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District 11 Board of Education votes to dissolve equity department

By 04/08/2022 | updated 3 years ago
District 11 school board members Sandra Bankes, left, and Julie Ott discuss the future of the district's Equity and Inclusion Department during a meeting Wednesday. 

Less than two years after Colorado Springs School District 11 adopted an equity policy and instituted a Department of Equity and Inclusion, the district’s Board of Education has voted to shut down the department.

After a contentious discussion during a work session Wednesday, the board voted 4-2 not to fund the department in the 2022-2023 school budget, effectively dissolving the department and the position of director of equity and inclusion, currently held by Alexis Knox-Miller.

Masking, equity hot topics at standing room-only District 11 school board meeting

The decision came during a preliminary budget review. D-11’s equity department has been funded by a grant from the Colorado Health Foundation, and the grant period ends in September. Any additional department funding would have to come directly from the district.

Board members Jason Jorgenson, Sandra Bankes, Lauren Nelson and Al Loma gave a “thumbs-up” vote to allow the department’s funding to “sunset” in September. Members Julie Ott and Darleen Daniels opposed the move.

Bankes said that, if properly implemented, the district’s equity work can continue without having to fund a dedicated equity department.

“I think we have the skills and the talents within our district to do this,” Bankes said. “I would like to see the money that would go to (the equity department) go back into the pot for compensation for our teachers and our (education support staff).”

Colorado Springs School District 11 dissolves its equity leadership team

Ott argued that the department needs more than two years to maximize its efficacy.

“There hasn’t been enough time for the equity work to come through with great clarity,” Ott said.

Neighbors for Education, an advocacy group that focuses largely on issues related to D-11 students, issued a statement condemning the decision to dissolve the department. The statement began by implying that the group saw this decision coming.

“Neighbors for Education is deeply saddened but not surprised by the school board’s decision to shutter the Equity Department,” the statement read. “This action will do harm to our most vulnerable students and strip resources from the students who need them most.”

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Under the guidance of former superintendent Michael Thomas, D-11 instituted an district-wide equity policy in May 2020. Shortly after, the district established a Department of Equity and Inclusion to “create solutions that level the playing field while concurrently raising the bar for all students,” according to its website.

The board’s newest members – Bankes, Nelson and Loma – all expressed doubts about the necessity of an equity program during their respective campaigns. Last December, shortly after the newly elected members assumed their seats on the board, Knox-Miller dissolved the all-volunteer equity leadership team.

“I made an admin decision to dissolve the team as we determine what direction this board will want to go as it pertains to equity,” Knox-Miller told The Gazette in December.

Shortly after the dissolution of the equity team, Alexis Claycomb, a social-work graduate student and former team member, told The Gazette she believed the department’s days were numbered.

“I don’t see much of a concern for equity work in the district in the future,” Claycomb said. “I feel bad for the students, because they’re the ones who will suffer.”

District 11 names ex-leader Nicholas Gledich as interim superintendent

District 11 school board members Sandra Bankes, left, and Julie Ott discuss the future of the district’s Equity and Inclusion Department during a meeting Wednesday. 
Courtesy of Colorado Springs School District 11
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O'Dell Isaac

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