Agenda 11-04-2021; 8-a - Minutes

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22 1 b. CHCCS — Chief Equity and Engagement Officer, Dr. Rodney Trice 2 3 Commissioner Richards asked about Dr. Rodney Trice's work at Chapel Hill Carrboro 4 City Schools. 5 Dr. Rodney Trice said his office, and his counterpart at Orange County Schools, are 6 working with Annette Moore to learn strategies to address achievement gaps. He said 7 achievement gaps are a reflection of opportunity gaps. He said progress takes a whole 8 community approach, and they are working to interface with the One Orange plan. 9 Commissioner Richards said she is interested in the dashboard for the plan. She said 10 Chapel Hill residents are interested in data to drive initiatives and measure success. She said 11 she was hoping to see district specific data. 12 Dr. Rodney Trice said he could bring more information to a future meeting. He said his 13 most recent charge was to meet with Annette Moore and learn more about One Orange. 14 Jillian La Serna said the schools are an integral part of One Orange and data will be 15 important. 16 Commissioner Hamilton said she was also interested in the schools' experience. She 17 asked how the schools will interact with One Orange and what resources the school system has 18 for equity work. 19 Dr. Rodney Trice said initial conversations were around funding scenarios and whether 20 each district has the capacity to do the work they have been asked to do. He said one of the 21 districts' tasks is to interface with communities that have been historically marginalized. He said 22 part of the work is partnering with other departments within the school systems. He said the 23 work in the equity department might include engaging with partners and make sure families 24 know about all of the options available, or increasing access to tutoring to help students recover 25 academically from the pandemic. 26 Commissioner Hamilton said one thing that would be helpful is how to bring One Orange 27 to the community, as well as the services the students need. She said it is important to make 28 sure the County and the community is in agreement about what the needs actually are. She 29 said the schools are closest to the community and could be so helpful. She said she would like 30 to coordinate with teachers and staff. 31 Dr. Rodney Trice agreed. He said the equity advisory committee met recently and did 32 not know about One Orange. He said the school district will work hard to get the word out, both 33 information about it, but also to get community involvement in shaping One Orange. He said 34 citizens often want to help, but just do not know how. He said One Orange can help streamline 35 communication and services that are available. 36 37 c. OCS — Chief Equity Officer, Dr. Dena Keeling 38 39 Dr. Dena Keeling said this conversation came about when looking into SEL and mental 40 health work. She said there was push back in linking SEL to Critical Race Theory. She said the 41 purpose of the conversations was to make Ms. Moore more aware of what is going on in the 42 school systems, as well as the different contexts between the two school systems. She said the 43 inequities are the same between the school systems, but the climate is different. She said they 44 have met frequently with Ms. Moore, as well as attending countywide meetings on these issues. 45 She said OCS is launching its 2021-22 equity plan soon, and will use a tool routinely to make 46 decisions around policies and procedures. She said there is huge overlap in goal 6 around 47 community engagement, and reaching marginalized students. She said OCS has been holding 48 meetings just with Latino and African-American families, and have found parents have been 49 more willing come out if they have the voice, and get to structure the meeting. She said OCS is 50 working on a listening equity protocol, to better listen to historically marginalized families. She 51 said there is constant communication about how the districts can come together. She said OCS