Letter from the Superintendent

October 2022

Dear MCPS Community,

I am excited to present the Antiracist System Audit report written by the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium (MAEC). It is a powerful review of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) based on input from more than 130,000 students, staff, and family members.

We asked MAEC to conduct this review because racial disparities can be seen in almost every area of MCPS including reading levels, participation in higher-level classes, graduation rates, suspension and discipline rates, and staffing. The report provides a comprehensive picture of how race impacts the experiences of students, families, and staff. “Overall, students, families, and staff of color reported having a less satisfactory experience with MCPS than other members of the community. The Antiracist System Audit also revealed that the implementation of policies and application of best practices differs greatly from school to school, suggesting that the system is currently fragmented.”

In anticipation of the Audit Report, we have worked hard to prepare ourselves for the action steps recommended by MAEC. For example:

• We created a definition of what Antiracism means in MCPS and held a series of focus groups to better understand what got in the way of previous studies leading to action and change.
• My last three quarterly meetings with principals and district leadership have been focused on developing our skills to be antiracist leaders.
• My senior district leadership team spent five days this summer building our own skills and structures to lead this work.
• We developed two teams to support the action needed to address the report findings:
• The Antiracist System Audit Steering Committee which is an inclusive group of students, staff, families, and community partners to provide input and feedback throughout all stages of the Antiracist System Audit and to hold us accountable.
• The Antiracist Districtwide Implementation Team was created to expand the number of people in MCPS who have the experience to support action through training, facilitating, and coaching. This team represents all areas of MCPS and has been engaging in its own professional development.

What to expect next: We will present a comprehensive action plan in March 2023 to address the audit findings and recommendations. To create the plan, we developed a series of next steps that are detailed on the MCPS Antiracist System Audit webpage. As part of the plan, we are working with our community partners, student organizations, and staff associations to organize a series of conversations about the audit findings. The goal of these conversations is to obtain input from students, staff, and families to inform the comprehensive action plan.

Last February, I wrote that talking about race can be hard for a school community, but the consequences of not talking about it are devastating for our students, families, and staff. It is with that same spirit that we release the report today. I am thankful to everyone who participated in the surveys, focus groups, and community conversations, to our Antiracist Audit Steering committee, and to the MCPS staff leading the audit work. I want to acknowledge the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium for providing us with the analysis needed to re-envision a school district where all students, families, and staff feel safe, valued, seen, heard, and ultimately are successful.

Monifa McKnight, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Translations of Community Letter:
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Next Steps

Antiracist System Audit Next Steps