Equitable Practices

The School District of Srpingfield Township is proud of our continued work towards equity, inclusion and belonging for each and every student. Following the successful completion of our 3 Year Equity Action Plan from 2022 to 2025, the district has worked on a district-wide audit of our equitable practices. The audit findings will be presented to the Board of School Directors in August 2025 and a the results will be released following that meeting. We look forward to sharing the information learned during the district audit.

In late April and early May, all students in Grades 3 through 12 participated in the district's Spring Belonging Survey. This 20 question survey is administered three times per year and helps to inform the district's equity work. Overall, our data is strong, suggesting that students feel a sense of belonging, have trusted adults in the building and feel safe at school.

Recognizing the diversity of our community, The School District of Springfield Township is committed to and accountable for advancing equity and excellence for all of our students. We, in the School District of Springfield Township, endeavor to provide equitable opportunities for high level, meaningful, and engaging learning experiences for each and every student, regardless of racial/ethnic background, economic condition or other dimension of identity or difference.

We recognize that in order to achieve Educational Equity we must apply principles of fairness and justice in the allocation of resources and work toward the elimination of institutional barriers to access and opportunity. We aim to ensure that funding, policies, practices, and initiatives will enable every student to receive what they need to maximize their success. In order to foster growth toward equity, we must engage in continuous reflection and ongoing measurement of our efforts.

• Ensure that access and opportunity yield measurable outcomes (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Collaborate with parent organizations to develop a roadmap for decision-making K-12 (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Explore scholarships/reduced fees, and sibling childcare to improve access to extracurriculars (Complete)
• Create systems of support so that families, students and staff members new to the district learn and understand how to navigate systems (Complete)
• Identify, review, and report on primary indicators of growth/achievement (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Provide enrichment opportunities at the elementary level after school (Complete)

• Create a system for the collection, review and dissemination of relevant data (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Elicit feedback from students, staff, and families (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Create a K-12 course overview with language accessibility (Complete)
• Simplify and focus our communication to families (Complete)
• Improve our website's accessibility and ease of use/clarity (Complete)
• Train our MTSS teams to utilize the MTSS process to improve our systems of identification/readiness (Complete and embedded in practices)
• Utilize an online platform for feedback from students and families (Complete and embedded in practices)
• Continue to communicate and implement recommended strategies for recruitment and retention of a diverse, representative workforce across the district (On-going and embedded in practices)

• Adopt and enforce an Educational Equity Policy (Complete)
• Identify administrator responsible for conducting review and analysis of data and leadership of EAP (Complete)
• Communicate the purpose and goals of the EAP broadly and consistently (Complete)
• Support conversations in the classroom that help students to be prepared for difficult topics and conversations around equity (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Improve safety for marginalized students, including students of color and LGBTQ+ students (On-going)
• Utilize analytics to assess the impact our communication has on students and families (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Create feedback/communication system for parent teacher conferences (On-going and embedded in practices)
• Provide training for ALL district staff on equitable practices that are able to be implemented in the classroom and across district offices (On-going and embedded in practices)

The following information is shared with families to help strengthen equity conversations in the home. Please note that these resources are not shared in the schools. However, we encourage families to use these resources to engage your children in conversations around equity in the home.

Ensuring food security for all children is a national responsibility that should cut across political divides.

Child hunger is a concern that should bridge our polarized political divide. After all, wouldn’t most responsible adults in the United States agree that providing children with food is a national responsibility?

By Anthony Conwright for Learning for Justice

How much time do you think people spend online each day?

People are spending a lot of time online lately. On average, people spend 6.5 hours on the internet every day, according to the Global Web Index. Teenagers and young adults between the ages of 16 and 24 spend an additional 2.5 hours more time online than those between the ages of 55 and 64. As they spend time online, many people experience online hate and harassment, which can cause stress, fear and harm, especially to those who are members of marginalized identity groups.

Because of the time spent online, the online hate and harassment that people face and witness can intrude upon and fundamentally affect their daily lives.

Source: ADL

Introduction:

Self-acceptance is a journey. If you have come out, if you’re considering coming out, or if you are questioning your sexual orientation or gender identity, we have news for you: this is normal. Finding yourself is an ongoing process. Even asking questions is taking the first step. The journey continues, but the more you learn about yourself, the more confident you are in navigating your way through life.

Unfortunately, internalized homophobia is still a significant issue affecting LGBTQ+ individuals, where negative societal attitudes towards queerness are internalized, leading to self-stigmatization and even self-hatred. This guide aims to shed light on what internalized homophobia and transphobia are, their impact on mental health, and ways to foster a journey toward self-acceptance and joy.

Source: The Trevor Project

Additional Resource Links