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Report: Students of color less satisfied with Montgomery County Schools

An audit of the Montgomery county public schools found students of color less satisfied than their white peers within the system.

WASHINGTON — Montgomery County schools (MCPS) are grappling with the results of a long awaited audit on "anti-racism." The report confirmed students of color are less satisfied with the Montgomery county school system than their white peers and lacks a clear approach for how to handle the issue across the District.

The findings shared with the county school board Tuesday came following a call in 2020 from then-Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight to ensure MCPS was serving all students equally.

The nonprofit tasked with handling the report examined six areas: workplace diversity, school culture, work conditions, curriculums, community engagement and equity of access. And sought experiences from parents, students and staff, receiving more than 130,000 total response.

MCPS is a school system that serves roughly 161,000 students across 210 schools and 30,000 employees.

The room for Tuesday's meeting was packed with parents and advocates sharing personal stories of their children's experiences.

The report said, "families and students report that race-based bullying and discrimination is prevalent throughout MCPS," with 16% of non-white elementary students and 20% of middle and high school students saying they have been teased or bullied "because of my race, skin color, ethnicity, or culture."

When it comes to curriculum, the report outlined how many students and family members do not feel staff are trained to "teach different racial groups’ histories with nuance and cultural sensitivity." 

The audit also found while there were programs and policies in place to eliminate racial disparities, the implementation was not consistent across all schools.

"I cannot erase what has happened over the past 20-30 years but what I can do is say what we're going to do moving forward, hold myself accountable as I expect for the board to do," McKnight said during Tuesday's meeting. "It won't change as quickly as I would like it to because that would be tomorrow. But we're going to work on it." 

Overall, the audit found a need for a consistent, system-wide approach to antiracism efforts. The main recommendation was implementing a clear action plan from the district for tackling its next steps,  which is expected to be released come January.

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