Superintendent outlines ‘courageous conversations’ protocol to guide board discussions

Superintendent Maggie described the district'wide "courageous conversations" protocol and urged the Asheville City Schools Board of Education to adopt parts of it to guide board meetings and policy discussions.

Maggie said the protocol is a "strong tool to help have a productive conversation where all voices can be heard and honored and perspectives can be brought to the table." She asked the board to start by using the Compass and the Four Agreements and to later unpack the protocol's six conditions.

The superintendent told the board the Compass is a four'quadrant self'check — thinking, feeling, believing and acting — that participants can use at the start of a meeting to notice how they are "showing up" and to help recenter when emotions run high. "If you're showing up in the feelings quadrant and you're really feeling yourself kinda hijacked by your emotions, you may... start asking yourself some questions about why you're there," Maggie said.

Maggie described the Four Agreements as norms for engagement: "staying engaged, experiencing discomfort, speaking your truth, and expect and accept nonclosure." She said the agreements encourage participants to use "I" statements and to accept that some discussions will not conclude in one meeting.

The superintendent summarized the protocol's six conditions, which include focusing on personal, local and immediate perspectives; isolating race to examine disparities; normalizing social construction and multiple perspectives; monitoring the agreements; using a working definition of race; and examining the role and presence of whiteness in institutions and policy. She said the sixth condition — examining whiteness and preferential culture — is the hardest for many people to grapple with.

Board members responded positively to the presentation. Board member Pepe said he liked being able to see the training format across district agendas. Board member Jesse and others discussed how the protocol could be used to inform policy work, with several members urging that the Compass and Four Agreements be the starting point while the board later unpacks the six conditions.

Maggie recommended the board begin by including the Compass and the Four Agreements at the top of meeting agendas, and then to schedule time to process individual conditions as the board's equity and policy work proceeds. "My recommendation would be we kind of start with the compass, the agreements, and then as we can, you know, unpack and understand the 6 conditions," she said.

Board members said they were committed to equity work and welcomed a practical tool to structure difficult conversations. Several board members asked for time to familiarize themselves with the protocol and to consider how it could shape future agenda processes.

The presentation concluded with the superintendent calling the overview "the quick 2 minute version."