The Bozeman School Board passed its equity policy Tuesday evening, roughly six months after it was introduced and with a handful of board members expressing disappointment over the removal of the word “equity” in the policy text.
The policy is aimed at the district’s goal to eliminate achievement gaps and meet the individual needs of all students while steering clear of language that has become polarized, both nationally and locally.
During Monday’s meeting, board members applauded the work of interim Superintendent Casey Bertram and the administration to hear resident input over two months to shape a policy that is focused on student success and closing achievement gaps.
Hanging over the sometimes-emotional discussion on the equity policy was an incident that happened earlier in the meeting where an individual yelled a racial slur during public comment.
There were two other incidents of public comment being disruptive, including profanity.
During the meeting, the board chair and district administration condemned the behavior. They moved to only allow public comment if a first and last name identified the Zoom participant.
In an email to the Chronicle on Tuesday, Bertram said the district was working with the school resource officer team, IT department and law enforcement to identify the individuals and charge them for any laws or board policies they violated.
“We are saddened and appalled by the behavior of the individual/s who used the public comment process of our Zoom webinar meeting to spew nonsense and to utter racial slurs,” Bertram wrote.
During the board discussion on the policy, Trustee Lei-Anna Bertelsen addressed “the elephant in the room.”
“The day we bring up talking about the equity policy, that someone hijacks Zoom and uses a racial slur. I go back to our in-person meeting when many people showed up at the Gallatin Auditorium insisting that Bozeman’s not a racist community. And yet it’s hard to sit here on the board as the one person of color, to hear racial slurs and to be told that racism does not exist in our community. It’s harmful,” Bertelsen said.
While the policy passed unanimously, a handful of board members expressed disappointment with some of the edits during their discussion.
Trustee Douglas Fischer said the district’s inability to put the word equity into its institutional framework is an example of the problem they’re trying to address, systemic inequity and systemic racism.
“We have said over and over that words matter but yet here we have an equity policy without the word equity in it. It troubles me,” said Fischer.
Trustee Tanya Reinhardt said she wanted people to know there was racism and bigotry in Bozeman.
“I am frustrated that there are people in this community who do not see the darkness. It is in the corners,” Reinhardt said. “… When we shy away from having those tough conversations, we let that darkness grow.”
Fischer and Reinhardt said while they had concerns and would like to see the word equity added back into the policy, they would support it.
“All means all does not mean equity. There are things about equity we cannot measure in an achievement gap. We have no other policy on our books, that I can think of, where we say one thing but kind of mean another and say trust us,” Fischer said.
Bertelsen said that she was disappointed to see the “watering down” of the policy’s language. She said she knew teachers in the district would use any resource they can to support their students.
“Providing the kind of language where teachers can feel supported to do that is an important piece to that puzzle,” she said.
Trustee Lisa Weaver said the policy was succinct and clear without using “extraneous words that have become divisive” and she was grateful for the work that had been done on it since it was originally introduced.
“The people who are supporting the removal of the equity language are not supporting racism,” Weaver said.
In mid-June, the policy went through first reading and board discussion without much fanfare. At the June 28 board meeting, the policy revisions were tabled after dozens of people raised concerns with the word equity and what they said were connections to critical race theory.
Critical race theory — a framework that views racism as systemic across societal structures — is not taught in the school district.
The changes that stemmed from the two months of community outreach and feedback meetings in August and September included the removal of the word equity, a clear commitment to eliminating identified or perceived achievement gaps and a focus on student success.
Trustee Gary Lusin, a board member for 17 years, said the policy was the most influential and impactful one he’s considered.
“I think this policy has evolved into a different policy. I don’t consider it an equity policy. This is a student success policy,” Lusin said. “… To apply this policy, put it in action in the classroom will require diversity, inclusion and equity.”
During public comment, just over half a dozen people said they supported the work of the district to reduce achievement gaps between students but were disappointed with the removal of the word equity.
“If we’ve seen anything tonight with the racial slur that was used earlier, we have to take into account that marginalized groups are targeted and when you decide to not include the word equity, it makes a strong, strong statement,” said Danielle Rogers, adding she feared the policy would be watered down without equity included.
A couple people commented that they supported the policy as it was written.
On Tuesday, Montana Republican U.S. House candidate Ryan Zinke posted to his Facebook page calling the policy a “big win” for parents in Bozeman who “forced the school board to remove controversial” language.
When presenting the policy to the board, Bertram said he also wanted to address what he saw as the larger issue facing the school district, state and country. Language was weaponized and words were being used to draw attention to political beliefs, while simultaneously painting people with broad strokes, he said.
The policy put the school district on the hook for things like addressing achievement gaps, eliminating barriers to student success and individualized student support, or what he called equity in action.
“So yes, we removed the term from the policy to reduce polarization. But hear me clearly, we have been, we are doing and we will continue to do equity work in Bozeman Public Schools,” he said.
Bertram said the community had the opportunity to model what it looks like to come together to do hold themselves accountable to “the bold commitments” in the policy.
“The main point I want to make this evening is that our students are watching,” Bertram said. “… One of the many things that keeps me up at night is the heavy toll it is taking on our students to grow up in a world full of anger and angst.”
