Desegregation Advisory Committee DAC Status Update Keith Poe

Desegregation Advisory Committee (DAC) Status Update Keith Poe DAC Chairperson April 20, 2017 1

DAC Parent Representatives 2016 -2017 Keith Poe Isha Green Vinny Argentina Preeti Francis Kimberly Flint Talya Hargrove Chaundra Jones Laura Lemley Ashely Sparks Millie Steber Chairperson Co-Chariperson Communications Coordinator Secretary/Parlamentarian 2

DAC Student Representatives 2016 -2017 Celena anderson Oshe’a Beckford Hudson Honeywell Tanisha Lee Henry Reynolds Malik Williams Columbia High School Lee High School Huntsville High School New Century High School Grissom High School Jemison High School 3

Implementation of the Changes to DAC Responsibilities Due to the Consent Order Amendment Enhancing Communications with the Huntsville Community: • Setup a confidential DAC email address – hsvdac@gmail. com • Create and independent DAC website – hsvdac. com • Operate confidential drop boxes at each HCS school 4

Implementation of the Changes to DAC Responsibilities Due to the Consent Order Amendment Enhancing Communications with the Huntsville Community (continued): • Develop a clear mission statement (available on the website) We, the members of the Desegregation Advisory Committee (DAC), are an independent, volunteer group composed of Huntsville City Schools (HCS) students and parents with children enrolled in HCS. We are responsible for monitoring HCS's implementation of the Consent Order by reviewing data, making recommendations to the superintendent, and filing reports with the Court. We serve as a voice of the community and an early warning system for developing challenges. We gather information from both the public and HCS and we make assessments about whether, in our view, HCS is meeting its obligation to faithfully implement the Consent Order. We are not a second board of education and do not have authority to set HCS policy. We are not responsible for assigning students, staff, or faculty to schools, for hiring or firing HCS employees, or for establishing HCS budget priorities. We recognize that our ultimate responsibility is to improve the future for all children in the Huntsville City School System and to help finally remove the tenacious and immoral vestiges of segregation. 5

Implementation of the Changes to DAC Responsibilities Due to the Consent Order Amendment Enhancing Communications with the Huntsville Community (continued): • Write easily understood descriptions for each section of the Consent Order (available on the web site) • Operate a confidential DAC P. O. Box The District will not have direct access to feedback. The DAC will communicate feedback to the District and to stakeholders as appropriate and will maintain confidentiality. 6

Implementation of the Changes to DAC Responsibilities Due to the Consent Order Amendment Enhancing Communications with the Huntsville Community (continued): • Hold district meeting in each feeder pattern at least once per year • These meetings were not well attended. • We use the comments from all of our gathering sources to focus our efforts on the issues that need attention. • Brief the HCS Board of Education on the DAC activities at least twice per year. 7

Implementation of the Changes to DAC Responsibilities Due to the Consent Order Amendment DAC Selection Process: • Parents of HCS student apply for a two year term to serve on the DAC. These applications are made available by May 15 to the parties. • Applicants are screened for potential conflicts of interest by both parties. The current representation was reexamined and neither the parties nor the judge felt that there was any reason to change the current composition. • ALL applicants are reviewed and independently by both the HCS and DOJ legal representatives. Each side then ranks the applicants. • The parties will meet to discuss applicants and provide a final ranking to the Judge. Any disagreements in the ranking are clearly defined in writing for the Judge’s consideration. • The final recommendations will be more than the number of seats available and will be provided, under seal, no later than June 15. 8

Implementation of the Changes to DAC Responsibilities Due to the Consent Order Amendment DAC Final Selection Process: • The Court receives the final recommendations/ranking by Jun 15. • The Judge will independently review for potential conflicts of interest. • The Judge will make the final selection based on the ranking and the Court’s review of the applications. • The selections for the DAC will become part of the official record for the Hereford vs HCS BOE court records. Expansion of Student Representation: • Expanded the student representation to one student from each high school. • This was asked for by the DAC to improve our visibility into the environments in each school and have better “on the ground” information. 9

Implementation of the Changes to DAC Responsibilities Due to the Consent Order Amendment Creation of Subcommittees: • Subcommittees were created for each section of the Consent Order to guarantee that each area’s progress is being looked at each year. • Each subcommittee is filled with at least two adult members and one student member according to interest where possible. • The students are all assigned to the “Student Discipline, Positive School Climate, and Effective Classroom Management” subcommittee. The DAC felt (and the students agreed) that this would be the most effective way to get a feel for the school/classroom environment. In sharing their experiences the students have enlightened the DAC on several previous misconceptions at each of their schools. 10

What does the DAC need? • Input from the community • Attendance at meetings and providing comments • Suggestions in the drop boxes or P. O. Box • Emails to the DAC email address • More applicants for DAC positions • 24, 000 students in HCS, less than 30 applicants for parent positions • We NEED people who want to see HCS be the best school system in the Country not just the State. 11

Near Term Plans • May 16 • Last planned public meeting for 2016 -2017 school year • Columbia High School 6: 00 – 8: 00 • May 30 • Meeting with Dr. Akin to discuss the findings for this year the suggestions that will be provided in the DAC end of the year report • Mid-June • Submittal of the formal report to the Court, Superintendent, and Bo. E • Mid-July • Received responses to findngs and suggestions from the Superintendent 12

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