Essex Westford School District
In 2020 the EWSD board began to draft an equity policy to ensure that the district is an institution where every child receives whatever they need to develop their full academic and social potential and to thrive every day. As part of the process, Indigenous, Black and brown community members were invited to offer feedback about the draft equity policy (people receiving the feedback were mostly white school administrators). People of color responded with a counter-offer—to write the equity policy themselves. The school district agreed! BIPOC students and community members worked together to write the Essex Westford (Vermont) School District’s equity policy which was passed by the school board and is now being implemented across the district. This group of community members of color also held deep intersections with the LGBTQIA + community, disability community, multicultural and multilingual folks and people from all parts of the socioeconomic spectrum. This is a beautiful example of what sharing power looks like. Because the policy centers on the most marginalized people, it was crafted with the intention and wisdom to ensure the policy benefits everyone, including people who experience different kinds of inequities.
There were many risks and some high profile backlash to the district’s ongoing efforts to offer education in an equitable, inclusive, and student-first learning environment. The community came together to face the backlash and the district’s equity director continues to show up with courage and commitment to follow through on the work, with support from the administration. Once the policy passed, an Equity Advisory Committee (which includes district leaders, teachers, students, and community members) came together to develop procedures to inform implementation of the equity policy and to ensure accountability.
The Essex Westford School District began working with Susan McCormack, co-founder of The Creative Discourse Group in 2016 when Sue facilitated the inaugural meeting of the newly formed school board following the Act 46 designation of the new school district. As a member of the Essex community and longtime equity facilitator, this was an opportunity to participate in a new district and advocate for centering equity and the voices of students from its inception. Since then The Creative Discourse Group has engaged with colleague Tabitha Moore and current associates Kesha Ram Hinsdale, Howie LeBlanco, and Ashley Michelle Fowler to support students, administrators, educators, school leaders, and community members in a range of initiatives including student retreats, community equity summits, the creation of a bias response system at Essex High School, and facilitation for the district level Equity Advisory Committee. Throughout the course of this work, associates provide continuous support to increase mechanisms and opportunities for student voice and to highlight equity issues faced by students in the district. As space holders for this long term relationship, trust and continuity are well established and foster creative ways to continue to emerge and grow together.
It is important to note that the support The Creative Discourse Group continues to offer to the district is happening in tandem with a larger body of work that includes classroom, school and curriculum level equity education and initiatives. It takes intentional work across a system to create meaningful change and EWSD has demonstrated a commitment to this approach. Working with the Essex Westford School District has informed a practice for our associates to embrace adaptability in our work by beginning with a suggested plan and then creating space for adjustments as conditions and context shift across a system. Given the level of disruption public institutions are currently experiencing, flexibility and openness are essential in order for the work to be relevant and to help systems move towards equity, inclusion, and justice.
Creative Discourse, as an organization and through their associates, has provided EWSD with the critical external partnership needed to hold the system accountable while teaching and coaching forward in our efforts to be an antiracist, LGBTQ affirming and equitable organization. The journey is long and there is much to do. The facilitation, coaching, training and support has been an essential part of our progress to date. I am grateful for the hard conversation and the celebrations provided through Sue, Nadia, and the many associates with whom we have had the pleasure to work.
~Erin Maguire, Director of Equity & Inclusion, EWSD
