Solutions to Race Gaps in Elementary Schools

On September 27th, the Unit 4 School Board announced in an email their plans to help close the race gaps in elementary schools. It has a lot of parents and kids concerned about how they may be affected by these changes.

Superintendent Shelia Boozer said in the email, “Sometimes we fall short of this goal… resulted in little to no progress in decreasing minority group isolation, closing pervasive opportunity gaps between white and black students”

Boozer also stated, “During the 2018-19 school year, only 9% of African American students were proficient in English language arts and 6% in math. These rates are unacceptable.”

After discussing this at a board meeting on September 26th, Unit 4 entered a contract with cooperative strategies to assist in a new plan in order to help these struggling students. “...cooperative Strategies presented their analysis of our school system which found that our current model of elementary school placement is not a viable option moving forward.”, Boozer said.

The current plan is to speak to the community, get with targeted focus groups, and get their feedback. The next steps are to review this information in November, and then in December, have the Board of Education vote on this new assignment model.

A lot of families are worried about this proposal, especially those who live close to their children’s school.

Erin Kirk, a mother of two young children, had some thoughts on the matter. “I think the new plan has good intentions but isn't the best way to go about the problem…This could disrupt a lot of families’ lives. Children will have to change schools, and parents will have to deal with new staff members. You might not have the same support as you did at the other school.”

Kirk brings up her own concerns. A lot of parents, especially those with kids who have special needs, are worried about the chance that their kids may be moved. This is really problematic for kids who are used to these teachers helping them and those who have had these teachers help them throughout their entire school career.

Kirk is especially concerned about her eldest son, Elijah, who falls into this category. “Elijah has a great support system in place at his current school, he has a speech teacher who understands and is able to help him communicate. Elijah has had the same group of kids each year that are his friends. It's hard for Elijah to make friends so I would hate to see him struggle again to make new ones. With the current two scenarios, Elijah will be forced to change schools next year. We chose his current school for a reason, and he loves it there. His younger brother Jeremiah is excited to go there. We already have a problem with kids hating school, so why take away their choice of where to go?”

There’s no doubt that if this plan follows through, it will mess with the lives of many families and kids. At the end of the day though, it all comes down to what Unit 4 wants to do. People can only hope that Unit 4 is doing what is best for the students, regardless of others’ opinions.