East Lyme — The newly formed group known as East Lyme for Black Lives Matter took another step in its mission to promote equality and call for racial reform throughout town and the school district this past week, after some of its members spoke before the Board of Education at its regular meeting Monday.

In their presentation Monday, the East Lyme for BLM members highlighted that the district does not have a zero-tolerance anti-racism policy and lacks a precise policy on how to deal with racist incidents. They also called for implementation of diversity training for all staff, including security staff and athletic coaches; a revision to the district’s Minority Recruitment Plan, which they say is “outdated” and “ineffective,” as it has not been updated since it was enacted in 1998; and changes to the district’s curriculum “to ensure that Black History is interwoven into all subject area curriculum,” among other calls for change and action.

“We have already begun and are fully prepared to continue to do the work necessary to reduce racism’s effect in East Lyme,” group organizer and former East Lyme student Ben Ostrowski said to the board Monday. “We come before you today as true voices of the town to present proposals that will positively impact the ELPS system and make East Lyme a more inclusive place where racism is no longer taught or tolerated.”

In response to the presentation, Superintendent Jeff Newton said by phone this week that the board has scheduled time to discuss the proposals at its next meeting in August and also invited group members to attend an upcoming policy subcommittee meeting.

Newton said that while the district is trying to figure out how to get students safely back to school, it also is taking seriously the group’s calls for racial reform. Group members said Monday they also have been meeting with a newly formed in-district Diversity Committee — made up of high school teachers and the high school’s two assistant principals — to further discuss how to implement in-school changes by forming students of color amplification groups and safe spaces, as well as ways to implement Black history into the curriculum.

East Lyme for BLM, formed in June at the onset of this year’s Black Lives Matter movement, has garnered nearly 400 members on its Facebook group, according to Ostrowski, and has since organized separate subcommittees to address issues of racism in schooling, housing, policing and community services within town. It was the group’s school subcommittee that spoke before the Board of Education, after submitting written proposals calling for racial reform to the superintendent last month.

Explaining the importance of the group’s work Monday, Ostrowski said, “East Lyme has not been a leader in the realm of social justice, but it has a chance to catch up. Historically, East Lyme Public Schools have not taken into account the necessary perspectives of people of color. We want to bring those perspectives right to your doorstep, along with concrete methods of incorporating them into policy to affect positive change.”

The group also provided six pages of anonymous written testimony from members outlining forms of overt racism and implicit racial bias either they or their children have experienced in the town's school system over the years.

Group members also promised the board Monday they could help guide and support the board throughout the processes of writing new policy and addressing changes to curriculum, and offered to provide examples of policy other school districts have implemented.

“We are a large organization with diversified knowledge, skills and areas of expertise in addition to the perspectives and voices of people of color that have long gone unheard in East Lyme,” Ostrowski continued. “Thus, we have accompanied each of our proposals with action items that we as an organization will complete to help you implement these proposals.”

Member Nicki Padilla also highlighted that while meeting with teachers as part of the Diversity Committee, teachers have openly admitted to not knowing how to address witnessed forms of implicit racial bias, or “microaggressions,” such as white students trying to touch black students’ hair, or how to discuss the current Black Lives Matter movement, including the police killing of George Floyd.

“There needs to be a universal message sent by all staff that racist incidents will not be tolerated and staff needs to feel comfortable relaying this message,” Padilla said.

Besides suggesting teachers, school staff and coaches undergo mandatory training focused on anti-racism at some point this fall, Padilla said members of East Lyme for BLM also could speak with teachers and staff to provide testimonials about their experiences with racism while in school.

Former student Serena Valentin, who graduated in 2016, addressed anti-racism policies, or lack thereof, pointing out that the high school's student handbook includes sections outlining issues such as bullying, sexual harassment, drugs, weapons and public display of affection, but does not have a section labeled racism. "This means there is no official disciplinary protocol outlines for those who engage in racist behavior at school," she said.

She alleged that because East Lyme has no policy or protocol for how to address racist behavior or issues of racism in school, the district was not able to appropriately handle a 2015 incident at the high school, in which white students took a photo on school property draping a rope around a Black student’s neck. Valentin said the photo was posted on Instagram and students at the incident also displayed a Confederate flag.

“The exclusion of an anti-racist policy has left a huge gray area that resulted in the inappropriate response to obvious racism five years ago and has most likely made it easy for other incidents to go unnoticed and unreported,” Valentin said. She went on to propose that the district implement a zero-tolerance policy against racism “with the inclusion of micro-aggressions and racist symbols,” as well as develop an anonymous racism reporting portal for students and teachers to report offenses they see at school.

In response to Valentin’s comments, Newton said by phone this past week that racist incidents are handled under a disciplinary policy, but the school board’s policy subcommittee will “need to look at whether they should create a set of anti-racism policies, as well.” In the 2015 incident, Newton said, the "high school followed their protocols and the matter was dealt with," and added it will be up to the Board of Education to rewrite or draft new policy if the board believes it is necessary.

He added that while the district is trying to plan students’ safe return to school at the moment, he said there was possibility that anti-racism training could be scheduled on a professional development day this fall, but said the issue still needed to be discussed among the schools’ administration. He added that he loved the idea of former students coming to speak to teachers about their experiences at the schools.

“Student safety is paramount," he said. "That must come first and from there we can begin to work on these other components. These are challenges for sure, but we are up for them.”

m.biekert@theday.com