Graphic by Owensboro Times
Owensboro Public Schools Superintendent Matthew Constant and board member Michael Johnson will be presenting the OPS Equity Task Force’s plan to address racial issues in the district. Virginia-based Hanover Research is joining OPS in conducting data-driven studies regarding those issues and concerns.
The plan will be presented at the Kentucky School Boards Association Conference, which will be held virtually due to COVID-19.
Constant said preparing for this presentation gave the Equity Task Force committee a chance to get all of their ideas, plans and hopes for the future on paper.
“When we did that, there were just several things I wanted you to be sure you’re aware of,” Constant said during an OPS board luncheon Thursday. “In June we held the 10 virtual listening sessions with our staff and received feedback there. Then in October, this board passed the Racial Equity Resolution, which essentially outlined our major work ahead. The board also authorized a formal partnership between OPS and Hanover Research that has begun in earnest.”
As part of that partnership, Hanover will send a statistical analyst, a customer relations expert and a facilitation manager to OPS. Already, the research company has started working with OPS on an equity dashboard that will give OPS historical data on achievement, attendance, discipline and staff retention, Constant said.
“At a glance, we can dynamically and interactively look at where we are, where we are trending and hopefully look at some of this data to [help] some of our demographically alike school districts across the nation,” he said.
The next step will involve some OPS stakeholders taking a comprehensive survey in the spring. That survey will allow OPS families to share their experiences through what Constant called “some pretty pointed questions about their perceptions, observations and events.”
Hanover Research will facilitate five focus groups that include two groups of parents, two groups of students and a school principal group. Constant said this would give Hanover authentic feedback.
With that feedback, Constant said OPS could reflect on its 11 goals — which can be found here — for the Equity Task Force and determine whether any of those goals needed to change.
“At the last OPS Foundation meeting, I presented our work to them so that they were aware of the process,” Constant said. “They felt that the work would be so important that they not only gave us a letter of support — they also came through with a surprise pledge of $5,000 toward our efforts.”
Constant said everything OPS would achieve and learn from the Equity Task Force would result in long-lasting work.
“We will put our equity stake in the ground in 2020, and it will eventually redefine who we are as an organization and effectively shape our mission and vision as we move forward as Owensboro Public Schools,” he said. “This is serious, important work. I’m humbled to be able to facilitate long-lasting change for our families and, hopefully, the entire community.”
