, and patrons believe they are safe and treated with respect in school and district facilities.
• Policies and programs to prevent harassment and discrimination are implemented in all district schools.
• District administration and professional development programs assist schools in recognizing and overcoming barriers to providing an equitable education for all students.
• Staff and other role models reflect student and community diversity.
• A variety of cultural practices and perspectives are integrated in all curricular areas, content instruction, and professional development.
• Policies, programs and practices ensure equity and inclusion.
• District and site committees reflect the diversity of their communities.
• Students have opportunities for instruction in their native language and/or in a second language.
• Students have the opportunity to learn world languages.
• Patterns of student achievement and program participation are equitable across all groups.

District Strategic Plan Priority 3: Value Diversity & Promote Understanding

BVSD Strategic Vision:
Individual differences are respected and valued to create greater understanding.

BVSD Board of Education:
Strengthen the sense of district unity while respecting diversity.

Office of Institutional Equity and Multicultural Education Mission:
To provide service and support to administrators, teachers, students, parents, and the community in the area of diversity and equity as it relates to student achievement.

The Mission of the Equity/Diversity Initiative is to increase awareness and knowledge of sources that cause inequity within the education system, in order to increase student achievement. 

Underlining Principles

• All students can learn;
• Failure of students from some groups to succeed is a complex socioeducational phenomenon;
• Sustained and productive discussions of how bias (institutional and/or personal, unaware and/aware) affects teaching and learning will increase the teacher's capacity to reach all students;
• Teacher expectations, classroom interaction patterns, questioning techniques, institutionalized practices and cultural awareness/unawareness can affect the success of students;
• Productive "equity work" happens when approached in a meaningfully and respectfully manner to reach the goal of identifying practices and policies that hinder the learning of students.
• Given the demographics of our country, in order to achieve the goal of Standards, it is essential that the educational community effectively address how race, class and gender bias affect teaching.