Diversity Equity & Inclusion Committee

This group will use existing research and resources to recommend changes and supplements to the ELA and Social studies curriculum so they are more reflective of our diversity. The group can also work with the instructional coaches and/or department heads to revisit the curriculum. We could create another subcommittee (out of this group) to help bridge the opportunity gap among students.

Mission: Research and recommend how to attract, recruit, hire and retain diverse faculty, administrators and support staff at Odyssey Charter School.
Objective: To increase the number of diverse candidates who apply to and maintain consistent employment at Odyssey Charter School.
Goal 1: Widen the pool of diverse candidates that successfully transition to employment.
Goal 2: Develop and implement policies, procedures and a school culture that will build a diverse school workforce.
Inputs:

• Attract: Acknowledge our short comings, raise awareness, foster dialogue, advertise OCS programs and initiatives around diversity, and highlight plans to create an inclusive, anti-racist environment. We will communicate these plans via our website, PSAs, OCS families, alumni and community at large. Offer sign on bonuses.
• Recruit: Conduct internal and external career fairs, partner with Internship Coordinators at all Colleges & Universities including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with the goal of hiring and retaining diverse candidates. Offer sign on bonuses.
• Hire: Review and revise interview questions to ensure the protocol is free of implicit bias and include questions on diversity, mandate and offer implicit bias training to all staff who participate on hiring panels, review current HR process and timeline for employment offers and recommend timely follow-up strategies that lead to hiring the primary candidate. Offer sign on bonuses.
• Retain: Build an inclusive work environment. Train all OCS employees on diversity & inclusion and implicit bias, create a welcoming environment by hosting multi-cultural events, implement an employee reward system, review promotion processes to ensure representation of the student body, review and update mentor processes, conduct anonymous quarterly staff surveys that capture contemporary school climate and morale, conduct exit interviews and process for addressing feedback, install feedback boxes in staff lounge as well as develop a process to address response to such feedback (via town hall meetings, newsletters, etc).

Mission Statement: The group will plan service initiatives in order to support both the OCS and the community at large.

Current actions:

• Food drive during last parent beep and greet
• Open pantry 11/11-11/13 distributing 25 turkeys with full supply of side foods, several other families received food that did not want a turkey
• Food drive and open food pantry week of Material Pickup in June
• Multiple food drives and deliveries of food boxes on request to families in June, July
• Permission obtained and room organized for semi-permanent food pantry to be in building #22
• Advertisement on OCS website, parent page, and in newletters to let families know that food pantry is accessible with appointment and/or deliveries may be made
• Food and school supply drive completed during chromebook pickup

For food insecure families- make an appointment to visit our Food Pantry in the Intermediate School. Contact Paula Lowe or Eva Jannelli

This group will focus on planning events that celebrate our school’s diverse and multicultural character.

This subcommittee will work to bring forward recommendations that will ensure all students, regardless of their special needs and/or disability, have access to all school areas, activities and that their academic needs are met with the necessary rigor, flexibility, and attention.

At its core, mentoring should be able to connect students with someone who cares about their personal growth and development as well as be able to provide them with social and economic opportunities. This could be something along the lines of Big Brother/big Sister programs.

Our mission is to equip our staff with the self-awareness, language, and tools necessary to build healthy, racially aware and culturally respectful relationships with our students and all members of the OCS community. Through education, conversation and reflection, our staff will be guided towards personal and professional growth as it relates to equity and diversity in education.

DE&I Recommended Resources
Books
Secondary Sources
Websites
What to Watch
LGBTQ+

Mission statement: This group will support and coordinate the efforts of the students groups in order to achieve a cohesive approach across the grades.
OCS Student Groups and Clubs Handbook
Student Groups Norms