Benchmark – Building Trust in a Diverse Community Case Analysis

and Rationale Template

Part 1: Case Analysis

1. Brief summary of the case:

A school in a previously known white supremacy community integrated and took on a
new program that brings students outside of the community in the school. The students
that are brought from other parts of the community are of a different ethnicity. The major
hired the new principal and he is of a different ethnicity also. During a meeting parents
expressed their concern with having students of other ethnicities coming to their school
and stated that they can’t keep up academically and they have disciplinary issues. There
was also concerns brought up that 75% of the students on the volunteer busing program
did not plan to return the next year which would cause issues with funding. The same
parent that raised concerns at this meeting volunteered at the school a few days later and
told the principal that he did not have to talk to the principal and told him to take the
students of his kind and himself back to where he came from.

2. Identify the issues to be resolved:

 Community not being accepting of other people of different ethnicities
 Volunteer bussing students not returning next year
 Possible loss of funding
 Racist/discriminatory comments being made to administrator

3. Stakeholders involved in the issue:

 Parents
 Students
 Teachers
 Administrators
 Board of Education

4. One or two existing laws or court rulings that relate to the issues:
 Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in schools on the
basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Racial discrimination is also
forbidden in all schools that receive federal financial assistance (2021)

© 2019. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. Page 1 of 7

  The Equal Education Opportunities Act of 1974 prohibits segregation based on
race, color, and national origin (2021)

5. District policies that relate to the issues:

 “The School District shall provide equal employment opportunities to all persons
regardless of their race; color; creed; religion; national origin; sex; sexual
orientation; age; ancestry; marital status; arrest record; military status, etc.”
(2021).
 Equal educational and extracurricular opportunities shall be available for all
students without regard to color, race, nationality, sex, sexual orientation,
ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, gender status, status of being
homeless, immigration status, etc.” (2021).

6. Possible solutions to the issues:

 Disband the volunteer bussing of students in other communities
 Resign from position
 Continue the volunteer bussing
 Ban people that make racist/discriminatory remarks from volunteering with the
school

7. The solution you chose to resolve the issues:

I would continue the volunteer bussing and reach out to the families that are part of that
program. I would explain to the parent that stated the negative remarks that he is not
welcome to volunteer if he cannot act professional in the school setting and refrain from
comments like that. Moving forward, I would take these issues to the district
superintendent about the volunteer bussing program and the possibility of losing funding
and the lack of acceptance of the students that are in the program from the community.

8. Action steps (2-5) for implementing your solution, including a timeline for each step:
Step 1: Have a discussion with the volunteer parent and his actions/comments and
explain he is not welcome on a volunteer basis unless he can refrain from comments like
that (1 day)
Step 2: Reach out to the families of the volunteer bussing to meet face-to-face to discuss
next year’s enrollment (1 week)
Step 3: Go to the superintendent to discuss the enrollment of the volunteer bussing
students after meeting with all families and discuss the acceptance of the students in the
program from the community (1 day)

© 2019. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. Page 2 of 7

 Step 4: Implement community awareness of different groups/ethnicities/races
(yearlong/however long I am employed in the district because it needs to continue
constantly through the community)

9. Potential moral and legal consequences of solution:

 As far as I can see, continuing or at least trying to continue the volunteer bussing
program would keep the school out of legal consequences. I would feel morals are
being upheld by continuing this too because I would not be letting down a
minority group of students. However, if I were to disband the volunteer bussing
program strictly because of the parent’s comments about the student’s ethnicities,
that could pose a huge legal consequence. I would also be letting down students
that are of similar ethnicity to me showing them that their education does not
matter.

Part 2: Case Study Solution Rationale

The issue of the community not being accepting of others race and ethnicity is a huge
problem for the school. Unfortunately, unless the school gives in and surrenders their choice of
being able to provide this opportunity to other students, there is going to be a constant battle with
people in the community that do not support this decision. In most cases, the viewpoints of
others are passed down within the families from generations. This poses the issue of white
supremacists once having a hold on this community with their viewpoints, and now the children
that grew up in that household with that bias instilling that viewpoint on themselves. The issue
does not stop there though, those thoughts and opinions are now getting passed down to their
children in which are going through the school system. This in return brings racism and
discrimination into the classrooms because those children are following their parents lead.
I personally have grown up all my life with the bias of my ethnic origin. I am half Greek
Cypriot and half American. Most of my life has consisted of people mislabeling me of the
Hispanic origin, so not only have I received discriminatory remarks my whole life, I have
received remarks targeted at the wrong ethnicity. Because of this life experience I have, I would
choose to approach the parent volunteer who stated to me to take my own kind back to where I
came from in the manner of explaining that his comments will not be tolerated on school
property. I would leave the choice up to him as far as if he can behave professionally and stop his
remarks. The reason why I would leave it open is because it would only do harm to myself and
my ethnic group by automatically banning him from all school functions. The ethnic group
would be deemed negatively. Do I think this is right that I would not be able to ban him
automatically for his actions? Yes. As a person who knows how these situations go though, I
know that in order to show that my ethnic group is “willing” to communicate and be
approachable, the opportunity needs to be left up to the parent to change. However, if the parent
continues their antics and does not show any improvement, a ban from volunteer functions
would have to happen. This situation could turn dangerous very quickly if it’s not kept up on.
Providing the school and community with opportunities to break out of their comfort
zone and get to know people of different ethnic groups is extremely important. It’s also
important to start it in the schools. The case study states that a majority of the school is
© 2019. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. Page 3 of 7
Caucasian, and it does not state any issues with faculty or staff so it’s safe to assume that all the
staff are most likely Caucasian also. The point made about the ethnic students not being able to
keep up academically is important. In the article Racism Without Racists: Institutional Racism in
Urban Schools by Grace Carroll Massey, Mona Vaughn Scott, and Sanford M, Dornbusch, it
states “The ‘deficit’ theories used to explain low performance of blacks in schools put the blame
on black students and parents. We intend to refute these deficit myths, which rely on low self-
concept, low aspirations, and low ability to relate to teachers as explanations” (1975). This
deems true to more than just African Americans. Most minorities are taught by Caucasians
because Caucasians represent a majority of the education system. While I do not believe there
needs to be a complete overhaul of minorities becoming the majority in the school system
because that’s simply impossible based on numbers, it’s important for everyone to be aware of
the barriers that students of different races/ethnicities face because they cannot relate to who is
teaching them.
A majority of the students that have been through the education system in this district
have probably never been taught about other races and ethnicities other than what their parents
have instilled in them at home. Clearly that’s an issue because there are still white supremacist
tendencies running through the community. Educating the teachers on differences is the first
step, and then educating students on being accepting is the second step. However, stating that is
the easiest part. In the article Teaching Uncomfortable Topics: An Action-Oriented Strategy for
Addressing Racism and Related forms of Difference by Lisa M. Jukubowski, it discusses the
issues around teaching topics that are outside of the comfort zone for the teachers and students.
Jukubowski states “Specifically, as teachers, we risk: 1) looking incompetent to our colleagues
and students if we experiment unsuccessfully with a new way of teaching and 2) being
marginalized by a hostile culture that views the critically responsive academic as ‘subversive’”
(2001).
Not only will teachers be apprehensive about being welcoming and teaching this, but
there will be an issue of everyone who is being provided education on this being offended. Robin
DiAngelo, the author of What Does it Mean to Be White? states in chapter 10 “What Makes
Racism So Hard for Whites to See?” that “If, as a white person, I conceptualized racism as a
binary and I see myself on the “not racist” side, what further action is required of me? No action
is required at all, because I am not a racist. Therefore, racism is not my problem; it doesn’t
concern me and there is nothing further I need to do” (2012). I highly doubt that every single
person in this community and that works for this district has these discriminatory thoughts,
however, we pose the issue of people being offended on both sides because they’re either
offended that their viewpoint is actually wrong, or they’re offended because they feel they are
not the issue and should not have to partake in fixing the problem.
Moving forward, it will be very important for me to keep in communication with the
superintendent so he/she is aware of the situation. I do know, however, that no matter if all my
efforts are for what’s best of the students, this situation can still end not in my favor. I am fully
aware that if the community continues to push back at the fact that there is someone of a
different ethnic origin in the principal position that my job may be in jeopardy. I also fully
understand that this is highly illegal to let go of someone because of their race, ethnicity,
background, etc., but I also know that there are ways to get rid of someone without technically
getting rid of them for that specific reason. In most cases, a person will be let go for reasons
pertaining to their position and it would be hard to prove that they were let go for anything other
than those reasons.

© 2019. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. Page 4 of 7

 Despite knowing that I may cause an uproar in the community, I would still want to
attempt to include the community in learning about different ethnicities and races. The first step
would be to send out a letter/e-mail explaining that the school is aware of the hardships we are
seeing in the community pertaining to racism and that we’d like to hold a forum for the
community to attend to discuss the issues together. It would be my hopes at the forum discussion
that I would find a group of volunteers that would like to work on creating events for the
community to take part of that could educate them on being accepting.
These decisions taken will ensure that everyone within the school system is valued still.
No students are being denied their education, and the school is working towards a solution to the
issue. While this solution cannot be enacted overnight, nor can the problem be solved in one day,
it’s the only possible way to make sure the community is involved in the change and that the
school is not demanding it just for the sake of demanding. Genuine learning of acceptance of
everyone needs to happen, and years of learned bias needs to be broken down which can’t
happen overnight.
All students should be welcome in the school environment. The decision to educate the
community on acceptance is the first step in providing this. Students and their families of
different races, ethnicities, and cultures need to know that the school system is behind them and
supports them. The people that show bias, discrimination, or racism also need to be aware that
we are providing every student with an equal opportunity at an education and teaching everyone
to become well-rounded citizens by being accepting.

Part 3: Agenda and Agenda Rationale

Agenda: Attached in a separate document.

Agenda Rationale

For the agenda, after opening remarks and the review of the agenda, it made sense for
there to be an area for the principal to be introduced. While I know in most cases, this is sent out
as a newsletter or something at the beginning of the school year, it felt like this was a necessary
step since this community has issues with change and there being a person that’s not Caucasian
in the role. It would give the community a chance to see the principal face-to-face and an
opportunity to see that the principal is a genuine human.

The next item on the agenda is to give the attendees a chance to discuss the issues that are
going on in the community. Not only will this time be utilized to discuss, but it will be the first
opportunity of the meeting for us to all problem solve together and come up with solutions on
how we can move forward cordially. It would be my hopes that this meeting would be
professional and that everyone will be willing to participate with probable solutions and not
hostile and disrespectful solutions where it’s expected to exile or alienate other students based on
their background.

Once we have had a bit of an opportunity to come up with solutions on our own, a
speaker from United Way would discuss their program and how they help the community. This
community resource would be more for all students and families. I felt it was necessary to

© 2019. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. Page 5 of 7

provide a resource to all to show that everyone is giving and accepting regardless of background.
The next speaker after that would be more targeted towards educating everyone on race and
providing techniques and problem-solving solutions. This guest speaker would provide more
background on the struggles that other races have faced within communities. I would hope by the
community listening to this that they would understand that regardless of background, everyone
struggles in their own way and that we don’t need to add to their struggle by discriminating
against them based on something they cannot change about themselves.

An open discussion would be provided after both community guest speakers have
finished. This would be a perfect time for everyone to think of next steps and what they would
like to see before the next meeting. It would also provide time for attendees to utilize the
information spoken from the guest speakers. If there were any types of hostility at the beginning
of the meeting, I would hope that it would be tamed down by now. I also wanted to make sure
that the agenda wasn’t just filled with open discussion. Usually when there aren’t other things
planned and the community gets full reign of the agenda, that’s when issues start to arise. I tried
to keep the open discussions in areas where if issues or hostility started that it would have to be
cut off relatively quickly because there was another task to complete.

This meeting will build and sustain positive school relationships with families and
caregivers by providing them with the knowledge of how to work together as a community. Our
guest speakers will provide them with resources to make sure that everyone has a safe
environment to be in. It will also sustain a positive relationship by being the foundation of a
community meeting that will continue happening and growing. This agenda is just for the first
meeting. At the end of the agenda, I put in an area where a date can be set for another meeting so
the growth can continue.

© 2019. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. Page 6 of 7

References

DiAngelo, R. (2012). Chapter 10: What Makes Racism So Hard for Whites to See?

Counterpoints, 398, 167–189. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42981490

Education Law Center. (2021, August). The right to be free from racism at school. Education

Law Center. Retrieved October 5, 2021, from https://www.elc-pa.org/wp-

content/uploads/2020/09/Right-To-Be-Free-From-Racial-Discrimination.pdf.

Jakubowski, L. M. (2001). Teaching Uncomfortable Topics: An Action-Oriented Strategy for

Addressing Racism and Related Forms of Difference. Teaching Sociology, 29(1), 62–79.

https://doi.org/10.2307/1318783

Massey, G. C., Scott, M. V., & Dornbusch, S. M. (1975). Racism Without Racists: Institutional

Racism in Urban Schools. The Black Scholar, 7(3), 10–19.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/41065930

© 2019. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. Page 7 of 7