Chelsea Black Community/Chelsea Young Adult Alliance held the first of its virtual community conversations recently to discuss the progress made within major city departments since the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020.
The meetings will allow each department to publicly discuss its efforts to address disparities, highlight progress made in the last two years, and share plans of action and goals to reduce community and systemic inequalities over the next three months.
The Tuesday, April 12 meeting focused on education, with a presentation from Superintendent of Schools Dr. Almi Abeyta and district Director of Equity, Diversity, and Excellence Dr. Aaron Jennings.
Abeyta and Jennings highlighted the equity and diversity efforts the schools have undertaken under the past two years, including increasing staff diversity, creating affinity groups for students and staff, hiring a coordinator for culturally responsible teaching, and creating a pipeline program to help both students and parents become teachers in the district.
Jennings spoke about the district equity audit he undertook soon after coming to the Chelsea schools in October of 2020, as well as the establishment of the Black Students Unite and the Latinx Students Unite groups within the schools.
“It’s been a real delight to see their leadership and hear their voices in that space,” Jennings said of the student groups.
Jennings also stressed the importance of working together with HR director Christine Lee to make sure the district increases the diversity of its teachers and leadership. He also played videos from several Chelsea High School students who spoke about the importance of having teachers of color within the schools.
“They teach us how to empower ourselves and how to look out for ourselves, and they know the kinds of situations that we are in, especially as students of color,” said Javin Diaz, a sophomore at the high school.
Many of the CBC/CYAA and community members who took part in the forum praised the educational leaders for the progress the district has made in racial equity and diversity over the past several years.
“I’m seeing things like the addition of the coordinator for culturally responsible learning and that’s amazing, that’s something that I’ve not even heard of before,” said Jayde Umemba, who also praised the school’s efforts to increase diversity across all levels and create affinity groups for students and staff.
Long-time Chelsea resident and educator Sharon Caulfield likewise praised the school district for the dynamic changes it has undertaken in the past several years.
While Jennings and Abeyta took the praise in stride, they both said there is still much work to do in the schools and in the city.
“I feel like this work is just beginning,” said Abeyta. “Aaron is an office of one, and while we are proud to have the best equity officer, he can’t do it all himself. We all own this work; this is the tip of the iceberg and there is still so much work to do.”
Additional CBC/CYAA community conversations in April include virtual meetings on city management, public safety, public health, and housing.