School Board member Kathy Paspalis said today there was a pragmatic reason that a controversial paragraph contained in revised Board regulations approved last night – calling for equality among all District schools – was eliminated months ago:
“The (eliminated) paragraph speaks about equity at every campus in a way that wasn’t to talk about social equity. In other words, El Rincon has a science lab. If we fund a staff person at the science lab, it means, by the reading of that Board policy, we would have to have a science lab at every elementary school.
“Equity at all of the schools,” Ms. Paspalis said, “really doesn’t make sense from a programmatic standpoint. They all have different needs.
“We have two schools that have immersion programs that other schools don’t have. Does that mean we would have to have a Spanish-speaking assistant in each classroom at Lin Howe?
“It didn’t make sense simply from that perspective (to retain the potentially explosive paragraph).”
Here is the passage in question:
“The Board is required to ensure that all District schools are treated equally and fairly in order that all District students have equal access to District educational programs and services.”
Board President Karlo Silbiger told the newspaper the paragraph was dropped because “the decision was made that it was misplaced, not really related to parent-funding of positions. But it is important. I think the Board will try to find another place within Board Policy to place it.”
Ms. Paspalis addressed the same subject. She said the concept of equality is to be found elsewhere in the document known as Board Policy. “So many places in Board Policy cover that issue, including non-discrimination clauses.
“When we cover that issue, it didn’t belong there,” she contended. “It confused the issue of what we are trying to provide for our kids, opportunities at each school, as provided by that school community.
“Lin Howe doesn’t want a particular focus. They want to be a neighborhood school. They don’t want to be known as the math school or something else.
“El Rincon has a science focus.
“Obviously El Marino, everybody knows, is an immersion school.
“La Ballona has a literacy focus, and half the school has become dual immersion Spanish program.
“Farragut has a lot of focus on art.
“So there are five different personalities at five different schools.”
