NONDISCRIMINATION AND EQUITY

The Smithfield School Committee believes that all children and adults should receive what they each need within an environment and system that is intentionally built for them to achieve academic, social, and emotional success, regardless of race, ethnicity, language or other characteristics of their identity.

Smithfield schools have the responsibility to overcome, insofar as possible, any barriers that prevent children and adults from achieving their potential. This commitment to the community is affirmed by the following statements. The School Committee intends to:

1. Promote the rights and responsibilities of all individuals as set forth in the State and Federal Constitutions, pertinent legislation, and applicable judicial interpretations.

2. Encourage positive experiences in human values for children, youth and adults, all of whom have differing personal and family characteristics and who come from various socioeconomic, and racial and ethnic groups.

3. Work toward a more integrated society and enlist the support of individuals as well as groups and agencies, both private and governmental, in such an effort.

4. Use all appropriate communication and action techniques to air and reduce the grievances of individuals and groups.

5. Carefully consider, in all the decisions made within the school district, the potential benefits or adverse consequences that those decisions might have on the human relations aspects of all segments of society.

6. Initiate a process of reviewing policies and practices of the school district in order to achieve to the greatest extent possible the objectives of this statement.

The Committee's policy of nondiscrimination and its commitment to equity will extend to students, staff, the general public, and individuals with whom it does business; No person shall be excluded from or discriminated against in admission to a public school of any town or in obtaining the advantages, privileges, and courses of study of such public school on account of race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or pregnancy. If someone has a complaint or feels that they have been discriminated against because of their race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or pregnancy, their complaint should be registered with the Title IX compliance officer.

Most importantly, the Smithfield School Committee requires that its administrators and staff intentionally develop curriculum, instructional practices, disciplinary practices, communications, and improvement efforts that result in a learning environment that ensures that all feel included, valued, and are poised to achieve academic, social, and emotional success.

SOURCE: MASC, NYC Leadership Academy (definition of equity)

UPDATED: June 2012

LEGAL REFS.: Title VI, Civil Rights Act of 1964

Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972

Executive Order 11246, as amended by E.O. 11375

Equal Pay Act, as amended by the Education Amendments of 1972

Title IX, Education Amendments of 1972

Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975

ADOPTED: March 1, 2021