The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee has been working to teach staff the “correct” way to speak, behave and interact with others. Most members of the DEIB Committee believe they know what is “correct”. Throughout the 2021-22 school year they held closed meetings to plan professional development, prepared slide presentations which instructed staff how to answer parent questions about Critical Race Theory, and held a book club featuring the book Courageous Conversations by Glenn Singleton. Restore Ottawa previously wrote about Glenn Singleton and Courageous Conversations.
When members and supporters of the DEIB Committee were questioned about their activities, they responded with questions such as, “Don’t you want children to feel like they belong?” This is a sad attempt to shame concerned citizens and avoid answering challenging questions about the committee.
People who questioned whether the DEIB Committee was beneficial to GHAPS were typically concerned with the approach of the committee. They noted that the committee was not approved by the school board and was hand-picked by Mary Jane Evink. The members seemed to lack diversity of thought and the committee did not have any definitive goals. The results were not measurable and the work was never ending. In addition, the approach was not research or academically based.
The following email written by the GHAPS Curriculum Director Mary Jane Evink to Gina Schmitt, a GHHS Assistant Principal, while hand-picking the committee members says she does not want members “who would think differently than you and me,” and that she wants members who are “not the Ben-Rodgers type.” (Ben Rodgers was a GHAPS choir teacher who dared to suggest GHAPS encourage characteristics of integrity, moral character, and work ethic rather than teaching students to judge people based on race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation.)
The following email shows that those concerned with the DEIB Committee lacking diversity of thought were right on target.
The DEIB Committee lacks diversity of thought. That has been obvious to outsiders for a long time, and now there is proof. Despite GHAPS administrators and staff claim the DEIB Committee is diverse, it is clearly not.
Perhaps they should refer to the above email. This is not an acceptable way to run a public school.