Letter to the editor: Questions on student equity director in Gateway

To the Editor,

I would like to respond to Mr. (Robert) Elm’s recent letter (Gateway’s need for equity director is real, Oct. 14) about the equity director position in the Gateway School District. Here are some fundamental questions. Do you want to see an expansion of central office administrative positions within the district, or do you believe we need more boots on the ground positions in the schools and classrooms to meet the specific daily educational needs of the individual children/ learners?

From what I have been told, the Gateway administration with be presenting data and information in December or January at a meeting on student performance. Along with this data and information, they will be discussing the existing equity program, along with an explanation of the equity committee comprised of professional staff from each building,an explanation of related professional development programs for staff. Hopefully clarification of the relationship between the staff equity committee and the school board equity/curriculum committee is also forthcoming.

Recently a report was released by the Allegheny Institute showing data from Allegheny County Districts, and the relationship between attendance and performance. I am hoping at some point this is also a topic of conversation between the district and community.

We cannot move forward without having a clear understanding of what the district has currently been doing, and what have the end results been so far. This is why it is so critical to have school board members capable of analyzing and understanding this type of information prior to making any decisions.

Cheryl Boise

Monroeville