We are calling upon our community to support the Youth Empowerment Committee at Monday’s Lake Oswego School District Board meeting. The YEC will be testifying about the lack of teacher diversity in LOSD and demanding the district implement a plan to increase the number of teachers of color in earnest. 

The Nov. 20 school board meeting will be held at the LOSD Administration Building at 6pm. Doors open 15 minutes prior. You can read more about board meetings here. The address is 2455 Country Club Road, Lake Oswego, Oregon 97034.

The YEC is asking for support from the community in one or both of the following forms: 1) Show up in person. The school board needs to see that our community is serious about the urgency of this issue. We have the opportunity to demonstrate that by showing up in large numbers to support the YEC on Monday. 2) Submit a written testimony. There is limited time for in-person testimony and the students have a lot to say. To that end, we’re encouraging community members to submit written testimonies. Again, showing the school board that there is broad community support for drastically increasing the number of teachers of color in the district is very important to make sure an effective plan is implemented and LOSD is held accountable for seeing it through. Below are LOSD’s guidelines for submitting written testimony and text for a form letter that you can submit in support of the YEC. We highly encourage you to personalize your written statements with your personal connection to LOSD and personal stories in support or about the importance of increasing teachers of color.  

Per LOSD:

For members of the public who wish to submit written testimony: 

• Submit an email to the Board losdschoolboard@loswego.k12.or.us by 12:00 noon on the day of the meeting.
• IMPORTANT: Please type “Written Testimony” in the subject line. Please note: emails that do not specifically state “written testimony” will not be included in Board testimony for the specified Board meeting.
• Include your full name in the body of the email.
• Names of patrons providing input will be read during the meeting and their written testimony will be posted online under “Comments from Patrons”.
• Testimony received after the 12:00 noon deadline will be posted online at the conclusion of the meeting in accordance with the aforementioned procedures, but names of patrons will not be read during the meeting.

School Board Written Testimony Text (we highly encourage you to personalize by specifying your relationship to LOSD and add any personal testimony on the importance of recruiting and retaining teachers of color):

Dear Members of the School Board, 

As a concerned community member, I believe it’s essential and urgent to take action toward creating a diverse school staff in order to accurately represent the world we live in. I believe that all students deserve to see themselves reflected in their educators.

In solidarity with Respond to Racism LO’s Youth Empowerment Committee, I am calling on the Lake Oswego School District to take urgent action to hire and retain educators of color. LOSD has 32% students of color but only 12% teachers of color, according to 2022-23 data from the Oregon Department of Education (ODE). This includes less than 1% of teachers of color in each of the following demographics: American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander. The largest minority student populations, Asian and Multiracial, account for 11% of students each, yet Asian teachers make up 3% while Multiracial teachers make up 2%, according to ODE. This is inequitable and alarming. 

LOSD must do its part in creating an equitable and safe community for all. I am joining the YEC in calling upon LOSD to implement the following specific actions: 

• Set a hiring diversity goal of 32% BIPOC Staff, to match the population of BIPOC students. 
  • In addition, make the plan and system of tracking that progress to having 32% BIPOC staff public. Being accountable is important, especially when trying to create change. Having a publicly available system for tracking progress doesn’t just make LOSD more accountable to the community, but also creates more opportunity for necessary collaboration with community stakeholders. 
• When reaching out to hire teachers, make sure the Culture of Belonging coordinator position is more prominent on the list of job openings and improve the job description so that it is more specific and inclusive. The job postings that are focused towards people of color are currently posted at the bottom of the list, suggesting they are a low level priority. To ensure equal opportunity for all parties attempting to be hired, these positions cannot be at bottom. 
• Implement inclusive wording and strategies in the position descriptions for recruiting teachers or staff. For example, consider implementing, “The Lake Oswego School District will provide equal employment opportunity and treatment for all applicants and staff in recruitment, hiring, retention, assignment, transfer, promotion, and training.”
• Regarding the DEI Department, restore the website/resource to working condition and spend time developing it to be a resource for education. This would help create a more welcoming environment for both students and faculty members. 
• Make LOSD’s anti-discrimination policies prominent and prioritize decreasing long standing patterns of harm towards students, teachers and staff of color. This can include mandatory educational meetings for staff members where they are taught more about culturally specific discrimination and given culturally relevant strategies to combat it, which they can then share with their students. 

Thank you for considering the YEC’s demands on this urgent issue. It is imperative that students of color have the same opportunities and privileges as white students, and hiring more teachers of color is a fantastic start. I hope that LOSD can commit to building a high-quality, diverse teacher workforce that reduces teacher turnover and improves learning and academic achievements for all students.