Recommendations, Draft Policies, and Timeline
Specific proposals, sample policy language, and a clear plan for moving ahead.
These recommendations are urgent steps to continue a critical conversation. Though not requirements, they're shared due to pressing need, existing gaps, proven solutions, and the importance of timely progress for our children. Next steps are imperative for the district and the School Committee.
How to Use This Document
Each recommendation explains what it is, why it matters, what a draft policy or action step could look like, and which other district's model inspired it. At the end, you'll find a week-by-week timeline to guide the work from now until the start of the 2026–2027 school year.
IMMEDIATE tasks can begin now. BEFORE SCHOOL YEAR STARTS tasks require planning but finish before September. ONGOING items become part of the district's regular work.
Independent Incident Reporting
Requiring reports of racial incidents to be submitted through administrators responsible for protecting the school's reputation creates a direct conflict of interest. Establishing an independent reporting system is essential to uphold integrity and accountability.
- Adopt Speakfully or an equivalent, independently hosted incident-reporting platform. Cambridge Public Schools has successfully operated this model. Reports go to a third party. The platform notifies the administration, not the other way around.
- Appoint an Independent Point of Contact at each school, structurally independent of the principal's direct authority, to receive reports and serve as the first point of contact for affected families.
IMMEDIATE: Research Speakfully and comparable platforms. Initiate contact. BEFORE SCHOOL YEAR STARTS: Contract signed, platform live, families notified of the channel.
Formal Racial Incident Response Protocol
Without a clear protocol, incidents are handled subjectively, leading to unpredictable and often dismissive outcomes. Standards across the district are needed immediately for consistency and accountability.
- Fully develop the district's June 2026 draft response framework by defining specific actions, assigning individual responsibilities, and creating clear deadlines for each step.
- Establish notification levels: (1) directly notify the affected family on the same day; (2) follow this with a wider community notice within a designated timeframe; (3) if any step is delayed, provide the family with a written update explaining the reason for the delay.
- Prioritize accountability before restoration in all incident responses. The first steps must address responsibility, followed by restorative practices, as restoration without accountability can undermine the process and stakeholder trust.
- Share a clear discipline ladder that treats racial incidents as seriously as physical assault and increases consequences for repeated behavior. No student should be able to harm Black classmates year after year without facing real consequences.
IMMEDIATE: Convene the task force to complete the protocol. BEFORE SCHOOL YEAR STARTS: Protocol approved by School Committee, published to all families, and embedded in staff training.
Parent-Advocate Accountability Mechanism
At present, parents and guardians of Black students at Tucker Elementary School lack effective channels to hold school leadership accountable for addressing racism and equity concerns. Establishing a governing body with meaningful decision-making authority is essential to advancing equity.
- Formally create a Parent-Advocate Body with defined membership criteria, governance procedures in a written charter, and authority to make decisions related to district equity policy. Require participation by parents and guardians of Black students and ensure their central involvement.
- Use Seattle Public Schools' Equity Advisory Committee as a model: give the group defined rights, direct access to the superintendent and School Committee, and make its charter public.
- Adopt Step Up New London's grading system as the accountability framework. The group reviews the district's performance each quarter and shares the results publicly.
IMMEDIATE: Identify founding members. BEFORE SCHOOL YEAR STARTS: Charter drafted and approved. ONGOING: Annual public report beginning SY2026–2027.
Proactive Support for Black Students and Black Staff
Persistent harm toward Black students at Tucker Elementary demands decisive intervention. Black staff also face ongoing challenges and unacknowledged burdens. Immediate, proactive support is essential.
- Establish ongoing, accessible mental health and counseling services specifically designated for Black students and Black staff, and communicate how to access these services proactively, before incidents occur.
- Start a support or affinity group for Black students at Tucker Elementary School, led by a trusted adult, that meets regularly throughout the school year.
- Recognize and compensate Black staff who take on extra emotional work in equity situations beyond their regular job duties.
BEFORE SCHOOL YEAR STARTS: Support structures identified and staffed. ONGOING: Regular meetings and check-ins throughout SY2026–2027.
Mandatory Anti-Racism Education for White Students and Families
The most urgent request from the Milton Reckoning campaign: educate children who cause harm and their families now. This urgent education isn't about blame; it's about providing essential tools to prevent future harm.
- Commission curriculum-integrated anti-racism content for white students, created by qualified, diverse educators. Work with a selected vendor to embed material into the current curriculum, not as a one-time session, and set a deadline for delivery.
- Create a parallel family education offering for white families: optional but structured, available at Tucker Elementary School, focused on how to have these conversations at home.
IMMEDIATE: Identify curriculum partners and vendors. BEFORE SCHOOL YEAR STARTS: Curriculum selected and teacher preparation underway. ONGOING: Annual review and update.
Annual Staff Training
Staff responses to racial incidents consistently lack adequate training. Immediate, system-wide standards are essential; otherwise, outcomes will continue to depend on individual judgment, perpetuating harm.
- Mandate completion of certified annual anti-racism training by all staff and leaders. Record all completions; tie them directly into annual performance evaluations and include clear accountability expectations for non-compliance.
- Include specific modules on incident identification and response, communication with affected families, repeat-offender escalation, and the district's graduated discipline ladder.
BEFORE SCHOOL YEAR STARTS: Training vendor selected, schedule set. ONGOING: Annual, every school year.
Public Transparency and Equity Reporting
The community lacks a way to see urgent improvement. Incidents remain isolated unless patterns are brought to light. Transparency and public accountability are essential to drive change.
- Prepare and publish an annual equity report that details incident numbers by school, grade, and incident type. Use the Jefferson County Public Schools equity dashboard as a model and include a concrete assignment of responsibility for data collection.
- Complete and share a timeline for reviewing all district materials, including who is responsible and regular progress updates.
IMMEDIATE: Begin district-wide materials inventory. BEFORE SCHOOL YEAR STARTS: Interim update published. ONGOING: Annual report beginning October 2026.
Week-by-Week Timeline: June 12 → September 2026
- School Committee receives and acknowledges this package.
- Superintendent convenes a task force that includes parents and families from the community and Black families, with a defined mandate and named members.
- Independent incident reporting platform research initiated.
- District-wide materials review begins.
- Draft incident response protocol completed and circulated for community input.
- Parent-Advocate Body founding members identified and invited.
- Anti-racism curriculum partners identified.
- Speakfully or equivalent platform contract initiated.
- Incident response protocol approved by the School Committee.
- Parent-Advocate Body governance charter drafted.
- Staff training vendor selected and schedule confirmed.
- Proactive student and staff support structures identified and staffed.
- All structures finalized and published to families.
- Staff training completed before the school year begins.
- Independent reporting platform is live and communicated to all families.
- Parent-Advocate Body charter published and founding meeting scheduled.
- Full communications package sent to all Tucker Elementary School families.
- First day of school: every structure in place.
- Interim materials review update published.
Every Black child in their joy.