BUILDING TRUST IN A DIVERSE COMMUNITY 1

Building Trust in a Diverse Community Case Rationale and Agenda

Toni Crawford

Grand Canyon University

EAD 505: Education Law

Dr. Keturah Donald

August 10, 2022

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Solution and Rationale

Discrimination will not be tolerated within my school community, not by staff, parents,

or students. This is a serious matter not to be taken lightly because this will be the foundation of

my school climate and culture not handling this situation the correct way. Hence why my

decision is to meet with the parent that has been causing issues to establish a relationship, but

also what will and will not be tolerated. I will meet the district and mayor to come up with a plan

and be sure that policies that are updated regarding discrimination to be certain my staff and

students will not be affected by this. As the policy states that the district has a responsibility to

respond promptly and effectively to stop discrimination, including harassment and retaliation,

against employees and third parties in its schools and offices (BCPS 2020). Therefore, our school

will not standby and allow people to treat students, staff, or parents any kind of way; as we will

follow district protocols and prevent discrimination from happening, or we will have a plan for if

it should arise.

Furthermore, I will be certain to meet with the community to establish the climate and

culture of our school. The community needs to know my goals, mission, and values for the

school and community because this is a situation that is new for everyone, and we will work

together to build a successful school. I am an advocate for my students and will create a safe

environment that will allow them grow, learn, and develop into responsible and respectful adults.

Building trust within the community will be important because we are integrating diversity and

will have to shift and change a lot of things to be culturally aware and responsible with our

teaching and learning moving forward. As a community, we can come together and make this

school successful when everyone learn their role, do their part, and support our students in all

their endeavors throughout this journey as a community should do.

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Safeguard the Values

My solution to the problem will safeguard the values of the school because it will be the

first step in making students, staff, parents, and the community aware of the school mission and

goals. The school mission is to provide a foundation for learning that acknowledges diverse

needs and common goals to prepare students for success in the world. Addressing the community

is the first step in acknowledging diverse needs as we integrate the school and a time to share the

school goals that will shape our community moving forward. The school vision is that each

student receives a world class education to prepare them for success in life. Integrating the

school is giving all students an opportunity to receive a world class education by giving them the

same opportunities.

In-school racial discrimination is a risk factor for minor adolescents, as it is negatively

associated with their academic outcomes, including grades and persistence (Gale, 2020). When

students do not feel safe or cared for in their environment, they will often fall behind which is

not wanted. We want our school to thrive when the goal is diversity, equity, and freedom within

our school. Students will have the same opportunities to learn about other cultures and

backgrounds, enjoy diverse classrooms and learning while maintaining their freedoms to express

their own beliefs and values. School communities, teachers and peers greatly influence children

and adolescents' beliefs about race and difference (Priest et al, 2021). Therefore, we must

safeguard out mission and vision by showing the community that we are one and will grow,

learn, and develop to shape the culture of our school even with the differences of beliefs, values,

and cultures.
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Integrity, Fairness, and Accountability

My solution demonstrates integrity, fairness, and accountability because I choose to be

upfront and honest with parent, district, and community regarding my vision, goals, and

expectations of the school culture and climate moving forward. I shared with both the

community and district that discrimination will not be tolerated as we are one school and

community that will work together and promote equally and equity within our school. Being

intentional with my vision and goals of the integration and giving all students the same

opportunities is showing fairness. Every student will be exposed to different cultures,

backgrounds, beliefs, values, and freedoms and will have the open space to discuss and share

their ideals while gaining knowledge in cultural awareness. No one will be treated differently or

discriminated against hence my decision to come up with a plan to be certain that the parent will

not display those behaviors towards, students, parents, or staff at the school.

Accountability will be the most crucial part of the integration because everyone must be

held accountable for their actions. As the leader, I need to be held accountable for the school

vision, mission, and goals to ensure a safe learning environment free of discrimination and hate.

Parents must be held accountable for their behaviors and statements towards the school

community, and students must be accountable for their actions and words towards their peers and

teachers. Therefore, I decided to meet with the district and mayor; so, we can determine the

policies regarding discrimination and consequences if it should arise and that we make the

community aware of these policies and procedures during the meeting with them. Implementing

policies and procedures will hold each party involved to high standards and expectations to

ensure a community of integrity, fairness, and accountability within our school. Accountability
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will not alone bring us together, but improve performance, equity, relationships, and school

culture (Erichsen & Reynolds, 2020).

Agenda

Opening/Purpose of Meeting (5 minutes)

a. To learn how to build and sustain positive school relationships with families and

caregivers.

Meeting Goals/Objectives (5 minutes)

a. Establish trust, self-awareness, respect, inclusion, and communication to build

relationships.

b. Share ideas, thoughts, goals, strategies, methods, and resources to sustain relationships.

c. Make a realistic timeline and plan for completing one of the goals created.

Open Forum (30 minutes)

a. Administration will open the floor to allow teachers, staff, and PTA members discuss

ways to establish and build relationships.

b. PTA board will have 10 minutes to share their ideas, plans, and activities for the year to

blend families and school staff goals together.

c. Teachers will have 10 minutes to share their methods of communication and family

engagement.

d. Get in teams of 5 to come up with 2-3 ideas that we can implement within a two-week

timeframe

e. Discuss any potential issues or problems that may arise.

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Guest Speakers (3 hours)

a. Maryland Communities United will come in and do an activity and information session.

This organization build leadership and relationships to promote and transform change on

issues such as racial, economic, and social justice.

b. Dr. Abdul-Malik Muhammad of Akoben, LLC will provide culturally relevant and

practical restorative practices training to all educators and staff in the school.

Outcomes (10 minutes)

a. Set a goal for how we will establish relationships with parents

b. Share 1-2 methods and forms of communication we will use to build relationships.

c. Choose 1 strategy for how we will maintain effective communication and relationships.

d. Identify realistic timeline for completing goals.

Closing (5 minutes)

a. Administration will personally thank everyone for their active participation, ideas,

thoughts, suggestions, honesty, transparency, and trust throughout this process to ensure

we have a successful school year.

Agenda Rationale

The purpose of the meeting is to gain insight regarding how to build relationships and to

develop a plan for how we will use the information to create and maintain relationships. The

meetings objectives and goals to establish the purpose of us being here and what we will gain

from the session. I choose to keep this section short and sweet because we will dive deeper into

the topics throughout the meeting. The speakers that will be presenting are Maryland Community
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United and Dr. Muhammed of Akoben. Maryland Community United is an organization that

focus on leadership skills and ways to help change and promote racial, social, and economic

justice. This organization will discuss current issues related to topics that educators need to be

aware to be sure they engage in culturally response teaching and being sure to teach and show

diversity within the classroom. Our district takes a restorative practice approach to dealing with

student behaviors and conflicts. This company is one of the founding companies of restorative

practices and they will be able to come in and give proper training and information that staff can

use to be successful implementing in their classrooms. Both organizations provide two different

methods and strategies on how to build and maintain relationships with parents, staff, and

students.

This meeting will build and sustain positive school relationships with families and

caregivers because it will give them new information, different perspectives, and a fresh mindset

going into the school year. Giving everyone an open forum to talk and discuss issues and

collaborate to make goals that are in alignment with the school mission and values. Not only will

staff have the chance to share but the PTA will be able to give input from the parent perspective.

Although parents will be present during the collaboration, it is vital to have the community

involved to bring awareness to issues that parents and staff may not see. Organizations have

experts in the field to teach strategies and methods on how to incorporate culture and diverse

techniques to reach all learners. Relationships are the foundation of any form of success rather in

school or at home and having both the staff and parents unite to learn ways to build and sustain

relationships will be beneficial for parents to utilize techniques at home, while teachers reinforce

and implement them in schools.

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References

BCPS Board of Policy and Regulations. (2018). Baltimore City Public Schools Related Policies

and Administrative Regulations. Retrieved August 2, 2022, from

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/bcpss/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=87UHP87D677F#

Erichsen, K., & Reynolds, J. (2020). Public school accountability, workplace culture, and teacher

morale. Social Science Research, 85.

https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2019.102347

Gale, A. (2020). Examining Black adolescents’ perceptions of in-school racial discrimination:

The role of teacher support on academic outcomes. Children and Youth Services

Review, 116. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105173

Priest, N., Alam, O., Truong, M., Sharples, R., Nelson, J., Dunn, K., Francis, K. L., Paradies, Y.,

& Kavanagh, A. (2021). Promoting proactive bystander responses to racism and racial

discrimination in primary schools: a mixed methods evaluation of the “Speak Out

Against Racism” program pilot. BMC PUBLIC HEALTH, 21(1). https://doi-

org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11469-2