5 things Mason schools says it will do following lynching comment incident

Mason Schools are speeding up installing mandatory racial and cultural sensitivity training for workers in the wake of a recent racist incident.

During Tuesday evening’s school board meeting, district Spokeswoman Tracey Carson was part of a board presentation on how district officials are “accelerating” and adding to existing racial and cultural sensitivity training for teachers and school staffers.

The meeting included the African-American mother of a Mason student, who was told by a white teacher his classmates would “lynch” him if he didn’t complete his classwork, sharply criticizing district officials for their mishandling of her reporting the incident.

Carson said all district employees are going to do more than just listen and will immediately begin expansion of the school system’s on-going “Equity Action Steps” program.

Here are five things Mason said it will do in the wake of the incident:

1. In February, the district will have an independent research firm look into “the degree to which all administrators and teachers value and use culturally responsive practices.”
2. In conjunction with Black History Month in February, district staffers will participate in a study of the book “Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together In The Cafeteria.”
3. Also in February, lead teachers in schools will “integrate the checklist for the culturally responsive practices into (instructional) unit development and revisions.”
4. In March, district officials will “add clarity to procedures in administrative guidelines for addressing racially or culturally insensitive behavior by staff members.”
5. In June, they will “initiate quarterly training for district equity team and teacher leaders.”

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