SMSD hires first inclusion coordinator to cultivate acceptance

At the beginning of the school year, Dr. Tyrone Bates took on the new role of SMSD’s coordinator of diversity, equity and inclusion to promote a culture of acceptance and oversee the handling of diversity matters.

According to Dr. John McKinney, Director of Family and Student Services and Dr. Bates supervisor, the job was developed after the Board of Education worked on a plan to implement a district-wide diversity and inclusion program for the 4,000 employees and over 27,000 students. The district recognized a job was needed that would cover their plans to help make SMSD more culturally responsive and inclusive in its diversity.

Bates took on this role to work with the district’s inclusion plans and bring them to task.

“My role is one that’s evolving, being that it is the first in our district’s history; it’s ever changing,” Bates said. “So right now my focus is to make sure that our deep equity training is put together with fidelity.”

To work towards a better system of equity, Bates has worked with others to plan five training sessions with all the administrators, teachers and staff in the district to train them in matters of diversity, equity and inclusion.

The first of the five sessions will be held on Sept. 11 and 12 at the Indian Creek Technology Center. The training will consist of multi-interdisciplinary learning, such as audio, visual, lectures, story telling, interactives and group work.

According to McKinney, there weren’t any specific instances dealing with equity and treatment that led to the addition of this role, but rather a more broad need for a position dedicated to diversity matters.

“The superintendent has made a point on a number of occasions that our differences aren’t intended to divide us, they’re meant to bring us together,” McKinney said. “I would say it wasn’t any one or two things, it wasn’t that simple. It’s more about creating an overall culture of acceptance and valuing diversity for what it is.”

McKinney and Bates agreed that the root of the diversity, equity and inclusion problems in the district are all based around relationships, as is the key to succeeding with students.

“My goal is that the students will feel a difference, that the students will notice that their teachers will have a little more confidence in breaking down barriers and having conversations that might’ve been difficult in the past because those conversations are the gateway to relationships,” Bates said.

Bates also contacted each Diversity and Inclusion Club in the district so they could connect and collaborate. According to club executive Olive Henry, this is the first time they’ve interacted with the other Diversity and Inclusion clubs in the district. 

Henry also found these newly formed connections helpful because East has a different breakdown of diversity than the other schools in the district. The student body at East is 85% white, 7% hispanic and 2% black as opposed to the overall district’s 64% white, 19% hispanic and 9% black, according to SMSD’s Strategic Plan. Henry looks forward to seeing a positive impact regarding what resources students have access to and their ability to have an advocate in the district.

The Strategic Plan set by administration for 2019-24 has also influenced the work in diversity and inclusion, specifically referenced in the second strategy in the plan. It details the goal of “relentlessly [creating] a fully unified, equitable and inclusive culture” in the district.

The East Diversity and Inclusion Club, led by Samantha Feinberg and previous East teacher David Muhammad, has worked to create the job title for years according to Henry. 

Prior to the addition of the training days, SMSD discussed their inclusion information during professional development days at individual schools. According to McKinney, this was problematic because there was no consistency among schools. Now with the addition of the equity program, the district will be able to set a structured policy for the pertinent subjects.

The training will be personalized to the needs of each school. Bates said he’s been taking principal-led walks through each school to learn about its culture so he can form a unique training course personalized to each building.

Through the training, Bates hopes that all students will be able to achieve more and feel at ease in their school.

“The ultimate outcome that we’re hoping to see is that all of our students, not just a certain group of our students, are able to achieve high academically,” Bates said. “So that we make sure all students have access to our curriculum, access to our districts building opportunities, not just a certain group.”

The training to achieve this outcome is a gradual process that Bates doesn’t believe will project their progress for years after the staff has been going through the training. According to Bates, the class of 2032 will be the first grade to see the major impacts of his work because he expects it to take more exposure to the training and experiences.

As Bates advisor, McKinney feels he can help Bates’s understanding of the district after working in it for over 20 years — especially when it comes to what he considers the most important part of jobs in education: relationships.

“Relationships are the key to every aspect of what we do, regardless of your role in the district,” McKinney said. “Relationships are going to be the most important things that you can do.”

According to Henry, the District has not been shedding light on how the lack of equity and inclusion programs have impacted East and its students — and that the new title provides an avenue for that process.

“I think it’s really easy to treat all of these incidences like isolated incidences and not as pieces of a bigger picture,” Henry said. “Having somebody in a position with a title like diversity, equity and inclusion really makes that picture a reality. Those aren’t isolated instances, this is something that’s going on and something we need to address.”

According to Bates, SMSD hopes to establish an understanding between the students and staff so anyone in the district can be prepared to move on from East with open-minded perceptions of what the world looks like.

“The goal of our work around diversity, equity and inclusion is not training students for where they are, but rather where they’re going,”  Bates said. “To ensure that students can go into the world and compete, go into the world and learn. And the world doesn’t look like Shawnee Mission East, the world is full of different experiences, different walks.”