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Parents, alumni and teachers urge board to sustain and expand African Centered Curriculum
Summary
Multiple public commenters asked the Board of Education to sustain, publicize and expand the district’s African Centered Curriculum (ACC), citing student outcomes, cultural pride and suggested actions including stronger outreach, professional development and opening a second strand.
Several former teachers, parents and community members spoke during public comment June 23 to urge the board to protect, promote and expand the district’s African Centered Curriculum (ACC).
Speakers described long experience with the ACC and recommended specific steps the district could take to increase enrollment and program stability, including stronger outreach and branding, continued professional development for ACC staff, and opening a second strand or site for the program. Commenters tied the program’s success to academic gains, cultural pride and student engagement.
Why it matters: The program is a district magnet that staff and the programs subcommittee later reviewed in the SDRP presentation. Program placement and potential relocations were explicitly recognized as items the programs subcommittee will analyze if the board considers any building consolidations.
Most important facts: Public commenters included a written statement from retired Oakton Elementary teacher Nedra Berry praising ACC’s results and urging board support; Tasha Shepherd, an ACC parent, described her daughter’s academic and cultural development in ACC; and Tracy Wallace, a lifelong Evanstonian and community leader, described ACC as restoring cultural identity and urged expansion and stronger program visibility. The programs subcommittee later recommended strengthening ACC outreach, conducting equity impact analyses before relocations, and exploring alignment or replacement of the general education strand at the Foster School with ACC to reduce travel burdens and increase enrollment.
Supporting details: Commenters suggested the district advertise the program on social media, offer recurring professional development and bring back external experts to support ACC staff. The programs subcommittee noted ACC was included in its review and proposed data‑informed outreach and caution that any relocation should be preceded by an equity impact assessment.
Next steps: The programs subcommittee will continue work this summer and in the fall to align program placement recommendations with facility and finance modeling. Any program relocation or expansion would be considered alongside the scorecards and scenario modeling the facilities committee is producing.
