‘Our children are watching”

To our beloved Orange County,

As James Baldwin said: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

All across our country, people of all colors and ages are exercising their constitutional right to speak out against injustice, including racial injustice. As a united group of Orange County School Superintendents we stand in solidarity with those who stand against the inequities that plague communities across our country.

Our calling as school leaders has always been to address the imperfections of our democracy through one of its most powerful tools - education. Through these difficult times we are reminded that our children are watching.

As educators, we hold most dearly the great responsibility of providing for a better future by ensuring that the lives of the children entrusted to our care are made better through education, including an understanding of our democracy and a commitment to equality and justice.

As leaders of your school districts we pledge to work together to continue the conversations on equity, diversi­ty and inclusion in pursuit of solutions.

We will continue to review our practices and procedures to ensure that students in our care have equal access to programs that provide opportunities that allow our children to become the people they dream of becoming.

This will include, but will not be limited to all levels of academic programs and special education services.

We will continue to promote hiring practices that encourage diversity so that our faculty and staff can become more reflective of our communities.

Together, we will get through this most difficult time for our country and our communities.

If you have ideas or experiences that you believe can help as we navigate our way forward, we encourage you to share them with your school leaders.

We welcome the conversation.

Sincerely,

The School Superintendents of Orange County, N.Y.