Maple Valley Superintendent Michelle Falcon released a statement regarding a disturbing social media post by two Maple Valley students last week.
“Tolerance is defined in Webster’s as ‘recognition of and respect for the opinions, practices or behavior of others.’ The idea of teaching tolerance is not new, but Maple Valley Schools is making a deliberate effort to reach out, educate and inspire teachers, students and citizens to value cultural awareness and diversity.
“As our country becomes increasingly diverse, broad-brush communication techniques simply won’t work anymore. Last weekend, we had shocking social media post by two of our students which brought an overwhelming amount of negative attention to the district.
“The implied racist proposal does not represent the beliefs of our student body. We as a district and as a school community have been processing this in many different ways.
As a staff, we will be integrating ideas such as the following:
*viewing “Bullied” a documentary on the effects of bullying on students
*cultural competency online curriculum for students
*cultural awareness events
*diversity awareness professional development with all staff
*legal ramifications from social media posts
*creation of a bias response team incorporated in with our crisis plans.
“Whenever a discipline incident occurs, the administration must investigate. All staff and students have the right to due process. In addition, there are laws limiting the amount of information that is shared about a situation.
“It is the intent of our school district to follow up with this serious infraction. We realize there are ways we can address cultural awareness with the support of agencies that have that expertise. We are consulting with Calhoun ISD, Judge Mike Schipper, and other diversity resources to support our efforts.
“Although it is the last month of the school year, we will have activities scheduled this month. We also plan on embedding events during the school year. These trainings will not only include our secondary building but will include Fuller and Maplewood as well.
“Our goal is to turn this negative situation into a valuable learning experience for our students and staff.”
