North Kingstown DEI committee refines student survey; plans Student Union feedback session Feb. 12

The North Kingstown School District Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Advisory Committee agreed Jan. 5 to test draft student survey questions with the Student Union before releasing a district-wide survey.

Committee members said the Student Union session will be a test run to check whether questions “land” with students and to gather suggestions that the committee can incorporate before recommending the survey to the school committee. Will Moss, a junior at MK High School, told the group he will present the draft questions to the Student Union and that the meeting with that group is scheduled for Feb. 12. “We’re just really waiting for the Student Union,” Moss said.

Why it matters: committee members said student input is central to designing questions about sensitive topics including microaggressions, discipline fairness, belonging/welcoming, racism, and supports for LGBTQ+ students. The group emphasized keeping questions age-appropriate, providing short definitions for complex terms, and offering response choices as well as open-ended fields to make the data usable.

Most important facts

- The committee will use the Student Union session as a pilot; feedback will be folded back into a final survey the committee will recommend to the school committee.

- Draft topics under review included: classroom management/discipline fairness; microaggressions (with suggested definition and wording choices); belonging/welcoming at school; actions to address racism; and supports for LGBTQ+ students.

- The committee discussed survey format options (multiple-choice with an “other” free-response vs. entirely open-ended questions) and recommended providing brief definitions and examples for terms such as “microaggression” and “racism.”

- Members agreed the survey should include information about trusted adults and how to report incidents, and that resources/contact information should accompany the survey to support students who are upset by the questions.

What the committee discussed in detail

On wording, members debated verbs and tone. For the microaggressions question, committee members suggested softer, student-centered phrasing; one member proposed the phrasing “if you see a microaggression, what would help you feel more confident addressing it?” Another recommended giving examples in parentheses (for instance, “Where are you really from?”) and defining the term before asking students to answer.

The group discussed whether to ask students whether they feel confident addressing microaggressions (which could assume a lack of confidence) or to ask what strategies or supports would help — and whether those supports should be phrased for the respondent (“what would help you”) or generically (“what would help someone address a microaggression”). Members suggested simplifying layered items and offering multiple-choice options (for example: ignore it, address it, tell a counselor) with an “other” box for full responses.

On reporting and supports, staff described existing channels at the high school level: school psychologists, social workers, guidance counselors and deans; students can also submit bullying or harassment reports online. Committee members raised the possibility that the person a student might turn to could be the same person who committed the microaggression, and recommended instructing students to contact an alternate trusted adult in that case. Committee members also asked that the survey include clear instructions on who to contact and where to find help.

Distribution and next steps

The committee discussed logistics: the Student Union pilot is next week’s engagement, after which the committee will refine questions and recommend the survey to the school committee. Members suggested distributing the survey during advisory periods once questions are finalized; the committee agreed to include accessibility accommodations (parents copied on student surveys, device support for nonverbal students) and to attach resource contact information with the survey.

Quotes

“We’re just really waiting for the Student Union,” Will Moss said about the planned pilot meeting. Sally Davidson, the district equity, belonging and community engagement coordinator, said the group should “provide a definition” of complex terms and keep wording simple and age-appropriate.

Ending

Committee members asked Moss to return with Student Union feedback at the next DEI meeting. The committee approved routine minutes at the start of the meeting and adjourned at the end of the session; precise vote counts were not specified in the transcript.