Report: Community Conversation 1/20/2023
Education Summary
The first town-wide One Hillsborough community conversation was held on 20th of January 2023 at the Hillsborough municipal building, in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Listed below is the excerpt related to Education. The full report covering all topics and Post-It boards in pdf format is also available for download.
Going well
Teachers
- Support by teachers, not limited to the classroom Creative, involved teachers
Students
- Student activism
- More interest in diversity overall
Diversity
- Some more diverse teachers
- Lots of new books and stories reflecting diversity
Schools and Administration
- Excellent administration and faculty
- Food good in elementary school
- More recognition and response to diversity
Needs improvement
Administration
- Lack of diversity at all levels of hiring: “not able to attract” diverse candidates
- Partisanship and political agendas undesirable in decision making process
- Lack of transparency and openness to ideas
- Lack of communication to families about curriculum and diversity
Curriculum
- Teaching cultural topics from a more diverse perspective (e.g. US History)
- Consider a more independent curriculum committee to approve curricula more reflective of diversity
Social environment
- Not enough attention to mental health
- Lack of students input on racism problem in schools
- Student behavior in hallways and teasing/harassment toward other students
- Support for “conservative” students
Questions
1. Have any books been banned in our district?
2. Has “CRT” been a contentious issue in our district?
3. Do special needs students have enough resources at the High School?
Full report
The Full report covering all topics and Post-It boards in pdf format is also available for download.