My teacher said that I could not skip any questions even when I didn't understand them. One question asked us what gender we identify with. I was very confused along with a lot of other classmates. A boy in my class asked my teacher if his mom could explain the question to him because even after the teacher explained it he still didn't understand. My teacher told him that he was not allowed to ask his mom and that we cannot repeat any of the questions to our parents. . . . I want the school board to know how uncomfortable and nervous this made me. My mom always tells me I can tell her anything, but she also tells me I can trust my teachers too. Being asked to hide this from my mom made me feel very uncomfortable ... like I was doing something wrong.
This survey was part of an $80,000 audit of ‘racial inequities’ done in the Sartell-St. Cloud school district. It was commissioned and conducted by Equity Alliance Minnesota.
The school district’s superintendent, Dr. Ridlehoover, claims that parents were informed of the surveys (though notification of a survey is not the same as access to its contents), and the questions from that survey have still not been released:
Since the results were presented last month, there has been a call by parents and the school board for Equity Alliance Minnesota to release the full survey questions and for the district to stop working with them. Initially, the company agreed to provide the questions, but reportedly later walked that back after consulting with their legal department. Dr. Ridlehoover continues to press for the questions to be released so the conversation can continue.
KNSI News previously spoke with Dr. Ridlehoover, who started as superintendent on July 1st. He maintained that ISD 748 is not a racist district, but regardless, everyone needs to feel welcome. Parents and community members feel that by the district working with Equity Alliance Minnesota, they’re being shut out of discussing how to make a change.
