St. Charles School District 303 committee reviewing findings of equity audit

A St. Charles School District 303 committee is reviewing the findings of an equity audit that was done to better understand where inequities exist in the district.

A superintendent’s committee headed by Christine Igoe, the district’s assistant superintendent of educational services, will develop an action plan based on the audit findings. During the Oct. 11 St. Charles School Board meeting, Igoe updated board members on the committee’s efforts.

The committee had its first meeting Sept. 28. As Igoe related to school board members, the committee is taking a deep dive into the audit “so that we could understand what is in that equity audit, what are the strengths that came out through that audit and what are the some of the opportunities that were identified.”

The committee also is reviewing the equity plans of three school districts – Elgin Area School District U46, Naperville Community Unit School District 203 and Wheeling Community Consolidated School District 21. Igoe said committee members will be talking about what they liked and didn’t like about each plan.

Beginning with the 2022-23 school year, each school district in Illinois is responsible for publicly posting its progress toward equity on its school report card using an Illinois State Board of Education developed continuum.

The findings of the audit show achievement gaps were found along the lines of demographic characteristics “specifically students who are Hispanic and Black/African American and social economic status in the district that mirror national trends,” Igoe and Tracy Taylor, the district’s director of diversity, equity and inclusion, said.

Another finding is Illinois Assessment of Readiness and Scholastic Assessment Test scores indicate an achievement gap by gender, with females significantly outperforming males in English language arts and males outperforming females in math.

Igoe and Taylor said that generally families reported feeling included, welcomed and valued at most schools in the district.

“However, there were reports of microaggressions and disrespectful behavior reported across racial/ethnic groups that need to be addressed,” they said. “The data collected would suggest a significant desire across all interest groups for a more equitable system.”

One of the recommendations in the audit is for the professional development of all staff to increase understanding of cultures, language, racial sensitivity, social/emotional needs, mental wellness and gender identification.

Another recommendation is for the district to hire and maintain staff that is more diverse in terms of ethnicity, race and gender.

In June 2021, board members unanimously voted to pause Deep Equity training until an equity audit was completed. In March 2021, board members voted 4-3 to use Deep Equity – a professional development program from the California-based Corwin Company – to provide professional learning to staff on diversity, equity and inclusion.

That decision followed three hours of comments from both proponents and opponents of the Deep Equity program. School board members also decided that the district, using different materials, would continue the training after completing an equity audit.

In December 2021, board members unanimously voted to hire Chicago-based nonprofit group Consortium for Educational Change – now known as Catalyst for Educational Change – at a cost of $44,850. Staff had recommended hiring the company to do the equity audit.

As part of the audit, the group administered surveys and conducted focus groups. CEC conducted 51 focus groups with 292 participants, including district leaders, parents, students and staff. In addition, students, staff and families answered school community questionnaires.