Context

On June 3, 2020, in response to the murder of George Floyd, the Winooski School Board released a statement condemning the systemic violence directed at people of color in the United States and vowing to take action.

On June 12, 2020, a group of Winooski educators - driven by their desire to pursue greater equity and justice for the Winooski community - met of their own volition to discuss racial justice and antiracism. Feeling an urgency to take action, the group quickly organized around a set of antiracist actions that had been presented by Thierry Mugabo Uwilingiyimana (WMHS teacher) and Indra Acharya (Winooski alumnus) and echoed by Helen Tosteson (former WMS Instructional Assistant) at the June 10th School Board meeting. The antiracist agenda Mugabo, Indra, and Helen presented to the Board was partially drawn from the Black Lives Matter at School organization. There is no recording of this public meeting.

A group of Winooski students and alumni - organized as the Winooski Students for Antiracism (WSA) - demanded the district do more. On July 5, 2020, after many weeks of research and community organizing, WSA submitted a letter addressed to the WSD School Board and Leadership Team calling for "immediate action to ensure that Winooski begin creating an anti-racist environment, particularly one that is supportive for our students of color." The letter included a list of eight demands outlining what this action should look like. WSA also released a petition to the Winooski community to garner broader support.

On July 15, 2020, WSA presented their letter and petition at the Winooski School Board. During public comments, over a dozen students and alumni shared personal testimonies illustrating the long history of prejudice and racism within the Winooski schools and community. After hearing these testimonies and demands, the School Board organized a Special Meeting for July 20th to discuss the details of each demand.

On July 20, 2020, the School Board discussed the WSA demands in greater depth and the process for moving forward. Feeling a need to do further research into particular details related to a couple of the demands, the School Board organized another Special Meeting for July 22nd to adopt the revised demands officially.

On July 22, 2020, the WSD Leadership Team submitted a letter to the School Board outlining its own recommendations with regards to WSA's demands. The letter was submitted hours before the Board's Special Meeting scheduled later that evening. At the Special Meeting, Board members discussed the circumstances together and decided they needed time to reflect and develop an inclusive process to review the demands by reaching out to both WSA representatives and Leadership Team members. They agreed to discuss with the relevant parties before finalizing their vote.

On August 12, 2020, WSA submitted its final letter to the WSD School Board and District Leadership team, which included a revision to Demand #3 (the replacement of the SRO with trauma-informed specialists) that allowed for a transitional period during the 2020-2021 school year, given budgetary decisions that had already been made. The Board voted to adopt all eight (8) demands, with Demand #2 (the formation of an Anti-Racism Committee) needing legal consult before its implementation.

On August 31, 2020, there was a meeting between the Chair of the School Board, the Superintendent, the Chief of Police, the City Manager, and two WSA representatives to talk about how the SRO might return to Winooski for the 2020-21 school year, meeting both the parameters set by the Winooski Police Department and the commitment to hear and engage the community on the SRO position. After the meeting, there was disagreement about whether the meeting ended with a decision to amend the language of the demand or not.

On September 6, 2020, the WSD School Board held an emergency board meeting to amend the language for the SRO position. After clarifying the details of the August 31st meeting and discussing the circumstances, the School Board decided to reaffirm its commitment that if the SRO returns to the school, they will need to be unarmed and in civilian clothing.

On September 15, 2020, the WSD School Board reflected on its process and policies, listening to public comments, hearing from the Superintendent, and voicing its own thoughts. After discussion, the Board voted to rescind its commitment to WSA Demand #3 - citing a need for further community engagement to inform its decision - and instead move forward with WSA Demands #1 and 4-8.

Please visit the WSA Student Demands page for updates on the latest decisions and implementation efforts around the WSA student demands.

Note: Future additions to this Context page will be made, as necessary.