The all-Island school committee discussed ways to expand racial and social justice learning in the Martha’s Vineyard public school system Thursday, adding diversity training, anti-racist curriculums and racial literacy programs to the agenda for the new year.
Plans for expanding diversity programs at the schools have been a topic of discussion at a handful of school committee meetings in the past year, but the conversation took a formal step forward Thursday, when Martha’s Vineyard Diversity Coalition a community-based organization focused on eradicating racism on the Island came before the school committee to share its work.
Assistant superintendent of the Island schools Richard Smith, who is a member of the coalition, said the presentation marked the first steps in a collaborative effort between the schools and the coalition to bring about change in the school system.