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July 16, 2020
Dear Evansville Community,
The ECSD Board of Education is compelled to speak out against injustice. We join the City of Evansville, the Evansville Police Department and the ECSD in condemning the systemic racism which created the toxic society that enabled the most recent killings of countless Black and Brown people. Further, we would like to assure our community that the Board is committed to actively seeking ways to create an anti-racist educational environment that will welcome and embrace all of our students.
One of the most important responsibilities of School Boards in Wisconsin is to establish policies for the district and ensure those policies are meticulously and consistently followed. Among those policies are those governing equity, diversity and inclusion.
We publicly renew our conviction to support our students, administrators, teachers and staff in the ECSD in advancing antiracism in our district to help ensure that all students, families and staff members feel safe, welcome and included in our schools.
We will continue to engage in this work transparently and collaboratively with stakeholder groups in our community. We pledge to center voices of color in our antiracism work, recognizing that our students, staff, and families of color are the only ones who can speak authoritatively about their everyday lived experiences in our schools and our community.
We also recognize that systems of oppression work together to produce injustice.
Not only do we need to combat racism in our schools, but sexism, transphobia, homophobia, ableism and all other systems of inequality and privilege.
We cannot promise we will always “get it right” when it comes to this work, but we can promise when we make a misstep, we will acknowledge it, learn from it, make amends and start again with a commitment to do better.
With humility and integrity, we will consider the significance of our own identities when it comes to engaging in equity work. We commit to ongoing education, critical self-reflection and asking ourselves, our district and our community the hard questions.
We will hold ourselves accountable, but as publicly elected officials, you can and should hold us accountable as well.
Sincerely,
Kathi Swanson, President
Jan Klaehn, Vice President
Ellyn Paul, Clerk
Melissa Hammann, Treasurer
Ann Elliot, Member
Rene Johnson, Member
Curt Nyhus, Member
The Evansville Community School District Board of Education
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