Benchmark – Building Trust in a Diverse Community Case Analysis

and Rationale

Part 1: Case Analysis

1. Brief summary of the case:

Rose Place is a middle-class community with a history of white supremacy. Recently, a
new low-income housing project has started in the town and community members are
unhappy about the types of people such a project would bring to their town. The school in
town, Smith-Jackson Elementary School, has implemented a voluntary busing program
that brings minority students to the school from all over the district in order to integrate
the school. Community members are proud of the busing program to bring special
education students to the school but not minority students, saying that they can’t keep up
academically and are causing problems in the school with their behaviors. The newly
hired principal is also a minority and was insulted by a parent who stated that he and all
students who look like him should leave the school. During a school meeting, parents
brought up a recent parent survey that stated 75% of the students at Smith-Jackson would
not attend the following year, causing the school to lose funding.

2. Identify the issues to be resolved:

The long history of hate and discrimination within the community.
The integration of Smith-Jackson Elementary School, as mandated by the state.
The complaints and hate against minority students within the school as well as the
principal.
The validity of the parent survey which stated that 75% of the bussed students would not
return the following year. Another survey may need to be given.
The data for academics and discipline for the bussed students. Find ways to improve their
performance and behavior.

3. Stakeholders involved in the issue:

Rose Place community members
The principal
Minority students who are bussed to the school
All other students within the school

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 The parents complaining about the minority students and principal
All other parents who have a student within the school

4. One or two existing laws or court rulings that relate to the issues:
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, no one in the U.S. can be excluded from
any educational program receiving federal funding.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibits discrimination of color, race, or origin
in any program that receives federal funding.
Brown v. The Board of Education, established that racially segregated schools or
‘separate but equal’, was unconstitutional.
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, busing of students to promote
integration in public schools.

5. District policies that relate to the issues:

Excerpt from the Kershaw County School District Policy Manual (February 2019)

Policy AC Nondiscrimination/Equal Opportunity

“The board affirms the right of all individuals to be treated with respect and to be
protected from intimidation, discrimination, physical harm, and/or harassment. Respect
for each individual will be a consideration in the establishment of all policies by the
board and in the administration of those policies by district staff.
The district is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for all
students, parents/legal guardians, staff, visitors, personnel, and community members who
participate or seek to participate in its programs or activities. Therefore, the district does
not discriminate against any individual on the basis of race, religion, sex, color,
disability, age (40 or older), national origin, or any other applicable status protected by
local, state, or federal law.”

Policy JIAM Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation (Students)

“The district is committed to maintaining a learning environment free from
discrimination and harassment that is based on a student’s race, religion, sex, color,
disability, national origin, immigrant status, English-speaking status, or any other
applicable status protected by local, state, or federal law. In keeping with this
commitment, the district will not tolerate discrimination or harassment of students by any
person, including, but not limited to, other students, staff, volunteers, or visitors. Further,
the district will not tolerate retaliation against a person who has made a report or filed a
complaint alleging discrimination or harassment or who has participated as a witness in
a discrimination or harassment investigation.”

6. Possible solutions to the issues:

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 There are two potential options to deal with these issues: ignore them or work to make
changes. You can ignore the hate in the community and continue to receive complaints
and backlash about the programs in your school. You can ignore the mandate from the
state and therefore not integrate the school, dealing with whatever legal ramifications
arise from the decision. You can ignore the parents who are criticizing you (the principal)
as well as the minority students and just let them continue to make hateful comments.
You can ignore the parent survey that was given and not care about the potential
problems to your school’s funding if 75% of the bussed students didn’t return. And
finally, you can ignore the fact that these bussed students are underperforming
academically and are causing issues in school with their behavior.
If you choose not to ignore these issues, your option is to address each and work to bring
positive changes and acceptance to the school and hopefully the community as well.

7. The solution you chose to resolve the issues:

I would choose to address each issue and work to ensure that my staff and I continue to
bus in minority students, following the state mandate that requires us to integrate our
school. We would re-administer the parent survey and create a team to look into the data
received from it. Also, a team to look into the performance, both academic and
behavioral, of the bussed students would be created. I would hold a meeting with parents
and guardians to discuss the changes happening within the school and work to create
positive changes in the mindset of those in the community who may be reluctant to
accept these changes. I would address the parents making hateful comments to myself,
the principal, as well as the other students in the school letting them know that we will
support all students in our building. I would stress that getting on board with the busing
program would be what is best for our students. The integration of our school is state-
mandated and cannot be avoided. If they can go ahead and accept these changes, we can
move forward, working together to create a community supported safe and equitable
learning environment for all.

8. Action steps (2-5) for implementing your solution, including a timeline for each step:
Re-administer a school climate survey. Allow parents, staff, and students to take it.
Encourage as much participation as possible to ensure a representative population and
allow the survey to be anonymous to encourage more honesty. This survey should be
pushed out as soon as possible. To give participants enough time, allow for a month or
two. Give reminders throughout your allocated time to encourage maximum
participation.
Hold a meeting with parents and guardians to build community relations. The meeting
should take place after the school climate survey has ended and enough time has passed
to go through the results to collect data and statistics. Before the meeting, ensure that you
have an agenda prepared to keep the meeting on focus.
Create a team of teachers within the school to focus on the academic and behavior
concerns of the bussed students. These teachers could provide mentorship for the
students, checking on their grades and behavior throughout the year offering additional
support when needed.

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 Training should be offered to both teachers and students and the training should be
ongoing. Teachers should be trained in embracing the diversity of their students as well
as culturally responsive teaching methods. Students will need to learn social and
communication skills in cultural awareness and acceptance as well as preventing bullying
and discrimination.
Create a committee tasked with building positive relationships between the school and
the community. They can plan cultural/diversity events to get the community involved in
changing the long history of hate and discrimination in the town and accepting the
students of various backgrounds that are being bussed into their schools.

9. Potential moral and legal consequences of solution:

The solution could cause very upset, irate community members, parents, and students. If
they refuse to accept the minority students in their schools, the hate and discrimination
against these students could increase and potentially turn violent. These new students
could be bullied and harassed. Parents could refuse to allow their students to attend
Smith-Jackson Elementary and take their children out of the school, causing major
problems for the school and/or district.

Part 2: Case Study Solution Rationale

The United States was created on the basis that ‘all men are created equal’ and that each
person has certain ‘unalienable rights’. DeVillar, Faltis, and Cummins (1994) state in their
“Cultural Diversity in Schools: From Rhetoric to Practice”, that throughout her history, the
United States has been viewed as a country that accepts differences. This sentiment is shown in
our country’s seal E pluribus unum as well as the concept of the ‘melting pot’. While segregation
was seen as an acceptable practice by many for hundreds of years, as our country has evolved, so
have our traditions and ideals. We have changed in ways that have only strengthened our nation
as well as the ideal that differences are embraced here. The integration of our nation’s public
schools was the obvious next step in treating all people equal and reversing the inconsistencies in
our national image and practices of segregation. It creates equitable learning opportunities for all
and balances a divide in our society.
The integration of Smith-Jackson Elementary School was mandated by the state.
Integration of schools embraces the diversity in our nation and allows all students equal
opportunity to a quality education. Essex states in his School Law and the Public Schools: A
Practical Guide for Educational Leader (2014), that busing has historically been an effective
way to desegregate schools because in transporting students to more affluent schools outside of
their neighborhood, it helps to “create equal educational opportunities for all children regardless
of race, national origin, or socioeconomic background”. While community members are reluctant
to embrace these new changes, we cannot shrink under the pressure of their backlash. As
effective school leaders, we are required to give all students in our school a quality education and
most importantly follow all local, state, and federal laws. We must move forward with
integrating our school per state mandate and get families on board with supporting us to benefit
our students and their overall success. Ideally, the history of hate, discrimination, and white
supremacy needs to be changed within the community. However, you cannot change the
traditions, views, and culture of a group of people overnight.

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 Ultimately, our responsibility is to our students and our school. We must focus on
creating a safe and equitable environment in our school for all students who attend, regardless of
their race, the neighborhood they live in, or their socioeconomic background. Positive
community support will benefit our students’ academic and social success. We as educators must
push for more positive community support and relations and a meeting held with the families of
Smith-Jackson Elementary School is a small but necessary step in the right direction. We as
educators must also push for more diversity, cultural awareness, and acceptance within our
school. Training for both our students and our teachers will benefit our school climate in a
positive way. Finally, we can not only bus these students to our school and believe that our job is
done and that they have received an equitable education. In response to the integration of schools
and busing programs, some argue that it only causes harm, no good. They claim that it is a waste
of time and resources and will not help children achieve any higher than they would have in their
own schools (Carter III, Hughes, Lenard, Liebowitz, and Perera, 2023). This is where it will be
our job as educators to provide the necessary guidance and mentorship throughout their
education to ensure that they are achieving the highest academic and social success.

Part 3: Agenda and Agenda Rationale

Tensions in the Rose Place community are high with the recent low-income housing
project as well as the new state mandate to integrate schools. White supremacists in the
community are angered by these changes and the minorities that are now being brought to their
community and the elementary school. While the ultimate goal for Rose Place would be to create
a more culturally diverse and accepting community, we as educators must focus on our school
and our students. With this meeting, we will invite families of Smith-Jackson Elementary, both
the families who were already attending, as well as families of the new bussed students, to get
together and begin a positive relationship of acceptance. The principal will address the recent
changes taking place at Smith-Jackson Elementary School. He will inform families of the recent
state mandate to integrate schools within their district as well as the busing program to
accomplish this. He will inform them of plans to make these changes equitable and mutually
beneficial for all students.

Students and parents of these minority students will speak to the school’s families
allowing them to see how the program is giving them access to a great school as well as
opportunities that were not previously available to them. With these testimonials, the principal
and administration will attempt to show the Rose Place community that diversity is something
that they should embrace. The results of the School Climate Survey will be shared. It is
important to highlight areas that the school and community are already doing well in. The
principal will share that he believes these things will only be strengthened by the new students
and families of Smith-Jackson Elementary School and that acceptance and cooperation will only
make the school stronger. Following this portion, areas of concern will be addressed and the
principal will share any plans for improvement that the school has already thought of. The
families will then be invited to ask questions, share concerns, and offer suggestions. Allowing
the audience a voice will help get the community involved in school issues and decision-making.
As stated in Standard 8 of the Professional Standards for Education Leaders (2015), “Effective
educational leaders engage families and the community in meaningful, reciprocal, and mutually
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beneficial ways to promote each student’s academic success and well-being”. The end goal is to
gain understanding of these minority students and families and begin to accept them into the
school community.

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 References

Carter III, J. S., Hughes, R. P., Lenard, M. A., Liebowitz, D. D., & Perera, R. M. (2023).
Assessing Integration in Wake County: Loud debate, but muted effects for students and
schools. Education Next, 23(1), 60–67.

DeVillar, R. A., Faltis, C., & Cummins, J. (1994). Cultural Diversity in Schools : From Rhetoric
to Practice. SUNY Press.

Essex, Nathan L. (2014). School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational
Leaders (6th ed.). Pearson.

National Policy Board for Educational Administration (2015). Professional Standards for
Educational Leaders 2015. Reston, VA: Author.

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