At the start of Tuesday night’s North Penn Board of School Directors Action Meeting, Board President Tina Stoll read a statement reaffirming the district’s commitment to diversity and highlighting the training district staff has already undergone.
The statement reads, in full:
North Penn is a more accurate reflection of America than many school districts across the country. North Penn is roughly 60% white and 40% non-white. This diversity is a source of pride for our school district and a reason people choose to come and live in our community.
Our diverse community including Black, Hispanic, mixed-race, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and white students speak a variety of languages, observe different belief systems and worship in a multitude of ways. The diversity inherent in this community is a blessing. But it is a blessing that requires a shared commitment to make it work for everyone.
We find ourselves at an inflection point in this community. A recent event at the high school has reignited debate about how to support all students, regardless of race, religious belief, ethnicity, and gender. People are questioning our commitment to making all students feel safe, respected and included in the North Penn experience. It is a call to action.
As a school board, we have prioritized cultural proficiency work with an acknowledgement that there are problems inherent in society and reflected in our schools. We have committed to this work and we’ve instituted policies and practices designed to combat racism and bias head on.
For example, throughout the 2020-2021 school year, North Penn has required all staff to take part in cultural proficiency and/or implicit bias training every month. The importance of this work cannot be overstated. We heard this week from community members who were outraged that a Muslim student’s hijab — removed from her head during a fight — was not returned to her, or that any other cover was provided to her by security staff once the fight was ended. This is a reminder that our work is an ongoing process, as people become aware of what and how things need to change.
Taking the time to ensure not just teachers and administrators, but security personnel, secretaries, cafeteria workers, classroom assistants and maintenance personnel have an understanding of the beliefs, values, and traditions of all our students of faith, be they Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Sikh or Christian, is imperative to ensuring a situation like this does not happen again.
The work goes far beyond training. Over the past three years we have begun the task of diversifying our staff at all levels. We have committed to a multi-year plan focused on actionable goals and action steps to support all students through more equitable practices. We have audited our libraries and purchased texts that introduce our students to diverse characters, settings and experiences. We believe representation matters. We passed an Equity Policy that, beginning this fall, will require our administration to share with the board and the community at large data related to disproportionality with a mandate to demonstrate improvement year over year. We believe transparency changes practices. We continue to raise awareness of religious holidays by making Eid al-Fitr and Dwali observed holidays on next year’s calendar. We have worked to empower parents with opportunities to be partners with us in our cultural proficiency work. We believe we cannot do this without our families and community partners.
What’s been done is not enough. It did not prevent those who feel marginalized along with their allies in this community from speaking out to express their anger, frustration and sadness about the events that transpired last week. We will continue this work with an eye to a future where all our students feel loved, safe and respected and where we have earned the trust of all members of the North Penn community. We are working so that every North Penn student has an experience where they feel accepted, embraced, valued, and safe and ask you to join with our school community in this work.
The statement follows several days of protests outside of the high school by local activists, members of the local Muslim community and the Ambler chapter of the NAACP, triggered by a viral video of a fight in the high school cafeteria involving two white female students and a Black Muslim female student.
The mother of the Black Muslim student — whose name is being withheld by North Penn Now due to her age — uploaded the video to Instagram last week, claiming that the fight was racially and religiously motivated, and her daughter’s hijab was deliberately torn off during the incident.
In the hours after North Penn Now broke the story, investigators from both the North Penn School District and the Towamencin Township Police Department urged patience from the public as they continued their investigations into the incident. Few official details were released, as police and district officials cited the ongoing nature of the investigation, however the school district did issue an official apology to the Black Muslim student on the afternoon of May 6, due to school personnel not returning her hijab once the incident had ended.
The apology read, in part:
Although our investigation is not yet complete, it is apparent we could have done a better job in helping the student retrieve her hijab and support her during the situation. For this, the North Penn School District sincerely apologizes and resolves to move forward in a manner in which this is not repeated.
When asked for an update on the investigation on Wednesday afternoon, Towamencin Township Police Chief Tim Troxel stated that there are no new details he can disclose at this time, however he is hopeful that the investigation can wrap up early next week — barring the surfacing of any unexpected circumstances.
From there, the investigation will be forwarded to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office for an official review and determination of if any charges are warranted. A press release from the district attorney’s office or Towamencin Police will be issued once that determination has been made.
Read more about the original incident here.
See also:
School District Provides Update On Investigation Into Fight At North Penn High School Cafeteria
North Penn High School Addresses Families After 6 Students Recently Test Positive For COVID-19
North Penn School Board Issues Statement Supporting Asian American, Pacific Islander Communities
