Boston Public Schools Student Safety Policy Review and Q&A
- WHO: Unafraid Educators & Student Immigrant Movement
- WHAT: Boston Public Schools Student Privacy Policy Review and Q&A
- WHEN: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 at 12:00-1:00pm EST
- WHERE: Zoom Webinar (sign-up for link and dial-in details)
Parents, teachers, and youth packed the April 15th BPS school committee meeting (virtually on Zoom!) and spoke out against Boston Public Schools' latest student privacy policy. We expressed our continued commitment to a strong policy that will actually change protocols and protect students and families.
After over five months of deliberating with BPS and submitting detailed policy proposals, the district decided to move forward -- during the Covid crisis no less -- without taking our suggestions into account..
Highlights of the Meeting:
- Over 100 of our community members joined virtually!
- We had 19 live testifiers.
- Over 20 folks submitted written testimonies.
- We had over 10 BPS schools represented.
- City Councilors Annissa Essaibi George and Andrea Campbell submitted testimonies.
- Community, legal, and advocacy groups -- Muslim Justice League, META, CLE, LCR, ACLU, and CFJJ -- also showed support!
In their testimonies, youth, educators, advocates, and community members made it clear that Boston Public Schools needs to adopt our policy as part of this work. And in the end (four hours into the meeting!), the majority of School Committee members sided with us, the community, urging BPS to adopt our policy revisions!
On Wednesday, April 22, 2020 at 12 pm EST, we will be hosting a webinar to do an in-depth look at BPS policy and review our specific comments on their proposal. We'll also be taking time to do a Q&A.
The Student Immigrant Movement and Unafraid Educators in partnership with community and other stakeholders have been working on pushing Boston Public Schools district to adopt a policy which would address when and how Boston School Police officers can share students' information with the Boston Police Department and other parts of law enforcement. We know that reports are used to criminalize our students and to endanger them and their families. We are also looking to expand this effort, and have been working with city councilors to do so. To read further about this campaign effort visit bit.ly/noiceinbpscampaign . Also please take some time to sign our petition, if you haven't already done so at bit.ly/noiceinbps!
We've accomplished so much in our last gatherings around the fight to transform Boston Public Schools (BPS) into schools that are welcoming and safe for all young people.
Campaign Milestones
- 1,995 Signatures!
- Over 300 community members engaged in teach-ins and gatherings!
- Over 50 testimonies submitted!
- Asistieron más de 100 miembros de nuestra comunidad
- 19 testificadores en vivo
- Más de 20 presentaciones de testimonios escritos.
- Más de 10 escuelas BPS representadas
- La concejal Annissa Essaibi George y Andrea Campbell presentaron testimonios
- Grupos de abogados: META, CLE, LCR, ACLU y CFJJ también demostraron su apoyo.
- 1,995 firmas!
- ¡Más de 300 miembros de la comunidad participaron en clases y reuniones!
- ¡Más de 50 testimonios presentados!