ROCORI Parents Concerned Over Equity Teacher Training, Possible Policy Changes

(KNSI) – Some parents in the ROCORI School District have expressed concerns over a contract signed with the group Equity Literacy Institute (ELI) and an equity committee. In June, the district signed the $41,000 agreement with ELI for staff training and consulting. That training worries Angie Ninsinger who has a 4th and 7th grader in the district.

“I don’t think that using an organization like Equity Literacy Institute, is what our community wants or what I want to be taught to our teachers because that will roll out into our classrooms. They have direct contact with our students.”

Angie accuses ELI of using reverse discrimination to deal with social problems.

“ELI looks at solving discrimination with discrimination. And that doesn’t work.”

Angie says, for example, the ROCORI School District received recommendations from ELI to change the language in the district’s harassment policy to protect only protected classes, not all students. She says the school board rejected that piece. But she says there are a lot of other policies that ELI has touched that the school board has yet to review.

“They’re taking the focus off of all of our children, and putting them on some children. And my point of view, and I speak for the group of parents that have similar concerns, is that we want all of our children to be counted.”

Angie says one of the goals is to increase Hispanic students’ graduation rate and increase the reading scores for students who receive free and reduced lunches.

“Why are these goals marginalizing individuals when really we could work towards setting goals that cover all of our students?”

Angie says she has concerns over an equity committee. She’s asking to know who vetted the organization? Who’s on that committee? How are individuals chosen to be on that committee? Are parents welcome to be on that committee? She says to this day, none of those questions have been answered. KNSI News reached out to ROCORI Superintendent Brad Kelvington and members of the school board, but they didn’t respond to a request for a recorded interview.

An email sent by School Board Chair Jennifer Bohnsack stated, “the contract with ELI has concluded. Although they provided feedback on a selection of our policies and our handbooks, ultimately the School Board will decide what, if any, of the language suggestions are adopted.”

In other emailed statements, Bohnsack said ROCORI contracted with the Equity Literacy Institute for an equity audit and professional development. This contract was for up to $41,000 of work, but the district decided to forgo the focus group and was invoiced $31,000 for ELI’s services. These services included teacher training and community training in August 2021 and review and recommendations on select policies and handbooks.

Bohnsack says the school district’s policy and handbook review process will not necessarily result in the acceptance of all of ELI’s recommended changes without significant review and consideration by both the policy committee and the School Board as a whole.

As we move through this process, the email reads, we are committed to transparency about precisely which changes to the handbooks and policies were suggested by ELI. These changes will be considered and discussed with the same degree of depth as changes suggested by others, including legal counsel, the Minnesota School Boards Association’s model policy service, and individual board members or administrators. Both the policy committee and the School Board conduct these reviews and discussions at public meetings.

The board also addressed some of the parents’ concerns about REACh (ROCORI Equity Advisory Chamber). The district says the committee is intended to ensure that School District leaders are made aware of diverse perspectives. It consists of School District leadership, students, community members (including parents), employees, and multicultural liaisons.

She says the school district has not prevented any member of the public from attending REACh meetings. Officials say people must be mindful that there are numerous students on the REACh committee and that a large crowd could make them feel less comfortable sharing their experiences.

Bohnsack stated she welcomes ROCORI community members with questions about ELI, our policy adoption process, REACh, or any other component of this work to contact her directly.

Angie says there hasn’t been good communication from the district, and she hopes that improves in the future.

“I’d like our school district to be very transparent about, what ELI has had their hands on. So we can, you know, make sure that the policies cover all students. That it’s about equality, and opportunity for all, not equity.”

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