Equity Plan Progress
Progress on the Equity Plan will be updated regularly. It is an attempt to capture the equity work done throughout the district by staff, students, administrators, and school community stakeholders. However, it is not an exhaustive list of all of the things done to support learning and teaching for all students and staff at Haslett Public Schools. We appreciate your support as we move forward with our work.
- Governance & Leadership
- Student-Centered Support Programming
- Family & Community Engagement
- Curriculum & Instruction
- Recruitment, Hiring, Development, & Retention
- Professional Learning
Governance & Leadership
2023-24 school year
- Recruit new members to the District DEI Leadership Team for 2024-25
- Recruit new members to the Superintendent's Student Advisory for 2024-25
- District Equity Coaches
- Facilitate conversations at each building about equity in holidays and heritage month celebrations at school
- Develop/update diversity calendar for district use to acknowledge important events for district families
- DEI Leadership Team subcommittees make progress towards goals for the 2023-24 school year
- Responding to Incidents of Bias
- Pilot flowchart for reporting incidents of bias K-12
- Develop data collection systems for incidents of bias
- Develop resources for education on microaggressions
- Family & Community Engagement
- Hold English Learner Family Support event for families of Wilkshire students to make engaging with school and navigating resources easier and more transparent
- Piloted April 2024, community partner in Haslett Public Library
- Hold English Learner Family Support event for families of Wilkshire students to make engaging with school and navigating resources easier and more transparent
- Hiring & Retention
- Hold staff focus groups at each building to ascertain what makes staff stay at HPS
- Update job postings with HPS's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Update candidate interview questions to include questions about responding to bias, valuing student voice, and student supports
- Responding to Incidents of Bias
- DEI Leadership Team and subcommittees create actionable goals for 2023-24 school year
- Responding to Incidents of Bias
- Create a flowchart for reporting and handling incidents of bias
- Make recommendations for resources and training for bias incidents
- Family & Community Engagement
- Increase accessibility to technology including website (and home/family communication)
- Go into community to show how to access resources/get to know leaders/learn how to help
- Hiring & Retention
- Distribute a retention survey to all HPS employees (and student teachers)
- Analyze and share out results
- Draft marketing materials for HPS to grow our own and engage new talent
- Responding to Incidents of Bias
- Continue to update board and website on progress
- DEI Coordinator present Equity Audit Summary to board
- Each building's Equity Team continues to meet monthly and work towards goals:
- Inclusive recognition of holidays and heritage months
- Increasing sense of belonging and connection among students through inclusive celebrations and school events
- Update HPS Athletics Handbook and hold focus group with coaches, athletes, and parents/guardians to review updates
2022-23 school year
- Welcome signs in 34 languages from the community in all district buildings, created with input from stakeholders
- DEI Coordinator to manage implementation of Equity Plan
- Equity Coaches in each school building
- Equity Teams in each school building
- District DEI Leadership Team made up of stakeholders from school and community
- Subcommittees: responding to incidents of bias, family and community engagement, hiring and retention
- Engagement with public relations firm to help with communications with HPS community
- Gather baseline data for equity audit and identify areas for growth (e.g. systems/processes, training)
- Monthly reports to board on progress of implementation
- Regular updates to district DEI website on progress of implementation
In place prior to 2022-23
- Equity Committee surveys stakeholders, develops Equity Plan draft, receives feedback from stakeholders
- Board approves Equity Plan June 2022
- Ongoing updates to board policy with NEOLA guidance
- Ongoing updates to building and athletics handbooks with equity lens (e.g. dress code)
Student-Centered Support Programming
2023-24 school year
- Continue to increase engagement with Unified Sports and Special Olympics by being a Banner School (HHS)
- Present findings from equity audit at HPS board meeting and to all building administrators to identify areas that undermine equity
- Utilize a culture calendar to avoid scheduling important school events on major holidays (e.g. Yom Kippur, Eid Al-Fitr)
- Continue engagement with successful programs and initiatives listed below (e.g. Unified Sports, Family Game Night, Student Life Fair, student-led book clubs, etc.)
- Recruit students to the Superintendent’s Student Advisory and develop board representative position
- Ninth grade members added to the Advisory.
- Advisory student reports district happenings once a month at a board meeting
- High school advertise student supports (free tutoring, care closet, food assistance) to all students at class meetings
- Continue to maintain and advertise Care Closets at all levels
- High School hold bi-annual Student Focus Groups (fall and spring)
2022-23 school year
- All Levels: Create and/or revise school culture survey for all students and staff
- Establish Superintendent’s Student Advisory meeting monthly
- High School Student Life Fair fall and spring
- HIgh School High School College and Career Readiness Awareness Month in October with focus on skilled trades, HBCUs, unique programs; drop-in post-secondary planning hours
- High School Unified named Banner School for Special Olympics
- High School and Middle School student-led book clubs
- High School and Middle School Polar Plunge for Unified Sports
- Middle School Student Activity Gallery
- Middle School celebration of world holidays door decorations
- Middle school social studies monthly focus on different cultures
- Ralya Besharat Arts Foundation "Faces of Innocence" Collection
- Ralya Be Nice prorgram school-wide book
- Murphy Family Game Night honoring different cultural traditions
- Murphy art projects celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, Black History Month
- Wilkshire One Book, One School "We Are All Alike, We Are All Different"
- Community Education updating training for staff on wheelchair accessibility at pool; revising advertising and names for family events to include the variety of family structures and gender expressions in the community
In place prior to 2022-23
- All Levels: OK2Say confidential student safety program to report tips advertised widely (e.g. class meetings, posters in hallways)
- All Levels: counseling offices, school social workers, MTSS coaches, teacher classrooms advertise how to get help at all levels (e.g. Google Classroom, Class Catalyst, posters in restrooms, class presentations)
- High School Student Forums held twice a year
- Middle and High School annual school culture survey
- High School Unified Sports and Unified Sports class
- High School post-secondary planning meetings with all students in grade 12 and College and Career Readiness Awareness Month in October
- Middle and High School club board/ calendar advertising how to get involved and/or start a new club
- Murphy annual Family Traditions and Cultures project
- Wilkshire, Murphy, Ralya: Activities announced in weekly Principal’s Newsletter
- Wilkshire annual “Bucket Assemblies” (e.g. Bucket Filler Philosophy)
- Community Education: Communications sent in multiple formats (paper, digital, via Skyward if youth program), providing accommodations for accessibility (sign interpreter, etc.), offering financial assistance/scholarships to cover cost of participation
Family & Community Engagement
2023-24 school year
- Continue updating district website and all pages to ensure they are ADA compliant
- Continue to expand roll out principal's newsletters at multiple levels in different languages
- Pilot a Family English Learner Family Support event in spring
- April event for ELL families of Wilkshire students as facilitated by the District DEI Leadership Team's subcommittee on Family & Community Engagement
- Increase opportunities for EL students to actively engage in school
- Build school-family connections to support EL student success
- Increase connections among EL families and community
- April event for ELL families of Wilkshire students as facilitated by the District DEI Leadership Team's subcommittee on Family & Community Engagement
2022-23 school year
- Add translate button to district website that allows for translation of website into any of 100 different languages
- Begin updating district website and all pages to be ADA compliant for text reader capability and train staff on ADA compliance
- Develop list of interpreters for multiple languages in community
- High School pilot sending weekly principal’s newsletter in English and Spanish
- Track attendance for STEAM night, science fair, literacy nights, Kindergarten Round Up, Soft Start for K and Young 5s
In place prior to 2022-23
- Staff engagement with LATTICE (Linking All Types of Teachers to International Cross-Cultural Education)
- District Superintendent’s Blackboard monthly update newsletter sent to all families and linked on Superintendent’s Page on district website
- All levels weekly principal’s newsletter sent to all families
- All levels tracking attendance at Open House and Conferences
- Wilkshire weekly newsletter from most staff via Friday Folder and/or SeeSaw
Curriculum & Instruction
2023-24 school year
- Student organizations (HHS) connect with other buildings for growing cultural understanding (e.g. Black Student Union presenting to middle school students, Asian Student Union presenting to elementary school students)
- Begin roll out of curriculum mapping initiative using revised map
- Examine current practices for student academic placement
- Grow understanding and use of restorative practices
- Pilot use of evaluation tool for materials with equity lens
2022-23 school year
- Revise annual school culture survey to include questions about being challenged and represented in curriculum and being prepared for a diverse world
- Develop curriculum map with equity lens for use K-12 in line with work of Dr. Gholdy Muhhamad’s work in “Cultivating Genius”
- Research evaluation tool for evaluating resources for the classroom with an equity lens
In place prior to 2022-23
- Ongoing curriculum revision to be more inclusive K-12
- ELA texts with increased representation of different ways of being
- Science resources more representative of student body
- Social Studies intentional attention to under-represented stories and groups
- Math focus on contributions of diverse mathematicians
- Music selections and learning about different cultural traditions
- Some staff trained on restorative practices at elementary and high school levels
- Ongoing engagement with the RISE (Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality) Program for high school football program
Recruitment, Hiring, Development, & Retention
2023-24 school year
- Include information on Equity Plan, how to engage with building Equity Teams, and HPS commitment to equity in New Teacher Orientation
- Begin to develop relationships with teacher training programs in an effort to widen the recruitment pool
- Draft survey for current staff on their staff experience at HPS
- Revise job postings to include commitment to equity
- District DEI Leadership Team's subcommittee on Hiring & Recruitment created wording now used on all postings
- "Haslett Public Schools is committed to an environment that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion."
- District DEI Leadership Team's subcommittee on Hiring & Recruitment created wording now used on all postings
- Implement revised interview questions that include commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion; how to handle incidents of bias, building relationships with students, and student voice
- Begin to draft marketing materials for HPS for use at teacher fairs/recruitment opportunities
- Hold focus groups with students on fostering belonging and valuing inclusivity
2022-23 school year
- Distribute Equity Plan to all new teaching, administrative, and support staff
- Gather demographic data on current staff
- Begin drafting protocol for how postings will be written to include DEI lens and commitment to equity
- Research best practices for interview questions and protocols with DEI lens
- Draft list of questions all buildings will ask as part of the interview process
In place prior to 2022-23
- High School flyer for prospective candidates highlighting school commitments
- Add interview question about commitment to DEI in curriculum and instruction
Professional Learning
2023-24 school year
- Provide training to all staff K-12 on the flowchart for responding to incidents of bias developed by the District DEI Leadership Team's subcommittee on Responding to Incidents of Bias
- Create anti-bias resource library to use with students at all levels when incidents arise
- Create example responses for incidents of bias for teachers and administrators
- Research guidance for the music department on supporting diverse students in the music classroom
- Facilitate reflection on current practices around equitable holiday and heritage month celebrations for all staff
- Responding to Incidents of Bias and Hate in Youth Sports Conference from MSU's Institute for Study of Youth Sports: Athletic Director and DEI Coordinator
- Socially Just Holidays and Heritage Months from Justice Leaders Collaborative: members of building equity coaching team
- Diversity in Literacy Symposium: members of building equity coaching team
- Share HPS commitment to equity at opening PD for all staff and encourage staff to join building Equity Teams
- Train staff on the CISM process for HPS (Crisis Incident Stress Management)
- Begin to investigate ways to use existing data to more equitably serve students at all levels
- Continue to seek out PD on supporting students and interrupting bias
- Share resources, ideas, and professional development opportunities with an equity focus in monthly newsletter to all staff
2022-23 school year
- Justice Leaders Collaborative yearlong course for Building Equity Coaches and DEI Coordinator
- Diversity in Literacy Symposium for Building Equity Coaches, DEI Coordinator, Associate Superintendent, Director of Special Education, Haslett Board member
- Social-Emotional Learning PD at all levels with Rebekah Schipper, trainer for staff resilience and wellbeing
- Courageous Conversations training for DEI Coordinator
- A middle and high school teacher awarded Broad Global Fellowship
- Ralya and Murphy PD on respecting student identity
- Wilkshire teacher awarded Global Children’s Literature Fellowship
- Wilkshire four teachers attended Zones of Regulation training for managing stress and regulating emotions
In place prior to 2022-23
- District-wide book study “Cultivating Genius: an equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy” by Dr. Gholdy Muhammad
- District-wide PD on creating group norms/class contracts that are inclusive and respect the dignity of others
- Equity Team and/or Equity Book Study groups in place at all levels
- Equity training with Dr. Terry Flennaugh
- Examining issues of personal bias
- Learning to respond to hate at school
- Data meetings at all levels to meet individual student needs (data days, child study teams)
- NWEA data collected, fall, winter, spring at all buildings
- Acadiance screeners in place K-5 to identify students for interventions in math and reading
- High School monthly newsletter with PD opportunities
- Middle School guest speakers from MSU athletics programs