The Village is requesting that supporters contact the school board regarding issues related to educational equity. We are asking our supporters to urge the SB to implement recommendations outlined in the 2020 Village equity report (available here). We are asking that our supporters email Dr. Herron and SB members and/or leave a citizens comments.
Below we provide a sample script that can be read as a citizen comment and/or used to draft an email-- choose one of the three suggested issues and recommended actions to highlight in your comment.
Comments should be left as a voice message at 757-603-6481. You will have 1 ½ minutes to leave your comment. We’ve tested the scripts, and you should be able to get through each of them within the time limit.
Emails should be sent to:
Thank you for your support and solidarity,
The Village Team
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Dr. Herron and Members of the School Board. Thank you for taking my comment today.
My name is __________________________________, and I live at __________________________________[address) in __________________ (the City of Williamsburg or James City County). Recently, I read the 2020 Equity Report produced by the Village Initiative, which details current and ongoing educational disparities at WJCC schools as well as testimonies from current and former students. I am particularly concerned about: (choose ONE issue from 1-3)
1) The impact of COVID-19 on educational disparities at WJCC.
2) The overall decline in the graduation rate at WJCC schools among economically disadvantaged students, Hispanics and English Learners and the rise in the drop-out rate at Lafayette High School in 2020--as reported by the Virginia Gazette on December 14th.
3) The use of racial slurs by students at WJCC and the inaction on the part of teaching staff and administrators when harmful language like the “n-word” is used.
I am calling to urge the WJCC administration and the School Board to take immediate action by: (choose the corresponding action from 1-3)
Changing the grading practices in 4th and 5th grade to pass/fail and making one parent/teacher conference mandatory for ALL students, so that teachers and parents have the opportunity to communicate about every student’s academic progress.
Implementing equity-based funding at WJCC schools by assigning more staff and resources to classrooms in schools, like Lafayette High School, that serve a greater proportion of economically disadvantaged students, English-language learners and students of color.
Developing a protocol and policy to combat the use of racial slurs and hate speech, as Loudoun County Public Schools has recently done and as reported by the New York Times on December 26.
Thank you for your time.