With the Board of Education’s discussion at its September 20 meeting, the district is closer to posting the job opening for its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) coordinator.

The coordinator position was left open after Wesley A. Johnson resigned last month to work for a faith-based nonprofit.

After previous board discussion around the definition of DEI and work by the board’s DEI subcommittee, the topic came up again at Tuesday night’s meeting.

Board of Education Chair Deborra Zukowski explained following the meeting that a DEI statement discussed at the meeting offers a definition and program goals for the district to use. While the definition was created after looking for definition examples, Zukowski said the program goals were shared by Superintendent of Schools Chris Melillo.

Zukowski said she feels overall the statement will provide “an environment and learning experience that, I think, will be very effective for preparing our students for the world of their future,” along with embracing people for who they are.

Speaking at the September 20 meeting on behalf of the board’s DEI subcommittee, member Alison Plante said the goal was to have the definition reflect the district’s current DEI policy and that it was intentionally created as brief.

School board Secretary Don Ramsey thanked the DEI subcommittee for its work, along with highlighting aspects of the DEI statement that he particularly likes. He also asked if the school board will be updated as to “what we need to do and how we are going to do it” as related to the statement, once it is fully approved.

Board of Education Vice Chair John Vouros, speaking as a member of the board’s curriculum and instruction subcommittee, said that subcommittee will be able to speak to ongoing district programs and efforts to the full board.

While the DEI statement is set to go back to the board’s DEI subcommittee for grammatical updates, Zukowski said once the final version is set she hopes it will be posted to the district’s website and the open position for the DEI coordinator will be announced by the district.

The DEI statement, as provided by Zukowski, follows.

DEI Statement

“Diversity, equity and inclusion are words, that, when used together, describe policies and programs that promote the representations, participations and contributions of different groups of individuals, including people of different race, culture, color, creed or religion, ancestry, national origin, mental and physical ability, age, marital status, physical appearance, family structure, citizenship status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, economic status, veteran’s status, or other distinguishing personal characteristics.

“More specifically:

“*Schools should be welcoming and supportive spaces for our students; our curriculum should be infused with materials that include diverse authors, protagonists, heroes and historical figures.

“*When studying topics in our classroom, our students will learn through multiple lenses and points of view.

“*Schools should embrace kindness and diversity. Any form of harassment or bullying based on personal characteristics, as enumerated above, will not be tolerated.

“*As educators, we need to provide all sides to topics and remain apolitical. To encourage critical thinking, we need to develop learning environments that allow students to identify and understand perspectives provided in the material and related discussions, and to draw their own informed conclusions. That is where true learning occurs.”

‘Let’s Talk’ Event Slated

The school district also announced that Melillo and Zukowski are set to host a “Let’s Talk, Getting Back in the Classroom Swing” event for district parents to share their experiences with the start of the school year. The program is planned for Thursday, September 29, at 7 pm, in the lobby of Newtown Community Center, 8 Simpson Street.

Education Editor Eliza Hallabeck can be reached at eliza@thebee.com.