Present: Shela Linton, Andy Davis, Chris O’Brien, Ingrid Chrisco, Nancy Johnston, Stuart Strothman, Ron Stahley, Liz Dunn, Kathy Thielen
Approval of June 24 and other June minutes tabled until next meeting, as copies were unavailable.
Structure and Procedures of Diversity Committee—review of report from Diversity Equity Subcommittee
We reviewed a refined document which the Subcommittee chair developed over the summer. Italicized items were added at Diversity Committee meetings.
We agreed (again) to follow Roberts’ Rules, in the manner of local boards and town meetings.
Minutes, after approval, are sent to building administrators. Minutes will not reflect specific speakers, but visitors, motions, and seconds can be identified by name. They should generally be approved at the beginning of each meeting. Prior to approval, they are distributed by email and labeled DRAFT. Discussion ensued regarding whether draft minutes can be released to keep community members more in the loop, and to increase transparency.
Stuart made a motion that the draft minutes be distributed to the public five days following distribution to the diversity committee. It was amended to distribution of draft minutes on the second Wednesday of every month (with the presumption that the secretary has already sent them to the diversity committee). The motion was seconded by Nancy, and carried by unanimous vote, with one abstention.
Agenda setting has been an inclusive process begun at the end of each meeting these last months, and will continue as such.
Guidelines for confidentiality—we discussed combining the idea of meetings being a “safe haven” for discussion (bullet two) with avoiding discussion of specific incidents (bullet four). The situation of a parent coming to the meeting if still dissatisified following completion of an investigation came up, and one person stated that at that point maybe they should hire a lawyer. The idea that the committee could help solve the problem and avoid legal intervention was discussed. One person said that if it were a general issue, maybe it would work, but for a more specific issue, it risks undermining our process. Also, it was suggested we would need a lot of training before opening our doors to parents. Perhaps we are not here to resolve issues—we are not a complaint board—but instead to proactively promote tolerance and awareness in our community. So perhaps we should talk about “trends in the town” rather than “my child experienced such and such and I am not satisfied.” The opinion was offered that we should simply remind ourselves at the beginning of meetings that our discussion is confidential, and also that we should avoid discussion of specific individuals.
The concern was raised that sometimes trainings seem legalistic, and not “real” discussion of things that happen in our community.
We decided to strike the first bullet under the confidentiality section, and combine bullets two and four, as noted above.
The concern was raised that there is not a committee (or “ombudsman”) for parents to see to address specific issues that come up.
At this point the structural conversation ended in the interest of nominating officers.
Kathy Thielen was nominated as chair and accepted.
Stuart Strothman was nominated as secretary and accepted.
Mary Goodemote was nominated as vice chair and accepted.
Our slate being complete, we identified school that we need reps for: Green Street, Putney, Vernon, Academy, Career Center. We identified people who would notify those schools.
We agreed we want to discuss the issue of membership. The idea of hosting a round table discussion where we invite people to hear about the committee came up.
We talked of having the diversity equity coordinator at the high school interview some experienced diversity committee reps to try and put together a history of the diversity committee so we know “where we come from.”
We discussed the NHRA issue some, and placed it on the agenda for the next meeting. We talked about the need to address the issue of racism/classicism/sexism/disabilityism at the elementary level..
We discussed inviting the new diversity coordinator to our next meeting.
We also talked about inviting the World of Difference teacher.
Motion to adjourn was accepted.