Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Release Statement Regarding Charlottesville and Combating Racism in Schools

On Wednesday, community relations for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools released a statement expressing “sympathy, compassion, and solidarity to the families of Heather D. Heyer, Virginia State Troopers HJ Cullen and Berke Bates, DeAndre Harris, and other demonstrators who bravely stood up for human rights in the face of the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virgina.”

Hundreds of white supremacists took to the streets on August 12 to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate soldier, General E. Lee.

The protest turned violent as counter protesters joined the scene, resulting in the death of Heather D. Heyer, and thirty-five injured.

The rally and events that ensued have opened discussions on how to combat racism in our own neighborhoods and in our schools, and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools have joined the discussion.

“We understand that racism and symbols of racism continue to have effects that negatively impact educational opportunities for all of our students. With that understanding, we are focused on building an educational environment that enables our students to know each other in meaningful ways. Our goal is that, through conversations, interactions and respectful learning spaces, our students and community members appreciate our shared humanity and how each of us contributes to our community. This appreciation enables us to voluntarily avoid introducing symbols and images which would be disruptive to our learning environment,” reads the statement.

The statement goes on to list specific ways in which the district plans to combat racism in schools, including developing and implementing a comprehensive Equity plan, implementing restorative practices, developing and integrating an inclusive curriculum and decreasing and eliminating discipline disparities.

Nelson Mandela’s famous words, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than it’s opposite,” are quoted in the Chapel Hill- Carrboro Schools’ statement.

The city school district does not currently explicitly banned specific symbols or items, however, an agenda item has been added to the CHCCS board meeting agenda on Thursday night to consider approving a revised policy that could ban symbols including the “Confederate Battle Flag or Nazi Swastika.” It is unclear if the board will vote on the revision Thursday night or use it as a starting point for discussion.

Orange County Schools adopted a new dress code on Monday banning symbols that are “reasonably expected to intimidate other students on the basis of race,” such as KKK, swastikas, and the Confederate Flag.

The full statement from CHCCS is below:

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools District extends our deepest sympathy, compassion and solidarity to the families of Heather D. Heyer, Virginia State Troopers, HJ Cullen and Berke Bates, DeAndre Harris, and other demonstrators who bravely stood up for human rights in the face of the “Unite for Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

We agree with Nelson Mandela that, “Education is the most powerful tool which we can use to change the world,” and we will continue our work to educate children for a more equitable and just society. We will continue to provide safe spaces for our students to learn and engage in ways that allow understanding of our shared humanity, and we will continue to work together with our community members to enable this work.

We understand that racism and symbols of racism continue to have effects that negatively impact educational opportunities for all of our students. With that understanding, we are focused on building an educational environment that enables our students to know each other in meaningful ways. Our goal is that, through conversations, interactions and respectful learning spaces, our students and community members appreciate our shared humanity and how each of us contributes to our community. This appreciation enables us to voluntarily avoid introducing symbols and images which would be disruptive to our learning environment.

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Nelson Mandela.

Supported by robust policies, our teachers, staff, administration and board are doing the work to enable this environment in many different ways:

· Developing and implementing a comprehensive Equity plan;

· Implementation of Restorative Practices (The foundation of Restorative Practices is the building of community and the honoring and development of relationships. The implementation of Restorative Practices allows all stakeholders to have a seat at the table, where all voices are welcomed and encouraged.);

· Developing and integrating inclusive curriculum along with professional development in equity training and implicit bias;

· Providing equitable and meaningful student leadership and engagement opportunities;

· Decreasing and eliminating discipline disparities.

We are well supported by our Chapel Hill and Carrboro students, parents, NAACP, teacher groups, teachers, school leaders, faith-based organizations, the business community, elected officials and other community members. These groups and individuals not only continue to hold us accountable for outcomes, they also actively engage in creating solutions for our challenges. They are advocates for funding our classrooms and teachers. They support teachers and classroom learning, and they are active participants in our school board meetings.

As a district and a community we know that inclusive spaces benefit everyone and move us all forward. Every student in the CHCCS district benefits from our work on equity. Improving practices and eliminating barriers to accessing gifted education, language programs, and exceptional children education, increasing graduation rates, reducing discipline disparity, and increasing access to all academic opportunities produces better outcomes for all students.

Equity is the work that will allow 100% of our students to succeed. We recognize that we have a long way to go. We ask our community to continue to engage with Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools in our work, and join us as we continue to focus on the needs of our students and staff.