Committee Recommended Draft 5/27/21 ACA Related Entries

Committee Recommended Draft

5/27/21

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Related Entries: ACD, ACF, ACH, ACH-RA, ACG, BMA, GAA, GBA-3

RA, GBH, GEG-RA, JHF, JHF-RA 4

Responsible Offices: Chief of Staff Montgomery County Public 5

School; Teaching, Learning, and Schools; 6

Strategic Initiatives; Districtwide Services 7

and Supports; Human Resources and 8

Development; General CounselAcademic Officer 9

Chief Operating Officer 10

Chief of School Support, and 11

Improvement 12

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Nondiscrimination, Equity, and Cultural Proficiency 15

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A. PURPOSE 19

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To affirm the Montgomery County Board of Education’s desire 21

to create an educational community guided by its five core 22

values—Learning, Relationships, Respect, Excellence, and 23

Equity 24

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To affirm — that the Board’s is deeply commitmentted to 26

providing every student equitable access to the educational 27

opportunities, rigor, resources, and supports that are 28

designed to maximize the student’s academic success and 29

physical, psychological, and social/emotional well-being, and 30

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ensuring that all students are supported to succeed and all 31

staff are empowered to do their best work. 32

33

To assert the Board’s belief that each and every student 34

matters, each student’s individual characteristics are 35

valuable, and in particular, that educational outcomes should 36

never be predictable by any individual’s actual or perceived 37

personal characteristics, and that equity demands intensive 38

focus and attention to eliminate all gaps in student 39

achievement. 40

41

To establish and promote a framework that prepares all 42

students to live and work in a globally-minded society;, and 43

fosters a positive learning environment that embraces all 44

unique and individual differences;, and, uses an equity lens 45

to consider the impact of any program, practice, decision, or 46

action on all student groups with a strategic focus on 47

marginalized student groups. 48

49

To affirm the Board’s unwavering commitment that all staff 50

will be culturally proficient, and demonstrate mutual respect 51

without regard to any individual’s actual or perceived 52

personal characteristics. 53

54

To uphold the Board’s core values, and ensure compliance with 55

all federal, state, and local nondiscrimination laws. 56

57

B. ISSUE 58

59

Discrimination in any form will not be tolerated. It impedes 60

Montgomery County Public Schools’ (MCPS) ability to discharge 61

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its responsibilities to all students and staff, and achieve 62

our community’s long-standing efforts to create, foster, and 63

promote equity, inclusion, and acceptance for all. 64

65

The Board recognizes that equity goes beyond meeting the 66

letter of the law. Equity also requires proactive steps to 67

identify and redress implicit biases and structural and 68

institutional barriers that too often have resulted in 69

identifiable groups of students and staff being unjustifiably 70

or disproportionately excluded from or underrepresented in 71

key educational program areas and sectors of the workforce, 72

as well as over-identified in student discipline actions. 73

Continued vigilance is necessary to end identified inequities 74

that students and staff experience because of their actual or 75

perceived personal characteristics. 76

77

For the purposes of this policy, the following definitions 78

are used: 79

80

1. Anti-racist means opposed to racism 81

82

2. Antiracism is a process that requires that all members 83

of the MCPS community actively identify, interrupt and 84

dismantle racist beliefs, interactions, practices, and 85

policies so that we expand and unleash every students’ 86

potential, academically and socially-emotionally. 87

88

2. 1. Cultural proficiency is the ongoing process of becoming 89

knowledgeable of one’s own culture, as well as the 90

cultures of others in order to foster an appreciation, 91

understanding, and respect for varying cultural 92

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expressions that exist in the actions and interactions 93

of an organization; and, to strengthen and enrich the 94

organization and the community at large with the 95

presence and contributions of many cultures. 96

97

3.2. Discrimination includes actions that are motivated by an 98

invidious intent to target individuals based on their 99

actual or perceived personal characteristics, as well as 100

acts of hate, violence, insensitivity, disrespect, or 101

retaliation—such as verbal abuse, harassment, bullying, 102

slurs, threats, physical violence, vandalism, or 103

destruction of property—that impede or affect the 104

learning or work environment. Discrimination also 105

includes conduct or practices that may be facially 106

neutral but that have an unjustified impact based on 107

individuals’ actual or perceived personal 108

characteristics. Discrimination encompasses racism, 109

sexism, and other forms of institutional prejudice in 110

all their manifestations. 111

112

4.3. Equity is the commitment to ensure that every student 113

and staff member, without regard to their actual or 114

perceived personal characteristics, is given the 115

individual challenges, support, and opportunities to 116

exceed a rigorous common standard in order to be prepared 117

for academic and career success. 118

119

4. Equity lens means that for any program, practice, 120

decision, or action, the impact on all students is 121

addressed, with a strategic focus on marginalized 122

student groups. 123

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124

5. Implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes 125

that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions. 126

These biases, which encompass both favorable and 127

unfavorable assessments, may be activated involuntarily 128

and without an individual’s awareness or intentional 129

control. 130

131 6. Personal Characteristics include race, ethnicity, color, 132

ancestry, national origin, nationality, religion, 133

immigration status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender 134

expression, sexual orientation, family 135

structure/parental status, marital status, age, ability 136

(cognitive, social/emotional, and physical) or mental 137

disability, poverty and socioeconomic status, language, 138

or other legally or constitutionally protected 139

attributes or affiliations. 140

7. 141

7. Racism means the systemic oppression of a racial group 142

to the social, economic, and political advantage of 143

another. Racism plays out in multiple levels: 144

internalized, interpersonal, institutional, systemic, 145

and systematic. 146

147

148

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C. POSITION 149

150

1. The Board expects the district to develop and promote a 151

culture of high expectations for all students and staff 152

performance and maintain environments that will be 153

equitable, fair, safe, diverse, and inclusive; and 154

eliminate inequities of opportunities, raise the level 155

of achievement for all students, and significantly 156

address achievement gaps. 157

158

1.2. The Board prohibits the use of language and/or the 159

display of images and symbols that promote hate and can 160

be reasonably expected to cause substantial disruption 161

to school or district operations or activities. This 162

prohibition will not be used, however, to prevent 163

responsible discussion of such language, images or 164

symbols for educational purposes. 165

166

2.3. The Board expects all students and staff to conduct 167

themselves in a manner that demonstrates mutual respect 168

without regard to an individual’s actual or perceived 169


171

3.4. The Board prohibits discrimination, by students and 172

staff, of any kind, directed at persons because of their 173

actual or perceived personal characteristics. 174

175

4.5. The Board commits to modelling the expectations in this 176

policy, and expects all Board and MCPS reports, 177

presentations, and decision making to take into account 178

the equity implications of this policy. 179

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180

5.6. The Board also expects and promotes the following: 181

182

a) Collaboration among staff, students, 183

parents/guardians, and the community: 184

185

(1) Staff are expected to work together and with 186

students, parents/guardians, and community 187

members to ensure that each school and work 188

site is free from discrimination. 189

190

(2) Parents/guardians are encouraged to establish 191

expectations for their children that are 192

consistent with the beliefs, intentions, and 193

obligations set forth in law and as reflected 194

in this policy, and to collaborate with MCPS 195

staff to meet these expectations. 196

197

(3) Staff are expected to promote engagement of 198

all parents/guardians in their children’s 199

education and work to remove barriers that 200

impede their active participation without 201

regard to actual or perceived personal 202

characteristics. 203

204

(4) MCPS shall seek broad participation on task 205

forces, committees, commissions, and other 206

advisory bodies which represent diverse 207

communities, cultures, languages, and 208

perspectives. 209

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b) Equality of educational opportunities. 211

212

(1) The Board is committed to addressing 213

disparities in levels of access to factors 214

critical to the success of all students, 215

including the following: 216

217

(a) Resources, including challenging and 218

creative courses, programs, and 219

extracurricular activities; 220

221

(b) Effective and qualified teachers, 222

leaders, and support staff; 223

224

(c) Adequate facilities and equipment; 225

226

(d) Updated technology; 227

228 (e) Quality education materials; 229

230

(e)(f) Practices and procedures that provide for 231

educational equity and ensure that there 232

are not obstacles to accessing 233

educational opportunities for any 234

student; and 235

236

(f)(g) Sufficient funding. 237

238

This commitment is, and must continue to be, 239

evident in how resources are allocated, 240

including an intentional strategy of providing 241

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additional funding to students in greater 242

need, as well as to schools that serve larger 243

numbers of students in need. 244

245

(2) MCPS will work to identify and address 246

structural and institutional barriers that 247

could prevent students from equitably 248

accessing educational opportunities in all 249

schools. 250

251

(3) MCPS will expect the equitable administration 252

of disciplinary consequences as one of the 253

essential components to equitable access to 254

educational opportunities in schools. 255

256

(4) MCPS will take proactive steps to help English 257

language learners overcome language and other 258

barriers so they can meaningfully participate 259

in their schools’ educational programs.work 260

toward empowering emergent 261

multilinguals/English Language Learners to 262

master social and academic English, using 263

their first language(s) and culture(s) as 264

assets, to thrive in school, college, careers, 265

and as global citizens. MCPS will provide 266

access to rigorous coursework and equal access 267

to comparable academic programs both among 268

schools and among students within the same 269

school without regard to actual or perceived 270


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(5) MCPS will encourage all students to pursue 273

their goals and interests, without regard to 274

historical barriers or stereotypes. Students 275

will be provided wide access to various and 276

multiple opportunities to enroll in 277

challenging programs and participate in a wide 278

variety of school activities, including 279

athletics, extracurricular and non-academic 280

programs, to enrich their perspectives and to 281

prepare for meaningful and fulfilling work in 282

their chosen careers. 283

284

(6) MCPS will promote and encourage schools, 285

classrooms, work sites, and school-sponsored 286

representations (including mascots, logos, 287

team names, chants, or musical accompaniments) 288

to be inclusive, nondiscriminatory, and bias-289

free, anti-racist/anti-biased, and to provide 290

a welcoming climate for all. 291

292

(7) MCPS will provide a culturally responsive 293

Prekindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum that 294

promotes equity, respect, anti-racist/anti-295

biased behavior, and civility among our 296

diverse community, accurately depicts and 297

represents the distinctive contributions of 298

our global community, and provides 299

opportunities for staff and students to model 300

cultural proficiency in every school and 301

program. The curriculum shall enable staff to 302

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model and students to develop the following 303

attitudes, skills, and behaviors: 304

305

(a) Value one’s heritage and the heritage of 306

others; 307

308

(b) Respect, value, and celebrate diversity 309

as an essential component of a healthy 310

and thriving community; 311

312

(c) Value the richness of cultural pluralism 313

and commonality; 314

315

(d) Develop and promote inclusive 316

relationships and work effectively in 317

cross-cultural environments; and 318

319

(e) Confront and eliminate stereotypes 320

related to individuals’ actual or 321

perceived personal characteristics. 322

323

(8) Instructional materials used in MCPS schools 324

will reflect the diversity of the global 325

community, the aspirations, issues, and 326

achievements of women, persons with 327

disabilities, and persons from diverse racial, 328

ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, as well as 329

persons of diverse gender identity, gender 330

expression, or sexual orientation. 331

332

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c) TrainingProfessional learning and education to 333

achieve districtwide cultural proficiency. 334

335

MCPS will encourage effective collaboration among 336

staff, parents/guardians, and community members by 337

offering opportunities to enhance cultural 338

proficiency, creating districtwide engagement, and 339

promoting understanding and resolution of 340

differences and disagreements. 341

342

d) Equality of employment opportunities. 343

344

(1) MCPS shall continue to monitor and promote a 345

diverse workforce and take appropriate action 346

to create a district free of implicit bias and 347

discrimination in all aspects of employment. 348

349

(2) MCPS will take positive steps to eliminate 350

structural and institutional barriers to 351

recruiting, hiring, retaining, and promoting 352

a diverse workforce. 353

354

(3) MCPS will identify staff positions in which 355

individuals from diverse backgrounds are 356

underrepresented, and promote a diverse 357

workforce by actively recruiting and/or 358

promoting qualified candidates, consistent 359

with negotiated agreements. For example, MCPS 360

will continue to recruit staff to positions 361

that are nontraditional for their gender. 362

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(4) MCPS will empower staff to promote the Board’s 364

core values and beliefs expressed in this 365

policy in daily interactions with peers, 366

students, parents/guardians and members of the 367

community. 368

369

D. DESIRED OUTCOMES 370

371

1. Every school and work site will embody a culture of 372

respect, grounded in the Board’s core values, that 373

promotes understanding, respect, civility, acceptance, 374

and positive interaction among all individuals and 375

groups. 376

377

2. Structural and institutional barriers to educational and 378

employment opportunities will be eliminated. 379

380

3. MCPS schools and work sites will be equitable, safe, 381

diverse, inclusive, and free of discriminatory acts of 382

hate, violence, insensitivity, and disrespect. 383

384

4. Educational outcomes shall not be predictable by actual 385

or perceived personal characteristics, and gaps in 386

student achievement will be significantly reduced. 387

388

5. MCPS students and staff will become models in the 389

community of civility, acceptance, respect, and positive 390

interactions. 391

392

6. The educational experiences of all students will be 393

enriched by providing exposure to staff from many 394

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backgrounds reflecting the pluralistic nature of the 395

community, thereby providing settings for education that 396

promote understanding of diversity and contribute to the 397

quality of the exchange of ideas inherent in the 398

educational setting. 399

400

E. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES 401

402

1. The Board will address disparities in levels of access 403

to resources critical to the success of students by 404

implementing an intentional strategy of providing 405

additional funding to students in greater need, as well 406

as to schools that serve larger numbers of students in 407

need; and ensuring equitable access to effective leaders 408

and teachers for all students. 409

410

2. MCPS will engage with staff, students, 411

parents/guardians, and the entire community to build and 412

sustain a culture emblematic of the ideals of this 413

policy. 414

415

3. MCPS will identify a process for analyzing data to 416

develop goals, objectives, strategies, and timelines for 417

the implementation of equitable and culturally competent 418

practices in each school. Multiplemultiple indicators 419

are necessary to monitor student outcomes, engagement, 420

and school climate, and specific data that will be 421

used to ensure accountability for student, school, and 422

districtwide performance; to reduce variability in 423

outcomes; and to ensure that academic outcomes will not 424

be predictable by actual or perceived personal 425

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characteristics and can be assessed and reported 426

transparently to the public. 427

428

4. Programs, curricula, instructional materials, and 429

activities, including athletics, extracurricular and 430

non-academic programs and activities, will provide all 431

students with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and 432

behaviors that promote cultural proficiency and anti-433

racist/anti-biased behaviors that enable students to 434

live and work together in our increasingly diverse 435

county, state, nation, and world. 436

437

5. MCPS will provide tailored and differentiated 438

professional development and training learning to – 439

440 5.a) build capacity for cultural proficiency and 441

cultural responsiveness, 442

443

6.b) gain the skills and knowledge to create a learning 444

environment that is student-centered and meets the 445

individual and diverse needs of all students, and 446

447

c) address areas of inequity in the system and the 448

barriers that may impede students success, social-449

emotional learning, and physical and psychological 450

health of students. 451

452

to ensure that all staff are culturally proficient 453

and possess the skills, knowledge, and beliefs about 454

social-emotional learning and the mental health of 455

students to create a learning environment that is 456

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student-centered and meets the individual and diverse 457

needs of students. 458

459

7.6. At all times, sStaff will foster – 460

461

8.a) physically and psychological safe and welcoming and 462

psychologically safe environments for learning and 463

working; 464

465

9.b) model and encourage respectful, and civil discourse 466

and interactions among all staff, students, 467

parents/guardians, and community members; and 468

469

10.c) strive to remove cultural, linguistic, 470

technological, or transportation-related barriers 471

that may prevent families from engaging with their 472

children’s education, through the use of culturally 473

responsive resources, such as – 474

475

11.1. interpreters, 476

477

12.2. translated documents, and 478

479

13.3. collaboration with organizations that may 480

facilitate communication between MCPS and 481

families.for all by encouraging respectful 482

and civil discourse and interactions among all 483

staff, students, parents/guardians, and 484

community members at all times; and, use 485

resources, such as interpreters and translated 486

documents, to remove cultural or linguistic 487


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barriers that may prevent families from 488

engaging with their children’s education. 489

490

7. Strategies will beSpecific strategies will be 491

identified, communicated and used to prevent 492

discrimination, and procedures will be followed to 493

resolve, monitor, and analyze such incidents of 494

discrimination if they occur. 495

496

8. MCPS will identify partnerships and work cooperatively 497

with the Montgomery County Executive, the Montgomery 498

County Council, local law enforcement agencies, other 499

county agencies, community groups, business 500

organizations, and other stakeholders to increase equity 501

and reduce discrimination for students and staff. 502

503

9. A statement summarizing this Board policy of 504

nondiscrimination, will be prominently included in MCPS 505

publications and on the MCPS website. Any publication 506

that states the Board policy of nondiscrimination in 507

English will also be translated into those languages for 508

which translation and interpretation services are most 509

frequently requested by parents/guardians of MCPS 510

students. 511

512

10. The superintendent of schools will designate an 513

appropriate lead office to implement this policy, with 514

support from other offices as appropriate, and assume 515

responsibility for: 516

517

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a) Monitoring and ensuring MCPS compliance with all 518

federal, state, and local nondiscrimination laws 519

and MSDE reporting requirements; 520

521

b) Identifying the method of evaluation to measure the 522

effect of equitable practices districtwide and in 523

schools; 524

525

b)c) Promptly investigating, and resolving complaints of 526

discrimination; 527

528

d) Designating an individual responsible for the 529

facilitation, monitoring, and implementation of 530

system equity initiatives; 531

532

c)e) Increasing awareness of the Board’s values and 533

expectations under this policy; 534

535

f) Requiring that an equity lens be used in reviews of 536

- 537

1) staff, curriculum, pedagogy, professional 538

learning, instructional materials, and 539

assessment designs; and 540

541

2) all staff recruiting, hiring, retention, and 542

promotion processes; 543

544

d)g) Providing trainingprofessional learning and 545

outreach to improve regarding nondiscrimination, 546

antiracism, equity and cultural proficiency; and 547

conducting outreach to support the application of 548

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these concepts in professional conduct and 549

practice; and 550

551

e)h) Maintaining appropriate records. 552

553

11. The superintendent of schools may direct an employee who 554

exhibits insensitive behavior as evidenced by violating 555

the values and expectation expressed in this policy, 556

to participate in additional training regarding cultural 557

proficiency. Continued insensitivity will not be 558

tolerated by the Board and may result in further 559

disciplinary action, including dismissal, consistent 560

with the MCPS Employee Code of Conduct. 561

562


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F. REVIEW AND REPORTING 563

564

1. The superintendent of schools will – 565

566

a) ensure that equity be addressed in the Local Every 567

Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Consolidated Strategic 568

Plan; 569

570

b) disaggregate student data to analyze trends and 571

identify gaps, and use such data to support the 572

creation of equitable solutions; and 573

574

a)c) provide the public and the Board with regular 575

updates on the implementation of this policy and 576

efforts undertaken by the district to create an 577

equitable school system that fulfills the Board’s 578

core values. 579

580

2. This policy will be reviewed every three years in 581

accordance with the Board of Education’s policy review 582

process. 583

584

585

Related Sources: MCPS Culture of Respect Compact1; Student Code 586

of Conduct in MCPS; MCPS Employee Code of 587

Conduct; MCPS Guidelines for Respecting 588

Religious Diversity; MCPS Guidelines for 589

Student Gender Identity; U.S. Constitution 590

1 Culture of Respect Compact among Montgomery County Public Schools, Montgomery County Education

Association, Service Employees International Union Local 500, and the Montgomery County Association of

Administrators and Principals

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U.S.C.), Amendment 14; Title VI of the Civil 591

Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d et seq.; 592

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as 593

amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.; Title IX 594

of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. 595

§ 1681 et seq.; 34 Code of Federal Regulations 596

(CFR), Part 106, 34 CFR Part 100; Individuals 597

with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 598

U.S.C. § § 1400-1487; Section 504 of the 599

Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 29 600

U.S.C. § 794; Americans with Disabilities Act 601

(ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12131 et seq.; Section 1981 602

of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 603

1981; Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 604

1967, 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634; Equal Pay Act of 605

1963, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d); Equal Rights 606

Amendment to the Maryland Constitution’s 607

Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, 42 608

U.S.C. § 18001 et seq.; Maryland Constitution 609

Declaration of Rights (Article 46); Annotated 610

Code of Maryland, State Government Article, 611

Title 20, Human Relations; Annotated Code of 612

Maryland, Education Article 6-104, 7-424.1; 613

Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) 614

13A.05.01; Montgomery County Racial Equity and 615

Social Justice Act Amendments to Montgomery 616

County Code §1A-201, §2-64A, §2-81C, §27-83, 617

§33A-14. 618

619

Policy History: Adopted by Resolution No. 595-69, November 11, 620

1969; amended by Resolution No. 16-72, January 11, 1972; amended 621


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by Resolution No. 536-77, August 2, 1977; amended by Resolution 622

No. 240-96, March 25, 1996; amended by Resolution No. 323-96, May 623

14, 1996; amended by Resolution No. 249-03, May 13, 2003; amended 624

by Resolution No. 318-17, June 26, 2017; copy edits December 11, 625

2019.; amended ______ . 626

627

Note: Tenets of Board policies ACB, Nondiscrimination, ACE, 628

Gender Equity, GBA, Workforce Diversity, and GMA, Human Relations 629

Training of MCPS Staff, were incorporated into Resolution No. 318-630

17 amendments to this policy, and were rescinded upon adoption of 631

amended Board Policy ACA on June 26, 2017. 632

633

634

635

636

637

Documents

Committee Recommended Draft 5/27/21 ACA Related Entries