Park City Board of Education members are slated to discuss at a Tuesday meeting an educational policy that would incorporate principles of equity within all programs and practices at the school district.
Board President Andrew Caplan said the policy codifies as a guiding principle what has been done at Park City School District for years.
“One of the things that we take pride in is that every decision we make from a policy or budgetary standpoint is done through an equity lens,” he said.
The purpose of the policy is to create a safe and healthy environment for all students so they can reach their academic and social potential, Caplan said. He cited after-school programs, pre-kindergarten and all-day kindergarten as examples of Park City leading the state in implementing programming meant to help all students, especially those who need extra help.
“That’s what equity is,” he said.
Equity Policy 1006 defines equity as “Fair treatment, access, opportunity and advancement for all people, while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups.”
All students are capable of learning and educational equity is the distribution of resources to provide equal opportunities based upon the needs of each individual student, according to the policy.
“The board of education, holds itself, district, and school site, decision makers, faculty, and support staff accountable for building a district wide commitment to equity and inclusion,” the policy says.
Caplan said the district did master planning in 2017 and created a mission statement to support all children to reach their academic and social potential. Implicit in that statement is the recognition that everyone learns differently, he said.
“Regardless of what a child comes to the school door with, we’re trying to get them to leave with their best possible outcome,” Caplan said. “To me, that’s equity. I would argue we’ve been doing this consciously for at least six years, if not longer.”
The district has taken public comment at recent forums and school board meetings about the proposed policy, which has been in the works for at least six years. Supporters say the policy will help combat discrimination and give all students the opportunity to learn, while opponents argue it will lead to division and lower academic standards.
At a meeting last month, Allison Cook, who opposes the policy, asked if the bar would be lowered to allow underqualified students into classes that their skill set will not support, which would set them up for failure. The policy seems to be in violation of the U.S. Civil Rights Act, she said.
Cook also said her three children had experienced discrimination and harassment at school due to their political opinions.
“In fact, one of my sons was verbally harassed on multiple occasions and criminally attacked because of his political positions and pride for being an American,” she said. “A teacher actually told one of my sons she was docking his grade because she didn’t agree with his politics. I see nothing in this policy that protects open dialogue and civil discourse.”
Cook’s husband, Jimmy May, who said he represents more than 150 households in a group called “The DePourables,” said a study has shown the implementation of diversity programs has had horrific outcomes and asked that the policy be removed from consideration.
Parent Lisa Wall said she has spent hundreds of hours researching “leftist ideologies that somehow are infiltrating our Utah schools, now down to K-12,” and is firmly against the policy. The children most discriminated against in the district are those who hold political beliefs different from the majority here, she said.
In addition, Wall asked what problems the district is trying to fix, how it would go about achieving equitable outcomes, whether the policy includes lowering standards and if there would be a tax increase.
“For this feel-good, nebulous open-ended policy, I really need specifics,” she said.
Several speakers supported the policy, including Park City High School senior Jose Hernandez, who is president of Latinos in Action, a student organization. He said Latinos face harassment and “this policy will ensure we have somebody to turn to.”
A vote on adopting the policy at Tuesday’s meeting is unlikely. Caplan said roughly 65% percent of the feedback has been in favor of the equity policy versus 35% from commenters who want to see significant changes.
“If we have a third of the community that says we want to see something different, I think we need to take our time to listen to that,” he said.
The Board of Education will meet on Tuesday at the Park City School District office, 2700 Kearns Blvd. Members will go into a closed session at 3 p.m. and the public part of the meeting will begin at 4 p.m. To view the agenda or attend the meeting virtually on Zoom, visit https://www.pcschools.us/site/default.aspx?PageID=126.
Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described a group opposed to the equity policy; they are the DePourables.