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Home My WebLink About2024-08-27 Advisory Committee on Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Human Rights Minutes ACREIHR Advisory Committee of Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Human Rights Minutes for the Tuesday, August 27, 2024 Meeting 6:OOp � Council Chambers Members Present: Chair Liana Fellis, Vice Chair Katie Brydon, Member Andre Chasse, Member Kathryn Robinson, Member Melissa Bulcholz, Member Gabrielle Wiley Members not present: Member Julie Davis, Member Theron Letterlough, Student Rep. Rebecca Jones, Student Rep. Evelyn Marasco, Member Jason Canniff City of Bangor staff and guests present: City Manager, Debbie Laurie; Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Marie Robinson, Bangor School District DEIB Coordinator, Dana Carver-Bialer Call to Order Call to order at 6:OOpm Introduction of advisory board members and city members present Minutes • May 2024 minutes approved • Need to update June 2024 meeting minutes to include Members Kathryn Robinson and Members Andre Chasse as present o Approved with edits Education Update on Bangor School Department Introduction of new Superintendent of Bangor School District, Dr. Marie Robinson • Applied to BSD after 8 years in administration in the Katandin region; appointed to be the new BSD Superintendent in July, 2024 • Founder of Katandin Children and Families Foundation; still involved and excited to share this resource with Bangor area Update on the work of the BSD DEIB Shared by Dana Carver-Bialer • History of the committee, how it was developed by the school • Equity audit in 2021, DEIB statement of the school in 2022 • Successful Initiatives: increased communication, developing partnerships, assessments and auditing using data, professional development, policy and position statement updates (dress code, civil rights, etc.), increased MLL positions, graduation coaches, mental health professionals on campus, community awareness and transparency, trauma informed practices • Three subcommittees of focus in 2023-24: Professional Development, Recruitment and Hiring, Mental Health o Will result in: advancing pathways and opportunities for faculty PD, concrete partnerships to increase recruitment pathways, increased responsiveness to community conversation, infusing committee work into practice and decision making o Report out in 2024: shared best practices (hopes/goals) to be evaluated by School Committee during upcoming retreat o Recruitment and Retention subcommittee identified ESSER grant funds to be used by consultant to identify new recruitment processes for hiring diverse candidates • Currently evaluating the process of how the committee will work in 2024-25 with the guidance and support of Dr. Robinson • Understanding of this work to be nimble and flexible; will continue to explore and include individuals with lived experiences i Advisory Committee of Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Human Rights Minutes for the Tuesday, August 27, 2024 Meeting 6:OOp � Council Chambers Questions: • PBIS practices need to be evaluated for practices for all types of learners and experts • Recommended to provide more opportunities to share this work and collect feedback/data, especially in terms of expanded community access o Parent/caregiver engagement, education, and training State of the Committee Based on lack of quorum for the past two months; encouraged open discussion about committee commitment Feedback: • What does the ordinance say in terms of missed attendance? Is there action we can take for individuals who are taking seats but not attending? • To make changes to the ordinance, need to go to the Council to determine options for membership • Does the title of the committee need to be more reflective of the work being done by the committee? • Can we update to ensure that we have at least one member of this committee also participating on the Bangor School Department's DEIB committee? • For individuals who have limited attendance: need to identify what is preventing them from attending and if they will not be able to attend, are they able to recuse themselves • If we are going to be reexamining the names, individuals, etc., we can better schedule each agenda to give time for the subcommittee to work, share, define responsibilities, etc. instead of listening to education/updates from city officials each month • Recommendation: to identify what policies, ordinances, goals are being reviewed by the City that can first come to the Advisory Committee so that we are working more in line with City Council o There should be opportunities for the Advisory Committee to give feedback to the City officials before votes • Need to find the balance • Recommendation: City Manager can identify liaison from City Council to serve on the Advisory Committee to ensure that there is clearer communication o Identify city staff to attend this committee work based on the City Council committees (BD&E, Infrastructure, Gov Ops) • We should marry the ideas and inspirations learned from the School District DEIB work (more membership, more focused committee work, nomenclature, etc.) to build out each committee with volunteers from the community o Need to identify if volunteers serving on subcommittees Homework: Bring one goal for the committee to review as a hope for the future focus in September • What does this group want to restructure to look like? • What are our main areas of focus in 2025? • What changes can we make that will make us more productive? Subcommittee Update • Housing Subcommittee Chair is starting a tenant's unit o Regular updates on this work will be added to Other Items section of the agenda • Accessibility Subcommittee: would like to present the subcommittee's work and goals again during the September meeting as there was no vote taken in June due to lack of quorum z Advisory Committee of Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Human Rights Minutes for the Tuesday, August 27, 2024 Meeting 6:OOp � Council Chambers Manager Updates • Public restrooms will be updated to be ADA compliant based on a mistake by the contractor • Need to continue to monitor drug use in the public restrooms • Parks and Rec staff check the restrooms daily; are serviced by the contractor 2-3 times each week New policy: • City is undergoing a name place review of all streets; would like to include the committee review o Opportunity to update and include Wabanaki language? • Signage of buildings, ensure accessibility of name placards, etc. o What does that look like for MLL, accessibility, etc.? • There is currently a policy in place for city owned properties o Committee should review the policy to ensure it is up to date before naming any public space in Bangor Closing of Meeting Based on time, need to wrap meeting at 7:50p Move to adjourn by Member Robinson, seconded by Member Chasse Next Meeting: September 24 at 6:OOp 3