Foreword

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School District has a long-standing awareness of the importance of creating an equitable learning environment for all students and staff and developing collaborative partnerships with families and stakeholders that represent our diverse community. The mission of CHCCS is to ensure all students acquire the knowledge, skills, behaviors and attitudes to achieve their learning potential. To realize this mission, our students, staff and stakeholders must have access to a barrier-free learning environment counteracting the contemporary and historical impact of bias, prejudice and discrimination which for generations has produced a predictability of learning outcomes based on race, class, socioeconomics, gender, sexual/gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, cognitive/physical ability, diverse language fluency, and religion.

During the 2015-2016 school year, the CHCCS Equity Task Force collaborated to develop a fresh and sustainable approach for equity that moves us from predictable outcomes based on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and/or ability, to a reduction in our equity gaps. Further, the Equity Task Force, in conjunction with district leaders, worked to develop a long-term equity vision that highlights sustainable solutions that involve key stakeholders in ways that build relationships, and climates of trust and transparency. Without a long-term vision for equity, we will focus on the gaps of today rather than ensuring all students are afforded opportunities that spark sustained growth.

The CHCCS Equity Plan, Excellence Equals Equity, builds upon and extends the current focus areas of the instructional services division and highlights the desire to see our equity focus permeate every aspect of our district. Achieving instructional excellence is the primary benchmark for success in our district, and it has been highlighted in our Long-Range Plan and featured in our district vision. Prior to the development of Excellence Equals Equity, our efforts have centered on developing a solid instructional framework and promoting college and career readiness. The desired outcome of the plan is to infuse our equity work into the vision of excellence by highlighting how culturally responsive instruction inspires and empowers all students to achieve at greater levels. Additionally, Excellence Equals Equity will transform the overall culture of our district by building upon current research from the University of Wisconsin’s Integrated Comprehensive Systems (ICS). ICS is a process to interrupt an educational deficit based system that perpetuates low achievement of students by race, disability, language, social class, gender, and sexual/gender identity and their intersections and a recognition of the ways in which schools systems were historically designed to further marginalization, promote assimilation and perpetuate gaps through practices that limit student access to high quality instructional resources. ICS highlights four cornerstones: 1) Focus on Equity; 2) Align Staff and Students; 3) Transform Teaching and Learning; and 4) Leverage Policy and Funding.

Through the work of the Equity Task Force, we recognize that equity is more than simply tutoring kids who don’t “get it” at the end of a lesson. Rather, equity requires a shift from traditional education, where all students receive identical support regardless of needs; and a shift towards implementing core strategies that ensure ALL students are able to reach their full potential. This understanding is reflected in the equity mission below and is infused in the goals and strategies of the plan.

The mission for the equity work of the Chapel Hill – Carrboro City School District is to provide an environment where equity drives the redevelopment of our existing culture and our educational system to support positive outcomes for all.