we've always done it this way

One of the biggest challenges I encounter in MNPS is this idea that "we've always done it this way!" It's an attitude that seems to pervade many of the daily decisions in the district, and sometimes is (accidentally) explicitly stated. I wasn't raised in Metro Schools, so I know that while MNPS may have always done it this way, other districts haven't.

At Tuesday's MNPS Board governance committee, board member Emily Masters said something that gave me a little bit of hope that students' voices are being heard and changes can be made, even in a district like MNPS. In the clip below, Masters proposed a change to district policy around dress code to state that the dress code should be gender neutral and not contain gender-specific language, and that "Dress code enforcement shall be based solely on the guidelines, and shall not be based upon biases, gender norms, or gender assumptions."

At the 30:28 minute mark, after adopting the changes, Ms. Masters said that the impetus for changing the dress code policy was led by students.

"I think that's really cool when students reach out to board members and have conversations," Masters said. "Our students are awesome!"

As a student who while in high school drove myself over to the superintendent's office and demanded a meeting on at least one occasion (I was unsuccessful), I applaud the students and hope they continue to advocate for their peers into the future.

Later Tuesday evening at the regular board meeting, student board members Abenezer Haile and Angelie Quimbo were more vocal than I've noticed before and asked many questions about the district's tutoring program Accelerating Scholars and summer learning program Promising Scholars.

While it was indeed such a small change, and one that is probably already legally required. The fact that students did reach out and advocate to board members about it, and a change was made, served as a little positive reminder that we don't have to be content with doing things a certain way just because we've always done them that way. We don't have to be content with students missing their legally mandated PLT interventions daily because of the district's failure to appropriately staff bus drivers. We don't have to be content with students being split and not learning because of the district's failure to appropriately staff subs.

Budget season is coming up, so we'll see where the district leaders put their money and their mouth. Last year, the district got everything they want from their budget request, which I guess means the district didn't want to be fully staffed in terms of bus drivers. Maybe this year they'll want to be fully staffed.

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Disclaimer: While I am an employee of MNPS, the views expressed on this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of MNPS.