motivation and rationale for the policy. The presentation included quotes from Equity Literacy Institute founder Nita Mosby Tyler alongside national, state and local academic data classified by racial groups.
Prefacing the demographic data, Kaplan said the district’s achievement gaps are caused by opportunity gaps.
“It is clear not everyone has the same opportunity as a white student in this district or as a wealthy student in this district or as a male student in this district,” Kaplan said.
Kaplan pointed to several data points, including how students classified as Latinx comprise 9% of Summit High School Advanced Placement classes while making up 34% of the school’s population. She also highlighted negative data disparities of more than 20 percentage points for the Latinx demographic relative to its representation in the overall student population in elementary math and English testing as well as secondary school discipline.
Photo by Libby Stanford / Summit Daily archives
At Monday’s meeting, the board voted 4-2 to work with a search firm to hire an interim superintendent for the 2021-22 school year. Board members Chris Alleman, Tracey Carisch, Kate Hudnut and Gloria Quintero voted in favor of the motion while Consuelo Redhorse and Isabel Rodriguez voted against. At an April 15 school board meeting, Alleman, Carisch and Hudnut voted not to enter negotiations with Smith to extend his contract following the conclusion of his one-year term at the end of June. Quintero, Rodriguez and Redhorse voted in support of keeping the superintendent.
On Saturday, Feb. 13, around 200 educators and child care workers received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a drive-thru event at the county’s bus barn in Frisco.
It marked the first time that workers, other than those in health care and first responders, were vaccinated in the county. Of the 200, 132 doses were available for Summit School District employees, including teachers, coaches, custodians, bus drivers and more.
“When we started this wild ride of the pandemic, we were talking about different entrances, hand sanitizer, masks and I just couldn’t wait until the part where we were talking about vaccines,” said Drew Adkins, the district’s chief operating officer, at a school board meeting on Thursday, Feb. 11. “So, hip hip hooray, we are there.”