RJAC and PSTF Gather for School Safety
By Shel Gross
The Racial Justice for All Children (RJAC) task force, in collaboration with the Public Safety task force (PSTF), hosted a MOSES-wide gathering about school safety on Jan. 23 via Zoom. We had 39 attendees, including 18 members of RJAC and/or the PSTF, 10 additional MOSES members, two MOSES donors, and nine guests and/or collaborators.
Eric Howland and Shel Gross led a Quaker-style query process that was very well received. Participants shared their reflections on this question: “What do you feel are the most important factors for creating safety for everyone in our schools, especially our Black students, who are more likely to be responded to in ways which lead them into the school-to-prison pipeline?” There was silent time between speakers to allow participants to reflect on what had been said.
Most of those who spoke were able to share stories based on their personal connection to the schools: as parents, grandparents, teachers, or other school staff, or as community members working with or at the schools. This contributed to the richness of the sharing.
The notes from the session, along with comments from the feedback survey sent to participants after the session, are being compiled by the organizers. They will make an initial effort to group the comments to reflect the various themes. As a next step, the RJAC and PSTF members who were at the gathering will be invited to review this summary document and offer their perspectives on where they heard commonalities that could form the basis for a MOSES position related to school safety. After reviewing these with the full task forces, we will bring a report to a future MOSES general meeting.
Those who were unable to attend can still access the background materials prepared for the meeting.