CCPS Community We need your help. The Collier County Public School Board will be voting on Monday whether or not to purchase textbooks from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH). At first their ask of the publisher was to ensure that "Critical Race Theory" was not part of the curriculum. Both the school board and the publisher came to an understanding there is no "CRT" in the textbooks.

NOW, the goal posts have been moved. The board is asking the publisher to remove a social media post - on the publisher's own social media account - made last year in support of Black Lives, or the board will not purchase the books. If CCPS wants to base their purchases around companies who refuse to acknowledge Black Lives Matter, they may also want to consider not purchasing anything from Walmart, Target, Starbucks, Microsoft, and others of the like - but we know that's not going to happen, because let's be honest that is ridiculous!

In July of last year our superintendent sent out an email that the district is failing to live up to "As a District, we stand against racial injustice." Actions speak louder than words, we need them to put action behind the words in the following email:

June 4, 2020 The death of George Floyd, and the callousness of the police officers who contributed to his death, shocked the nation and shocked our community; as well it should. We have all been witnesses to the history of the depersonalization and marginalization of Black people. The time for the injustices associated with racism to end is long overdue. As a School District, and as a community, we must teach our students, and teach one another, that respecting human worth and human dignity, respecting the uniqueness of each individual, and respecting the cultural and historical uniqueness of each community are values we can all agree upon, share, and must be incorporated into daily practice.

We need to be mindful that bias is a human problem. Each of us carries some version of it within ourselves and each one of us is responsible for not enacting our bias upon another; for certainly we would not want another to enact his/her bias upon us. The tragic and horrifying death of George Floyd teaches us the human costs and consequences of brutal and insensitive attitudes and social decisions. It is up to us to prevent this, and we must intervene. If just one officer had intervened, this tragic outcome might have been different. The pain experienced, along with destructive acts we witnessed, might not have occurred. As a District, we stand against racial injustice.

The actions of the officers in the tragedy of Mr. Floyd do not represent the actions of all police officers. There are so many good police officers across the country who work very hard to be respectful, lawful, and maintain good relations with their cities, towns, and communities. We are honored here, in our community, to have police officers and other law enforcement personnel who come to work each day and help our students in all our schools, help members of the community, have demonstrated an openness to discuss difficult social issues in the community, enforce the law, and act decently.

Looking forward, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Administrative Center, and all our school campuses, have the potential to be positive, tangible examples of a community united. Let’s commit ourselves to talking with one another, listening to one another, and learning from one another. If an individual or a group comes forward and informs us they believe they have not been heard, we need to respect that and we need to listen. In the aftermath of the George Floyd tragedy, let’s work together to be bearers of light and life for the good of one another and this wonderful community we are blessed to call home.

Dr. Kamela Patton

Superintendent

Collier County Public Schools