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1st Reading Approval by BOE – 1/28/2019 EQUITY IN EDUCATION Date Reviewed/Approved: Policy Number: 1030 Orange County Schools acknowledges persistent racial intolerance, inequities and academic disparities in our district. The Board establishes this policy in an effort to eliminate racial intolerance, and other forms of intolerance, inequities of opportunity, and academic disparities in our district. We see our schools as centers for culturally diverse learning where all students are educated to their fullest potential and as centers of our community around which we come together in support of the education of all students. Equity is critical to the success of our schools, our students, and our community. A. Definition of Equity The concept of educational equity goes beyond formal equality to fostering a barrier-free environment where all students, regardless of their race, class, or other personal characteristics, have the opportunity to benefit equally in order to succeed and thrive. An emphasis on equity calls on every adult to treat every student as capable of success and recognizes the uniqueness and strengths of each student allowing for differences in time, attention, instruction, and support to ensure that all students can succeed academically and participate responsibly in our community. Equity is an interruption of systems, structures, policies, and practices which privilege some students while discriminating against other students. Strategies that promote equity are intended to ensure fairness by the following: 1. Countering biased behaviors that cause harm to specific groups. 2. Countering unfair policies, programs, and practices that consistently result in negative outcomes for groups who are disadvantaged by these actions. 3. Negotiating, re-allocating, and sometimes re-imagining resources, opportunities, and supports when equal distribution of these things (one size fits all) results in inequitable outcomes that do not adequately meet specific needs and interests of all groups of students. B. Mission Orange County Schools will disrupt all forms of discrimination in our school community by: 1. Challenging intolerant behavior that jeopardizes the safety, well being, or learning of others; 2. Accepting that equity of educational opportunity requires that proactive steps be taken to address implicit biases and institutional barriers to equity; 3. Recognizing that biases and barriers can result in inequitable opportunities for groups of students based on their real or perceived personal characteristics such as race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, or socioeconomic status; 4. Removing biases and barriers that contribute to achievement gaps which are unacceptable in a system that strives for equitable educational opportunities for all students. Historically and currently, in Orange County Schools, such biases and barriers disproportionately affect