“We Were Oftentimes Held Hostage by Everybody”: Experiences of BIPOC School Board Members

• In Event: Undermining Equity and Justice: Navigating a Hostile Sociopolitical Climate in PK–12 Schools

Abstract

Purpose:
School boards are at the center of district policy and have recently experienced intensified advocacy over policies related to COVID-19, school resource officers (SROs), and anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ sentiments. These policies play a crucial role in the lives of minoritized people, and yet, many communities lack minoritized school board representation. Existing research asserts that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) school board members contribute to improved academic outcomes for minoritized students (Fraga & Elis, 2009; Marschall, 2005; Meier et al., 2005), are relatively more concerned over academic disparities (Blissett & Alsbury, 2018), and advocate more heavily for equity-oriented policies (Rocha & Wrinkle, 2011).

The purpose of this paper is to build on existing research by exploring the role of BIPOC school board members in addressing equity-oriented policies and practices. Our research questions are: (a) What are the experiences of BIPOC school board members in the current socio-political environment? (b) What strategies have BIPOC school board members employed to address these recent movements?

Research Methods and Framework:
To frame this paper’s research questions, we draw on previous school board governance research (e.g., Alsbury, 2008; Author(s), 2019; Howell, 2005; Marsh, 2007; Turner, 2020) and on Green's (2017, 2018) concept of Community Equity Literacy (CEL). Broadly, CEL emphasizes how educational leaders can embody an “awareness/consciousness (knowledge) and skill set (actions) to address inequities in schools and their neighborhood communities” (Green, 2017, p. 380). Guided by these ideas, we employed qualitative research methods to collect and analyze data from semi-structured interviews with 35 BIPOC school board members throughout the U.S. (Bhattacharya, 2017; Stake, 1995). For this paper, we analyzed how participants experienced and navigated this socio-political environment.

Results & Significance:
We will highlight three preliminary themes. First, in many school districts that primarily serve a majority of students of color, participants did not experience tensions against COVID precautions and CRT. Many of these board members explained that families in these districts supported COVID precautions because they were disproportionately impacted by COVID. However, if participants were on boards with white colleagues, they had to be the person to voice their concerns. As for CRT, in these districts, participants shared parents wanted their children to be exposed to culturally diverse curriculum so anti-CRT and LGBTQ efforts were rarely brought up. Second, we addressed those who described pushback, which included participants connected to suburban school districts and in states with highly politicized attempts to outlaw equity efforts. In these districts, participants experienced physical threats, recalls/recall attempts, and have resigned and/or decided to not run for reelection because they are exhausted by this fight. Third, we discuss the “middle” related to the issue of SROs. Some participants shared their struggle making these decisions between equity and school safety, and feeling as one board member stated, “held hostage by everybody.”

School board members are critical in this contentious political environment. BIPOC school board members are often leading equity efforts, and thus their firsthand accounts during this time are paramount to understand and learn from.

Authors

• Carrie Sampson, Arizona State University

• Emily Nunez-Eddy, Arizona State University

• Jasmine Pham, University of Toronto - OISE