Renaming committee views trainings on implicit bias, ethics and Robert’s Rules ahead of name scoring

At its June 19 onboarding meeting the Madison Metropolitan School District renaming committee viewed three short training modules on implicit bias, ethics for public servants and Robert’s Rules of Order.

A video shown to the group defined implicit bias as "mental shortcuts and judgments that occur both positively and negatively, some of which you might not even agree with," and urged members to confront assumptions that shape interactions. Chelsea Tubb said the modules are meant to establish a common baseline for committee deliberations and asked members to bring that frame into scoring discussions.

The ethics module framed public-service decisions around honesty, integrity and accountability and encouraged members to consider all facts and who will be affected before making recommendations. A short primer on Robert’s Rules reviewed basic meeting mechanics—motions, seconds, debate and majority votes—to keep meetings orderly.

Committee members responded briefly during the session. Shahana McKinney-Bolden said she was bringing "other vibes" in addition to joy to the work and noted she would need to leave early; Robert Roth and other members signaled they have taken implicit-bias testing previously and supported the training.

Chelsea said training will be followed by practice scoring at the next meeting so members can apply the rubric consistently when the committee begins reviewing the 52 eligible name proposals.