Displaying items by tag: Saratoga Springs School District

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Committee of the Saratoga Springs City School District has picked four new community members to join the board, while parents’ concerns about the committee are still not being addressed. 

In an email sent out to members of the district, and at the Nov. 22 DEI Committee meeting, the names of the four individuals picked to join the committee were announced. Over 60 parent/community member interest forms were received, but applicants heard nothing about the progress of their applications until the announcement. 

Amy, a parent who applied for the DEI Committee confirmed that after submitting her interest form, she received no further correspondence from the committee regarding her application status. 

 “The committee is not being transparent,” said Amy. 

The first element from the NYSED DEI Framework, which the Saratoga Springs City School District had adopted, is governance – “Establish a district Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee that is representative of all stakeholders.” 

Brian, a conservative parent from a minority family, applied for the DEI Committee and was not selected. He can attest that this governance element is not closely followed.

“The committee is not representative of the conservative district members,” said Brian. 

Michael, another minority parent who is conservative, also submitted an application. He expressed similar concerns to Brian’s. 

“There is not an equal an opportunity for a diversity of races to be on the committee,” said Michael. 

According to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Patton, “A subcommittee (student, staff member, two community members, and two building administrators) volunteered to review the interest forms to select four new members. This subcommittee reviewed each individual’s response of why they were interested in serving on the committee and their personal or professional experiences that will assist the work of the committee.” 

Although Amy added that from a parent’s perspective, “there is no real mission statement.” 

Board of Education (BOE) President Anjeannette Emeka added that the board trustees on the committee serve by invitation, just like any other stakeholder. 

Parents in the SSCSD have real concerns about DEI/CRT, as do countless other parents across the country. All DEI Committee meetings are available to the public and can be watched via WebEx; meeting links can be found on the events calendar on the district’s website: www.saratogaschools.org. At the BOE Workshop on Oct. 26, Dr. Patton announced the possibility of an open forum with community members to address their concerns about the DEI policies, but no further information has been posted. 

Photos by Lindsay Wilson.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Thursday, September 5, marked the first day of the 2019-20 school year. But before school bells chimed, and students filled the halls, the lunchroom staff of Saratoga Springs School District (SSSD) completed their own educational training. The SSSD partnered with Community Cooperative Extension (CCE )and Pitney Meadow Community Farm (PMCF) with the Farm to School Grant to bring ne healthy recipes to SSSD students. 

“The goal is to bring fresh local produce on the trays of students,” said Margaret Sullivan, Lunchroom Director of SSSD. “Today Kevin is going to show us different ways we can incorporate fresh local produce into the student menu. For example, one of the items, he’s going to talk about is roasting fresh tomatoes and incorporating that into the student’s typical tomato soup that’s on their grilled cheese, which they love! But this way it gives a fresh component, changes of flavor.”

The Seasonal and Healthy Culinary training session was led by chef Kevin London, who has led similar trainings in Warren and Washington County school districts, and his co - chef Kim Klopstock, owner and Chef of Lilly and the Rose. They began the session with the staff having a taste of roasted produce and homemade hummus to give them an insight as to what they will be learning to make at the training. 

“I’m really excited to get my foot in the door with the schools and hopefully be impactful,” said London.

This Farm to School initiative is aimed to benefit the students as well as the community through education, improving general health and well - being and by building a healthy community. 

“There’s also other components as part of this grant, so there’s an educational piece where students will take field trips over to Pitney Meadow Community Farm,” said Sullivan. “They’ll volunteer, students will learn farming. So, it’s a multi - layered grant. But our piece of it is to provide education through harvest of the month and provide the beautiful fresh produce that Pitney is growing for us.”

As the student’s menu changes periodically, so will the many ways students consume fresh and locally sourced produce right here at school.