Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1487796
" We have a responsibility to move the needle and make a positive impact for our students. How can we leave a space better than we found it?" — Maripaz Berlin, Oak Grove Educators Association president members and school board trustees to develop a board resolution. Starting in Fall 2021, the group met on video- conference every month to craft the language, working to make it a living resolution with ongoing work for all staff. " The goal was to have a mostly completed resolution ready by May 2022," says Berlin, adding that the group lo oked to LGBTQ+ equity w ork don e in n eig hb orin g Franklin-McKinley School District (FMSD) for ideas and inspiration. In 2017-18, FMSD updated restroom signage across all schools to create all-inclusive restrooms for stu- dents and in 2018, FMSD officials raised the Pride flag. e diligent efforts of the workgroup paid off on May 19 when the Oak Grove school board approved the resolution, the first of its kind for the district. "With the rise in intolerant legislation across the country, it meant everything to be able to help create a district that was the antithesis of all of that hate," says Kristie Morikawa, elementary educator and an OGEA Equity & Human Rights Committee member who worked on the resolution. "Cod- ifying acceptance and love of all students, educators and families sets the tone for all our schools." With action items like raising the Progress Pride flag at all school sites every day and mandatory training for all staff, the focus now is on the implementation of the reso- lution (see list in box). While Berlin had hoped many of the changes — like gender-inclusive restroom signage — would be ready for the beginning of this school year, she says the effort is still a work in progress. Berlin says she is proud of the collaborative effort to make Oak Grove a more inclusive place for students and staff. " We have students in our schools who identify as trans or non-binary and we want them to feel • Oak Grove School District (OGSD) will create a LGBTQ+ Subcommittee in its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee (DEIB) to conduct a needs assessment for LGBTQ+ students and staff. • OGSD will update restroom signage across all schools to include at least one all-gender restroom for students and one all-gender restroom for staff by the beginning of the 2022- 2023 school year. • OGSD will raise Progress Pride flags at all schools and the district office and keep them up all year round beginning in June 2022. • OGSD will create safe spaces for LGBTQ+ students and staff at all sites serving seventh and eighth grades. • The DEIB LGBTQ+ Subcommittee will update school forms to include student and family information that is inclusive, including additional nonbinary gender identifiers by Fall 2023. • The DEIB LGBTQ+ Subcommittee will review, revise and amend bullying polices that address the topic of sexual orientation, gender identification and gender expression on an ongoing basis. • The DEIB LGBTQ+ Subcommittee will assess the compliance of the content of adopted textbooks and curricula across all grades and classrooms with the FAIR Education Act, and teachers and administrators will receive support in implementation by June 2023. • OGSD will ensure that family life education and other appropriate curricula include age- appropriate, medically accurate and culturally sensitive information on LGBTQ+ issues. • Starting in the 2023-2024 academic year, OGSD will provide annual mandatory professional development to all staff, to create learning and work environments where LGBTQ+ students and staff may thrive. • OGSD will actively engage in the education of families and the community by promoting LGBTQ+ specific resources. Source: Oak Grove School District in Oak Grove's LGBTQ+ Resolution Action Items Oak Grove Educators Association President Maripaz Berlin (in red) with Oak Grove School Board members and leadership. 43 D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 2 / J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 3