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PDN Olentangy Parent Guide

PDN Parent Group Guide

 

New Member Sign Up Form: ParentDiversityNetwork.org/connect

 

Overview

Being a member of a PDN Parent Group is an easy way to make a huge impact at your school. Please read below to learn more.

 

What is PDN?

PDN is a grassroots 501(c)(3) non profit organization of parents, educators, and community members. We elevate awareness, advocacy, accountability and action regarding issues of race, ability, neurodiversity, religion, gender, identity and any other area where there’s opportunity to create a greater sense of belonging. Empathy, inclusion, and belonging are human issues and we welcome all community members who share and support these goals.

 

Values

PDN’s four pillars of Awareness, Advocacy, Accountability, and Action stand on the foundation of our two values which are truth and love. All of our interaction with each other, administrators, staff, students, and yes, even community members with opposing views, must be done keeping those values in mind.

 

What is a PDN Parent Group?

One of our main objectives is to organize and sustain PDN parent groups in each OLSD school building. These parent groups meet periodically with their school principal(s) and diversity liaisons to discuss ways parents can support programs, students, and staff members in creating a greater sense of belonging, equity, and inclusion for all students. These groups also provide an opportunity to normalize what may be uncommon but still necessary conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

 

In addition to building relationships with building administrators, here are some of many additional actions PDN parents have taken along with their school PTO and administrators. All events are to be a cooperative effort between PDN parents and appropriate school staff.

 

  • Donate books promoting inclusivity and diversity to school library 

 

  • Create a Diversity Book Club amongst parents to support open dialogue and education

 

  • Highlight a school’s diversity by displaying flags from all countries represented in the student body

 

  • Honor each Heritage month by decorating the school’s main display case

    • Offer informational slides to be shown on a school monitor, information to be shared on the school announcement each morning and/or throughout hall bulletin boards

 

  • Decorate bulletin boards with home languages represented in student body (have the words “welcome” or “hello” displayed in each language represented)

 

While the list above offers support to your school’s diversity goals, please remember our main objective and top priority is making progress by building meaningful relationships with staff and parents. We encourage you to participate in a PDN group whether or not you are able to support other events and initiatives.

 

How often do we meet?

Each PDN group can decide how often they meet with building leaders, but we suggest 3-4 times a year.

 

  • September

  • January

  • April

 

It’s our goal for every PDN member to attend these meetings with building leaders at their children’s school. These meetings are generally online and your presence makes a HUGE difference. We are happy to help if you don’t have access to a virtual meeting platform such as Zoom or Teams. Our contact information is below.

 

Sample Meeting Agenda

Since we’re inviting the principal and diversity liaison to meet with PDN parents of that school, the PDN group leader should lead the first meeting. It is no problem if the diversity liaison and/or principal wants to lead subsequent meetings.

 

Please use this sample meeting agenda as a starting point. We meet to have a seat at the table and have respectful, honest, transparent, and meaningful dialogue. When a challenging issue arises, we discuss and deal with it after having already established mutual respect and understanding.

 

WELCOME

  • Thank principal and staff for attending

    • Express gratitude for them taking time to meet

    • Share what your group feels is working well in the school building regarding DEI

    • In your own words, let them know we are here to

      • Support the good DEI work already happening

      • Offer feedback regarding areas where there is opportunity for continued growth

      • Should we say anything more about the 4 pillars here--as that is part of why we are at this mtg?

  • Everyone introduces themselves

  • Says their “why” for being a part of this work

 

ABOUT PDN

  • 4 Pillars

    • Awareness

    • Advocacy

    • Accountability

    • Action

 

  • 2 Values

    • Truth

      • Honest and transparent conversation

      • Safe non judgement zone to perspectives

    • Love

      • Love does not always mean agreement

      • Love does always mean empathy and respect

 

DISCUSSION

  • Sample questions, but feel free to ask your own

    • Where are we on our path to a greater sense of belonging for all students?

    • Are there programs or initiatives in place?

    • What is the greatest challenge in this space?

    • What PD are staff receiving to help them in this space?

    • What is the protocol for when a student experiences bias in school?

 

NEXT STEPS

  • How can we best support you moving forward?

  • How often would you like to meet?

    • Monthly?

    • Once per grading period?

    • Once per semester?

  • Schedule next meeting date and time

 

CLOSING

  • Closing thoughts?

  • Thank you

 

Conflict Resolution

We applaud, appreciate, and fully support school district plans to address bias and inequities in the school district. We are also aware some families are apprehensive to report incidents to their teachers, building administrators, or the central office for fear of being cast aside or having their complaint fall through the cracks.

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In the event conflict arises, we encourage you to go through the normal channels of conflict resolution at your school. If necessary, PDN will stand with families experiencing issues in these areas while also encouraging the staff or district to address and resolve your issue. Here are the steps we suggest parents take when dealing with a conflict. Just as with our scheduled meetings, you can expect to reach better outcomes by approaching each step centering our values of truth and love.

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1. Talk directly with the ADULT involved

Most of the time, when there is an issue, the best course of action is to speak directly with the adult involved. If your child has an incident with a staff member, instead of reporting them to the principal or superintendent, we encourage you to speak and resolve the issue with the teacher, bus driver, or whatever adult is directly involved.

 

2. Meet with the PRINCIPAL and DIVERSITY LIAISON

If you and the adult involved cannot resolve the issue, the next step is to schedule a meeting with your principal and diversity liaison. There are three goals to this meeting.

 

  • Share your child’s experience

 

  • Share your inability to resolve the issue directly with the person involved

 

  • Ask how the principal and liaison can help resolve the conflict 

 

We encourage you to contact us if the conflict reaches this second step so we can support your family and follow up to make sure the issue is addressed in an acceptable manner.

 

3. Meet with CENTRAL OFFICE DEI TEAM

If the first two steps do not produce results, the next step is to meet with the central office Equity and Inclusion team. While their role is to oversee and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the district, they’re also equipped to handle issues that have not yet been resolved at the building level.

 

We encourage you to contact us if the conflict reaches this 3rd step so we can support your family and follow up to make sure the issue is addressed in an acceptable manner.

 

4. Contact the SUPERINTENDENT and BOARD OF EDUCATION

A typical conflict is VERY UNLIKELY to reach this level, but just in case steps 1, 2, and 3 yield no results you’d then reach out to the superintendent and the board of education. Any issue that cannot be resolved directly with the adult involved or at the building or district level signals a systemic issue that the overseers of the district should know about.

 

We encourage you to contact us if the conflict reaches this 4th step so we can support your family and follow up to make sure the issue is addressed in an acceptable manner.

 

Again it is very unlikely for a conflict to escalate to this point. This fourth step is for a “break glass in case of emergency” situation. Please resist the temptation to “go straight to the top” on issues that can be resolved on a personal level. The more we use the appropriate channels of conflict resolution, the more we give the school system an opportunity to walk the talk of equity, inclusion, and maximizing education for every student. 


 

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PDN Group Leader Guide

 

New Member Sign Up Form: ParentDiversityNetwork.org/connect

 

Overview

Each parent group will have a chair and/or co-chair who schedules meeting times with building leaders and communicates the agreed upon times to the rest of the group.

 

Group Leader Checklist

 

August

  • PDN will communicate with building principals to anticipate your email

  • Reach out to PDN members at your school to identify convenient meeting dates.

  • Include doodle poll link - https://doodle.com/meeting/organize/groups

  • Reach out to school Principal/s and Diversity Liaisons to schedule your initial meeting date. We suggest the following months:

 

  • September

    • Meeting purpose

      • Identify opportunities for growth

      • Establish goals related to growth opportunities

 

  • January

    • Meeting purpose

      • Check in on progress of the goals

      • How can the school accelerate progress and address new issues

 

  • April

    • Meeting purpose

      • Celebrate success

      • Where did we succeed, how can we improve next year

 

 

  • Email / Text PDN members the confirmed meeting dates so it’s on everyone’s calendars

 

  • Set a calendar notification to yourself for one week before each scheduled meeting


 

September, January, and April

 

  • Have the meeting

 


 

Contacts

Thank you again for being a part of this growing network of parents making meaningful progress in our schools. If you have any questions, be sure to reach out to the contacts below or directly to us at ParentDiversityNetwork@gmail.com

 

Take care and let’s continue moving forward together!

 

Onboarding New Members

Christina Solmos - csolmos@gmail.com

 

PDN Group Leaders Contact: Elementary Schools

Tiffany Keehn - tigertk719@gmail.com

 

PDN Group Leaders Contact: Middle & High Schools

Lisa Heintz - lisaheintz10@gmail.com

 

General Questions

Ashley and Ceylon Wise - ParentDiversityNetwork@gmail.com

 

OLSD Diversity Liaison List

https://www.olentangy.k12.oh.us/departments/data-and-continuous-improvement/equity-and-inclusion/building-diversity-liaisons

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OLSD Equity and Inclusion Team

https://www.olentangy.k12.oh.us/departments/data-and-continuous-improvement/equity-and-inclusion

Let's Work Together

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