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Anchorage School District and the Challenge of Diversity 
How can teachers and parents collaborate to empower the students
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BY KACIE GAZTAÑAGA

In the days leading up to the presidential election of 2016 and since, amateur videos showing acts of hate, racism, and discrimination began to flow out of America’s public schools. A presidential campaign that employed racially divisive tactics validated the desires of many to express their discontent towards those they saw as different or unwelcome in this country. In February 2016, a few weeks after Donald Trump became the presidential candidate of the Republican party, Hispanic high school basketball players from the heartland states of Indiana and Iowa were jeered by the opposing team’s fans who held large pictures of Trump above their heads and shouted chants about building the wall on the United States’ southern border. In the ten days following the November 8 election, according to CNN News, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported 867 cases of “hateful harassment or intimidation.” Spray-painted swastikas appeared on school buildings, and after the election many Muslim students and even teachers who choose to wear hijabs faced taunting and bullying. To address the issue of inclusiveness in the school district, Sol de Medianoche invited Anchorage School District (ASD) faculty, staff, and administration to a round table discussion held on February 7. 

Katie Bisson, English Language Learners (ELL) Parent Liaison for the ASD posed the question, “What does it mean to say we honor and celebrate diversity, and what do we actually do?” All members of the panel responded with expressions of care for the students. Arthur Sosa, principal at Abbott Loop Elementary, pointed to the emphasis the ASD puts on social and emotional learning, saying that young people need to feel safe and accepted in order to thrive. “Regardless of politics or where a child is from, we care about the best interest of the students, and hate rhetoric is not in their best interests, it has no place in the schools.” Refugee Liaison Paige Petr added, “When I feel safe, I can share my opinion.” She explained how within the ASD efforts are made to involve newly-arrived students in classwork and keep them remaining on the sidelines. The Equal Employment Opportunity office of the Anchorage School District also facilitates the work of the Multicultural Educational Concerns Advisory Committee. This body advises the Superintendent on improving success among students of historically disadvantaged groups. The committee meets every two to three months, and meetings are open to the public. Future meeting schedules can be found at asdk12.org/mecac. 

While the district strives to hire suitable faculty and to train all employees in cultural competence, a big part of the responsibility for ensuring a student’s academic success falls on parents. So what can you do to get involved in your children’s school and help guide them through these very challenging years? Empowering your children to succeed begins with empowering yourself. The Newcomer Center, housed at Wendler Middle School, is the key to a better chance at integration and success for students from all corners of the world. In the ASD, non-English speaking and refugee families have the opportunity to be partnered with a liaison from the time they enter the district and throughout their child’s academic career. The liaison assists the parents in cases of academic problems or issues with integration at school. Sosa stressed the value of parent volunteers for recess hours, janitorial work, and classroom tasks. For a child, seeing their parents making an effort to move beyond their comfort zone and invest their time in their child’s education is extremely empowering. “The U.S. is not like Mexico in this sense,” he notes, “it is not always ‘the teacher knows best.’ Teachers seek out communication with parents and their involvement in the school.” The key to getting involved is building relationships. 
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Apart from the liaisons, the ASD offers interpreters as well as translation services by phone, when an interpreter is not available. To reach them, contact the ELL Department at (907) 742-4452. 

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Your children are safe at school

• Every child living in the United States has the constitutional right to education regardless of their immigration status.
  
• No public school may inquire about the immigration status of students or their parents. The only documents that parents will be asked for at school are the child’s birth certificate, immunization record, and proof of address, which will be used only to find out if the child is attending the correct school. By law all of this information is confidential.
  
• No immigration officer can request information about the students in any school.
  
• If you cannot pick up your children at school, they will be released only to people on the emergency contact list you have provided. Keep this list up to date and include more than one trusted person.
  
• To ensure their safety and privacy, children should not disclose their immigration status to anyone.
  
• If your child feels discriminated against by a classmate, teacher, or school employee, he or she may discuss it with counselors or trusted teachers.
  
• In case of threats, bullying or discrimination, parents can speak to school staff to request action on the issue.

Information presented by Anchorage School District employees Karim Otaegui, Margot Pomar and Katie Bisson, at the meeting of the Latino community, on February 19, 2017.