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North Kingstown DEI advisory committee urges middle-school GSAs, curriculum reviews and SmartPass changes
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Summary
The advisory body voted to recommend five actions to the school committee: fund stipends for GSAs at both middle schools, review health and elementary curricula for inclusivity, reassess the SmartPass bathroom-pass system, and fund external coaching for teachers to deliver inclusive materials.
The North Kingstown DEI Advisory Committee voted April 13 to send five recommendations to the school committee after students described pervasive bullying, gaps in health education and barriers created by the SmartPass bathroom-pass system.
The committee chair proposed and the panel approved a package of measures that asks the school committee to allocate stipend funding to establish Gay–Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs at both middle schools, task administrators with a district‑wide review of health and elementary curricula for inclusive and safety‑focused content, direct a SmartPass review with vendor and administrative options to address student concerns, and fund coaching led by someone with demonstrated training in equity practices to support teachers delivering inclusive materials.
Why it matters: students who spoke to committee members reported repeated slurs, some physical incidents and feeling unsafe at the middle‑school level; committee members said those accounts mirror prior survey and audit findings and raised health‑and‑safety concerns tied to curriculum gaps and bathroom access.
Student testimony and committee discussion detailed several specific problems: limited instruction on queer relationships and sexual‑health topics relevant to non‑heterosexual students, short health‑instruction time slots in certain grades, empty or broken menstrual‑product dispensers, and SmartPass mechanics that limit passes by floor and sometimes report a full bathroom when none is present. Committee members said the SmartPass system has reduced vandalism in some cases but may create health and dignity problems for individual students.
Reactions and next steps: the motion to forward the recommendations was made by Holly Ashmara and seconded by a committee member; the committee voted in favor with no recorded nays. The package asks the school committee to begin funding and administrative review immediately, to consider outside coaching if district capacity is insufficient, and to report back on SmartPass and curriculum findings. The advisory committee also noted several lower‑cost, short‑term options administrators could implement — for example, identifying and publicizing quiet or sensory spaces for students — while longer‑term curriculum and staffing solutions are pursued.
Quotations: "They described an unsafe environment for queer students, especially at the middle school level," the committee chair said, summarizing student remarks. Wilma, a North Kingstown High School senior who took part in the student visit, described the SmartPass experience as dehumanizing and said students sometimes avoid reporting incidents because they expect no follow‑up.
The committee recommended these actions as advisory requests to the school committee; the school committee retains final decision authority over budget and district policy changes. The advisory group also asked administrators to provide a timeline and checklist for curriculum and SmartPass reviews so the committee can offer feedback before final decisions are made.
The advisory committee concluded the meeting after approving the motion and will monitor whether administration incorporates student and family voices into the review processes.
