Board hears racial equity update and school-survey results as trustees press for measurable goals

District staff presented the annual racial equity policy update and the 2026 Comprehensive School Survey (CSS) at the Jefferson County Board of Education work session on May 12.

Dr. Marshall summarized progress since the district adopted the racial equity policy in 2018, reporting increases in Advanced Placement enrollment and expanded student-union activity. He said monitoring tools such as an equity monitoring progress tool and a racial-equity calibration check-in allow central office staff to work directly with school teams to track progress. “The racial equity policy compels us to really start thinking broader than what it is we are doing,” Dr. Marshall said.

Dr. Munos presented the CSS and said school-level satisfaction remained high while district-level perceptions had declined in certain staff groups. He highlighted participation rates—near 100% among teachers and over 80% among students—and acknowledged a presentation error on one slide that he said staff would verify and correct. “We have 99—100 close to 100% response rate from teachers; we had over 80% from students,” he said, and promised to distribute the disaggregated CSS research brief to trustees.

Board members pressed presenters for measurable goals and timelines. Several trustees asked whether the board and the district were as committed to the racial equity policy as when it was adopted, and whether recent budget decisions (including proposed reductions to stipends tied to choice-zone supports) would slow progress. Dr. Marshall and other staff said they were committed to targeted interventions on attendance, behavior and disproportionate loss of instructional time and urged a multi-stakeholder approach: “The focus and priority must be on our most fragile and needed students,” Dr. Marshall said.

Community advisory representatives and student-union leaders described local programming tied to equity goals, from college-prep work to mobile food pantries and voter-registration drives. Terren Sullivan, vice chair of the Advisory Council for Racial Equity, urged the board to use the council as a partner and reiterated the group—s role in policy review.

The discussion produced direction for the superintendent and staff to provide the board with disaggregated CSS data, fidelity measures for school implementation of racial-equity practices, and clearer, time-bound targets that link budget decisions to equity outcomes. The presentation preceded the board—s later approval of the tentative budget.

What happens next: staff will circulate the CSS research brief with subgroup disaggregation, report on fidelity measures for equity plans across schools, and return to the board with specific, measurable targets tied to funding decisions.