Curriculum changes are coming: Quincy officials address issues of racism, school culture
QUINCY – School officials say they've "heard the concerns" of community members and plan to implement "restorative justice practices" and curriculum changes after high school students were recently spurred to walk out of class by what they say is a mishandling of incidents of racism and sexual assault accusations in the school system. The walk out sparked similar action by students in Braintree.
Superintendent Kevin Mulvey addressed the school committee this week to talk about how the district is handling the "very, very large" issue of racism within the Quincy public schools. The district reported three incidents of racism or hate speech between students at the high school and middle school levels between Nov. 5 and Nov. 12.
Since the incidents, Mulvey said the district has punished the students involved, held meetings with staff and families, conducted student forums at both high schools and consulted the state department of education. Mulvey said details about how exactly students were punished could not be shared due to confidentiality.
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"Disciplinary action was imposed and it was done fairly in all of these incidents," Mulvey said. "There was no disparate disciplinary action taken."
Assistant Superintendent Erin Perkins said the last few weeks have been filled with "a lot of listening." The district plans to revise and update the student handbook; provide culturally responsive teaching training to staff; and update curriculum by incorporating books by diverse authors, updating history and culinary curriculum to include more diverse representation and adding classes that focus on culture and social/emotional learning.
Nov. 12: Students walk out of Quincy High protesting racism, hate speech
Perkins said the desire for updated curriculum was "heard loud and clear." She said students have asked for required readings that are more relevant to their lives and that they can "see themselves" in.
From a history perspective, Perkins said it was important that lessons don't just "highlight cultures one time a month or one time a year, for instance Black History Month ... That we're weaving that in throughout the curriculum." She said the idea to incorporate more diverse dishes in culinary curriculum came from students themselves.
"I just want the school community to know that we are taking this very seriously," Mulvey said. "We are moving as quickly, efficiently and effectively as possible to deal with all of the concerns that our parents and students and community stakeholders have in regards to these very large and very difficult conversations."
Other ideas the district is exploring include a student mentoring program; peer mediation that would allow students to resolve some issues among themselves; training in restorative justice practices for students so they could run their own community circles; and implementing student-run assemblies.
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Reach Mary Whitfill at mwhitfill@patriotledger.com.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Quincy officials address issues of racism, high school culture
