LEP: PART 1 – MORAL AND LEGAL ISSUES2
Moral and Legal Issues/Values in Policy
Moral and Legal Issues in School Policy
Part A:
Policy Include the actual policy in regards to Moral & Legal Implications
Equity
Policy
CCPS Equity Policy
Chesterfield County Public Schools takes pride in the global backgrounds of all our students. It is
our goal to ensure that each student has an innovative educational experience and a dynamic
learning environment that is barrier-free and counteracts the contemporary and historical impact of
bias, prejudice, and discrimination. The School Board recognizes that a number of critical factors
must be considered to ensure that all students achieve at high levels. Chesterfield County Public
Schools produces learning outcomes for all students without regard to sex, race, creed, color,
national origin, class, socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity,
cognitive/physical ability, disability, diverse language fluency, religion, ancestry, marital or
parental status or any other unlawful basis. Chesterfield County Public Schools is obligated to
embrace the diversity within our school division while eliminating practices that promote
disparities and differences amongst our students and guarantee that all students have the
opportunity to benefit equally. In order to secure the vision of Chesterfield County Public Schools,
the school division will focus on the individual and unique needs of each student by:
• The Superintendent having the authority to establish and maintain an Equity Committee
comprised of members from the community and school division employees to analyze the current
practices of Chesterfield County Public Schools in order to welcome the diverse population of
Chesterfield County.
• The School Board allocating local, state, and federal resources to support equity throughout the
school division including funding, staffing, and instructional resources.
• Committing to ensuring that fairness, equity and inclusion are essential principles of our school
system fully integrating these principles into all of our policies, programs, operations, and
practices.
• Adopting a teaching and learning culture that includes high expectations of students and staff,
varied teaching and learning styles, and individualized systemic supports for teachers and students.
• Creating multiple pathways that widen access to educational opportunities, and lifelong success.
• Providing high quality, cultural relevant and responsive curricula for all students and teachers.
• Identifying, developing and applying best instructional practices that make a positive difference
for students and groups of students in order to reduce prevalent and persistent achievement gaps.
• Facilitating equitable access to co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, social services,
enrichment and remediation opportunities.
• Engaging, including and collaborating with our families, students, residents, communities, and
LEP: PART 1 – MORAL AND LEGAL ISSUES3
Part A:
Policy Include the actual policy in regards to Moral & Legal Implications
stakeholders as the School Board recognizes their active involvement is essential to the School
Board’s own responsibility for effective and equitable governance.
• Maximizing the academic achievement of every child by allocating resources equitably, not
necessary equally.
• Affirming the identity of each student while acknowledging and celebrating differences to create
a sense of belonging for each and every student.
• Providing cultural competency and implicit bias training to Chesterfield County Public School
staff.
In order to ensure that Chesterfield County Public Schools uses equity as a lens for resource
allocation, staffing, and the creation of inclusive, instructional environments, the school division
will ask the following guiding questions as a part of the decision-making process:
• Does each decision align with the school division’s mission/vision?
• Which stakeholders are affected by this decision? Is it positive or negative?
• Does the decision-making process create unintended consequences or worsen disparities amongst
stakeholders?
• Are we including those affected by decisions in the decision-making process?
• Has Chesterfield County Public Schools explored all possibilities?
• How sustainable is the outcome of the decision-making process?
(Standing Together: Equity at CCPS, 2021)
Narrative Analyzing the Policy in Regards to Moral & Legal Implications
Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS) is a very large, very diverse school district in central Virginia.
The Equity policy that was adopted is quite lengthy and very comprehensive. In essence it states that all
students, staff, and community members will be treated equally and afforded equal opportunities. The
policy appears to fulfill all moral and legal obligations, but the concern is in the implementation of the
policy. Such a specific and comprehensive policy opens itself up to being difficult to fully implement
Values in School Policies, Programs, and Practices
Part B: Policy, Program, or
Practice
Amendment/Changes
Discussion of suggested amendments or changes relating to Social
Justice, Equity, Confidentiality, Acceptance, and/or Respect Between
and Among Students & Faculty
Amend the current policy to
separate the two sections
While thorough and quite comprehensive as written, it would be best for the
current policy to be split into to parts. The first part would remain the same
LEP: PART 1 – MORAL AND LEGAL ISSUES4
Part B: Policy, Program, or
Practice
Amendment/Changes
Discussion of suggested amendments or changes relating to Social
Justice, Equity, Confidentiality, Acceptance, and/or Respect Between
and Among Students & Faculty
and the second portion of the policy would be the action steps to ensure all
decisions are made with equity at the center. This will make the policy
easier to understand and implement.
Training for School Staff
The policy action steps indicate that implicit bias and cultural competency
trainings are being given to CCPS school staff, but I have worked for the
county 3 years and have yet to receive this type of training through the
county. A thorough staff training program should be developed in regards to
cultural competency and implicit bias and follow up observations and
training should occur routinely to ensure that staff are applying the training
to their teaching practices.
Inclusion of Virginia Code As it is written, the current policy is quite lengthy, but it could be beneficial
to include a portion of the Virginia Code regarding equity, Title 22.1
Education § 22.1-208.02 (2020) which states in part “C. The Advisory
Committee shall provide recommendations for the issuance of Board of
Education guidelines for local school division staff, including teachers and
school counselors, to offer age-appropriate anti-bias education to students.
The recommendations for such guidelines shall include:
1. Recognition that anti-bias and anti-discrimination education is the work
and responsibility of all staff within the local school division;
2. An emphasis on diversity and building a community of empathy, respect,
understanding, and connection;
3. Examination of how lower levels of hate, ridicule, and dehumanization
lead to larger acts of violence, discrimination and violence;
4. Acknowledgment of inequity on the individual level, such as biased
speech and harassment, and injustice at the institutional or systemic level,
such as discrimination, and the harmful impact of inequity and injustice on
the community, historically and today;
5. School-based and classroom-based responses, which are student centered
and proven effective, to various forms of racism, bigotry, and discrimination
through empathy, respect, understanding, and connection; and
6. Updates to the Department of Education's teacher's manual, as required by
action taken by the 2009 Session of the General Assembly, that emphasizes
the causes and ramifications of the Holocaust and genocide.
D. The Advisory Committee shall provide recommendations on meaningful
professional development with school personnel related to culturally relevant
and inclusive education practices. In addition to the Board of Education, the
Governor, and the Chairpersons of the House Committee on Education and
the Senate Committee on Education and Health, these recommendations
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Part B: Policy, Program, or
Practice
Amendment/Changes
Discussion of suggested amendments or changes relating to Social
Justice, Equity, Confidentiality, Acceptance, and/or Respect Between
and Among Students & Faculty
shall also be provided to the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and
Licensure and the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia. This shall
include but not be limited to considerations for:
1. The policies and regulations governing teacher preparation programs; and
2. The policies and regulations governing teacher licensure and professional
development requirements for licensure renewal.”
Inclusion of the code would assist the community, students, and staff
members to understand the legal basis for the policy.
Upholding Values in the Face of Adversity
One of the missions of CCPS is to celebrate the incredibly diverse culture within the county. Students should
leave CCPS members of society that are able to actively contribute to the community, be self-sufficient, and
demonstrate ethical behavior while viewing others as equally important members of the community..
Without specific instruction regarding the expected behaviors, the school could fail in this mission.
Therefore, it is crucial that students are taught that all people are deserving of equal treatment and equal
opportunities.
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References
Standing Together: Equity at CCPS. Chesterfield County Public Schools. (2021, April 6).
https://mychesterfieldschools.com/standing_together_equity_at_ccps/.
Title 22.1. Education. § 22.1-208.02. Culturally Relevant and Inclusive Education Practices
Advisory Committee. (2020).
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title22.1/chapter13/section22.1-208.02/.
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