Mercer Island School District Board President Maggie Tai Tucker feels a milestone has been reached with Asian students now comprising a quarter of the district’s overall population.
When the annual equity and inclusion report took center stage at the board’s April 21 meeting, the percentage of Asian students was listed at 25.8, which rose from 23.7 the previous year and from 20.0 five years ago.
Percentages have also grown in the district over the last year for Hispanic/Latino (from 5.2 to 6.6), Black/African American (from 0.9 to 1.3) and mixed-race (from 12.0 to 12.7) students, according to the report. The percentage for white students is 53.2, which was down from 58.0 a year ago.
On the district becoming more diverse, Tucker explained: “I’m pleased, because in the past, Mercer Island hasn’t always seemed like the most welcoming environment for families of color — I think Black families, in particular — because I think when you looked at our classrooms, people didn’t necessarily see a lot of kids that looked like their kids.”
Positive changes abound in the schools, Tucker added about high school and middle school students, teachers and parents feeling empowered by speaking out and apprising the community of issues that students of color are facing on and off the Island.
For example, Mercer Island High School’s Student Voices for Change is active in bringing together the Black Student Union and the Asian American and LGBTQ groups to plan events and make students feel more welcome at school.
“Just in general, this is the direction that our country is going in the sense of being more diverse, but especially more multi-racial families and children, and that’s one of the categories (in the report) that’s increased,” said Tucker, adding that the PTA Council DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) committee has organized an Asian American Pacific Islander Affinity Group. A tour of Seattle’s Chinatown is planned for May 7.
The district tracks the numbers for the report each spring and condensed the student-focused fundamentals from seven to five beginning in 2020-21. The fundamentals are: personalized learning environment, highest learning standards, social/emotional development, analytical/critical thinking and DEI.
“Rather than just reporting out demographic information about our students, we are now using it to drive decisions and make changes,” said the district’s Deputy Superintendent Fred Rundle, who will move into the role of superintendent on July 1 to succeed retiring Donna Colosky.
School district parents shared their viewpoints regarding the district’s DEI work on the Thought Exchange platform while the district prepared for its new superintendent search, with 80% of the participants situated on the positive end and 20% of them weighing in with negative comments.
In the diversity section of the exchange, some of the pro and con comments, in part, were: “MI is a diverse place in religions, ethnicities and international presence” and “Mercer island is a privileged bubble that doesn’t reflect the real world.”
According to the district’s website, its mission is to “foster learning by engaging students in thinking critically, solving problems creatively, and working collaboratively.”
At the April 21 meeting, board director Tam Dinh said that seeing the increasing diversity in the report will help the district tread a proactive path in thinking about future plans. Dinh, however, was disconcerted that the percentages dropped in the area of students’ needs being met, and appreciates administrators planning to target that issue.
Board Vice President David D’Souza wonders how students measure their success and how they feel culture is changing. Perhaps, he added, the district can ask students their thoughts in that realm and learn from their responses.
* The district won an Award of Excellence for its 2020-21 Annual Report at the recent Washington Schools Public Relations Association Awards dinner. To read the report, visit http://bit.ly/3OHvngr.
