Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Educational Equity topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
EEAC urges clearer referral pathways, restorative training and more student voice in annual report to Tigard‑Tualatin board
Summary
The district's Educational Equity Advisory Committee told the board it will keep reporting to the superintendent under a new structure, recommended staff training on restorative conferencing, asked for family-facing referral intake and requested better evidence that school "each plans" are being implemented to address bias incidents.
The Educational Equity Advisory Committee (EEAC) presented its annual report to the Tigard‑Tualatin School District board on June 22, urging clearer referral pathways, more restorative‑practice training for staff and stronger family engagement.
EEAC chair Jacob Degra told the board the committee held nine meetings this year and recently shifted from reporting to the board to reporting to the superintendent, which the committee said allowed more candid conversations and quicker action on recommendations. The committee confirmed eight members have committed to serve again next year.
The committee said it was unable to review every school's bias‑incident "each plan" this year but committed to resuming school‑by‑school feedback in the coming year. Degra and committee members recommended the district create a separate intake path so parents and families can report bias incidents directly (the current referral process is structured for staff requests for capacity‑building support).
Zenia (EEAC liaison) told the board the "each referral" process has allowed the district's equity office to identify trends and design targeted professional development; she said three years of referral data exist and that the board will be provided the latest summary. The committee asked that future reports include clearer indicators showing how their recommendations were implemented at school and district levels.
EEAC also asked for more staff training on restorative conferencing after a member reported difficulty initiating restorative processes in a school. The committee recommended increased collaboration between counselors and Family Partnership Advocates (FPAs), and suggested FPAs be used as a recruitment source for future committee members because they regularly interact with families who may benefit from committee participation.
On data, EEAC praised a new interactive bias‑incident dashboard but asked that it restore prior reporting fields (for example, incident location such as classroom or playground and more granular hate‑speech categories). Committee members raised continuing concern about disproportionate referrals for Black and Pacific Islander students and urged continued attention as the district refines reporting and interventions.
The board thanked EEAC members for their volunteer time and requested a follow‑up on how the superintendent's office will provide evidence of implementation and opportunities for the committee to interact with district leadership going forward. No formal board action was taken during the report portion; the committee will provide updated referral metrics and documentation of implementation to the board later.
