• Mill Valley School District Equity Committee Statement:

     

    As part of a diverse, bigger world, we believe that every Mill Valley School District child brings inherent value to our community and should be celebrated. Instruction and care that meets the needs of each student is critical, wholly inclusive of our most marginalized learners. We aim to ensure that all students of all ethnicities, home languages, economic status, abilities, parent education, and gender identities see themselves as an integral part of our community, and achieve academic and social success. We will overcome the persistent and predictable disparity in student achievement. In order to ensure this student success and eradicate institutional bias of any kind, explicit or unintentional, we will:

     

    • Examine biases and eliminate inequitable practices within our district at the institutional, instructional, and personal levels. 
    • Implement practices to raise the racial consciousness of students, staff and communities. 
    • Use an equity-minded approach to teaching and assessment to ensure individual student growth and accelerate the growth of students who have been historically underserved.
    • Use equity-minded practices when communicating, making decisions, approving policy, hiring personnel, and developing and evaluating programs. 
    • Commit resources towards these objectives.

     

    Infrastructure for Equity Work in the Mill Valley School District 

     

    DEIB Structure

    District Equity Committee Purpose:

    The Mill Valley School District Equity Team meets three times a year. This committee is a unified body that helps to ensure our shared commitment to equity through district-wide articulation. The purpose of this committee is to actualize the district equity statement and streamline DEI efforts within the Mill Valley School District.

     

    The meetings of the District Equity Committee will include shared reading/learning, PTSA DEI committee reports, and Equity Lead team report.

     

    Membership:

    The District Equity Committee is open to all interested district employees, district parents/guardians, and students. Mandatory membership will include from each school site a PTSA DEI liaison, Equity Teacher Leader, and a Site Administrator. This membership is critical in ensuring articulation. Therefore, committee members need to make a two year commitment for participation. 

     

    Facilitation:

    Tenisha Tate-Austin and Laura Myers/District Leader

     

    District Equity Lead Team Purpose:

    We ensure that our district utilizes an integrated approach to diversity, equity and inclusion practices by implementing all three dimensions of culturally responsive pedagogy: the institutional dimension, the personal dimension, and the instructional dimension. This allows each student to thrive, helps to raise the achievement of all students, while closing the opportunity gap and raises the racial consciousness of students and staff. We aim to eliminate the predictability of student groups' wellness and achievement in our schools. 

     

    As practitioners we:

     

    • Participate in research on equity and culturally responsive practices
    • Identify barriers to the academic success and engagement of marginalized students, prioritizing students of color
    • Analyze achievement data across student groups to determine opportunities for changes in our practices in the service of equity
    • Gather information about the experiences and needs of our students/families
    • Create a plan for developing inclusive schools where the needs of all students/families are considered and where all students thrive
    • Mitigate barriers to the academic success and engagement of marginalized students, including students of color.

     

    Brief Statement:

    We ensure each student thrives academically, socially and emotionally, while closing the opportunity gap and raising the racial consciousness of students and staff. We aim to eliminate the predictability of student groups' wellness and achievement in our schools.

     

    Membership:

    The district Equity lead team is open to all staff, with several staff from each site being appointed to the team, the middle school principal or designee and all elementary principals. 

     

    Facilitation:

    Tenisha Tate-Austin, Laura Myers, Kimberly Russell, one elementary Teacher, one Middle School Teacher

     

    PTSA DEI Purpose Statement

     

    Our purpose is to better serve our school communities by recognizing diversity, equity and inclusion as the foundation for justice and anti-racism work in the Mill Valley School District. We are committed to understanding how personal, cultural and historical aspects of identity contribute to and enrich the academic and social emotional experiences of all students, educators and families.

     

    As such, we believe in:

    1. Prioritizing diverse representation
    2. Advocating for equitable resource allocation
    3. Developing inclusive school community practices 
    4. Working to raise racial consciousness
    5. Inclusion being a responsibility held by all and done for all

     

    Membership:

    The district PTSA DEI committee is open to all parents and staff, with each district school having at least one DEI liaison/representative on the committee. 

     

    Facilitation:

    Tenisha Tate-Austin and Tammy Herndon