Benchmark – Building Trust in a Diverse Community Case Analysis and Rationale

David Salgado
Grand Canyon University
EAD-505
7/13/2022
© 2019. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved. Page 1 of 2

Benchmark – Building Trust in a Diverse Community Case Analysis

and Rationale Template

Part 1: Case Analysis

1.Brief summary of the case:

The case involves a community that is integrating busing for students with disabilities to have

access to special education services in their local school. Some of the community members have

expressed racist views while the school has desegregated and hired a non-white principal. The

school may lose enrollment of white students due to these changes in the community.

2.Identify the issues to be resolved:

There are many issues in this case that need to be resolved. One of them is changing the cultural

climate of the school and community. Another issue at hand is the forecast of decreasing

enrollment for the upcoming year.

3.Stakeholders involved in the issue:

The stakeholders involved in this issue are community members, teachers, staff, superintendent,

and students.

4.One or two existing laws or court rulings that relate to the issues:

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Title VII

5.District policies that relate to the issues:

Lansing District 158 states, “The District will attempt to recruit and hire minority employees.

The implementation of this policy may include advertising openings in minority publications,

participating in minority job fairs, and recruiting at colleges and universities with significant

minority enrollments. This policy, however, does not require or permit the district to give

preferential treatment or special rights based on a protected status without evidence of past

discrimination”.

6.Possible solutions to the issues:

A solution is to provide professional development on equity and inclusion. I would ask parents

and teachers for their support during the transitional change. Talking to the parents of the

minority groups that their children will be held to the same standards as other students.

7.The solution you chose to resolve the issues:

The solution I would choose to focus on first would be to provide professional development on

equity and talk to parents about our commitment to execute our District’s vision and uphold the

student code of conduct.

8.Action steps (2-5) for implementing your solution, including a timeline for each step:

I would talk to my assistant principal(s), teacher leaders and staff within the first week of

knowing the issue. I would plan ahead to include professional development on the topic of

Inclusion and Equity for the next principal directed grade level meeting. I would provide

teachers with a video to analyze discussion questions for them to submit. Teacher responses to

the video would serve as a base for administrators to plan more development and/or workshops.
During the second week, I would also reach out to other principals in other districts that were

successful at desegregating, and I would ask if three of my teachers can visit the school to learn

how to integrate diversity in the classroom.

9.Potential moral and legal consequences of solution:

The potential moral and legal consequences that can result of my decision to provide

professional development to teachers are minimal. As an administrator, I have the obligation to

ask my teachers to take professional development on matters that affect the school. I do not see

any consequences that would derive from my decision to meet with parents and address

concerns. If parents do not want to attend, that is their right but those that do participate will be

made aware of the agenda and goals for the meeting.

Part 2: Case Study Solution Rationale

The solution I chose would provide all stakeholders that you are firm but fair. Reviewing the

student handbook of conduct I would reassure teachers that I will hold students accountable if

they don’t follow rules. At the same time, I would provide professional development on equity at

the next principal directed improvement day. I would also look to see if I can bring guest

speakers who have gone through a transitional phase of desegregation. These actions promote

equity and diversity in the school setting. According to Reston (2015), PSEL (Professional

Standards for Educational Leaders) 3 Equity and Cultural Responsiveness states that a leader

should “Ensure that each student is treated fairly, respectfully, and with an understanding of each

student’s culture and context.” (p.17)

I would respect the views of community members who have strong feelings not to open up the

school to other ethnicities, but I would plan on how to make everyone feel welcome at the

school. That means including or expanding on celebrating black history and Hispanic heritage

months. I would also look to advertise future eligible jobs in areas of other ethnicities. I would

speak to the board and the superintendent and see if they share the vision to provide high rich

instruction to all students and if so, I would ask for their support in hiring in each District school

teacher diversity in the fields of paraprofessionals, school secretaries and social workers in the

next five years to match the student population.

I would promote and encourage students to take ownership of cultural assemblies and clubs to

address their concerns of feeling isolated because of the color of their skin. In the article

Embracing Inclusion by Elizabeth Watkins, it shared the message of how you can help break

down stereotypes by fostering a community through theater. According to Watkins (2022.),

“What is otherness? Otherness describes how one group often views another.” p.4 In other

words, students when having fun can allow themselves to discuss and ask questions about each

other’s perceptions when it comes to societal issues in a non-threatening way. As a principal, I

would encourage this type of activity that promotes inclusion and diversity.

Part 3: Agenda and Agenda Rationale

Agenda: School Relations and Improvement

The meeting’s purpose is to ensure equity for all students through the collaboration of various

school stakeholders.

The goal of the meeting is to identify three school areas that need immediate improvement.
The goal of the meeting is to list creative solutions for the three areas identified and assign group

members to oversee the projects.

• Go over meeting norms (2min)

• Introduce community members, teachers and staff (5 min)

• Go over the agenda’s goals (2 min)

• Guest speakers (10 minutes each)

• Break out into groups, discuss issues disrupting student learning, concerns, etc... (15 min)

• Share ideas and solutions. (10 min)

• Set time and date for next meeting. (5 min)

The agenda for the meeting was broken down into short segments that engage the participants

but stay true to the goals. I would have two guest speakers to talk to our meeting members about

their own experiences with desegregation of schools and facilities. It is important to hear from

both sides, so I would have a white Caucasian and a black African American share their

perspectives. Due to the racial tension in the school, I would ask the participants to break out into

groups, ensuring an equal amount of diversity is in each group. The breakout groups will discuss

the issues they feel are the most important and viable solutions for the problems they identify.

We will ask each group to share their ideas. As principal I would remind everyone of the next

date and time for the meeting.

References
Essex, N. L. (2015). School law and the public schools: A practical guide for education leaders

(6th ed.).

Lansing School District (2022) Board Policy Micro Scribe Publishing, Inc., Research Triangle

Park and Raleigh, North Carolina.https://www.boardpolicyonline.com/?b=lansing_158

Reston (2015) National Policy Board for Educational Administration (2015). Professional

Standards for Educational Leaders

Watkins (2022) Embracing Inclusion Diversify your Classroom, Empower your students with

Devised Theater Souther theater