School Committee

Policy Sub-Committee Meeting​ ​ ​ 2/21/25 Meeting called to order by Cornell at 1:04 Present: Laura Assade (zoom,) Colby Brunt (zoom,) Beth Anne Cornell, Manny Cruz (zoom,) Mary Manning, Veronica Salas, Steve Zrike. Minutes submitted by Manning. Cornell: here to discuss / clarify with counsel any questions re: the “Dear Colleagues” letter from US Dept. of Ed, Office for Civil Rights, dated 2/14/2025. Brunt: has reviewed SPS policies; letter aimed more at post-secondary schools Brunt: legal; or not, a true threat re: federal funds Brunt: to protect SPS, looked at policies and have minor changes/edits, will send them, not in DEI areas, controlled choice policy is ok but at end references it was to be reviewed in 2022, so outdated, we must address this Brunt: state and federal laws have not changed, the executive orders don’t change laws in place Cornell: we need to look at controlled choice policy (race) Cruz: controlled choice is race neutral – the policy is on demographics, not race Cruz: question to Steve for % of district money comes from federal Cruz: SPS recruitment and retention efforts are explicit with target on underrepresented Manning: any instances SPS teachers or other adults initiating anything? Brunt: answer no, also strongly advises “no sudden movements” Brunt: SPS website clear re: our DEI goals, don’t be collapsing, continue to “own” our policies and principles Zrike: Salem is a sympathetic community, we can not cave Manning: the law stands as it is; we need to focus on areas of our liability Manning: caution, language tweeks, might call attention Manning: let Laura Assade participate Cornell: invited Assade in, then continued to discuss no seismic shifts now, no major red flags Cornell: how can we fly under the radar? Brunt: look for areas which could be potential issues Zrike: responds to fund % question … 5.4 million Cornell: need to be a step ahead on commemoratives such as Ramadan and on things such as affinity groups Assade: asked Brunt, neither the federal EEOC statement nor our district EEOC statement contain the word “language” but district offers ESL classes to families, would this trigger anything? Brunt: the statements are required by federal law Note: Cruz left the meeting at 2:01. Zrike: raised the issue of Pride activities Assade: we need to be sure that while we have and reaffirm our equity statement and LGBTQ+ statements, we need to be sure that we have a statement ensuring our students, families, staff and communities are seen and valued Cornell: expressed concern that executive orders might be misconstrued and we should clarify what teeth they really have. Brunt: stressed that this should be shared with staff only verbally at a staff meeting Note: Manning left the meeting at 2:05