At each of our recent Board meetings during the public comment section, we have had several local residents address DEI at Amity. People have spoken in support and opposition to DEI based on their beliefs about what DEI represents. One speaker explained this by stating that if you call it DEI, it must include specific actions and activities which the speaker felt led to more division, separation, and opposition based of cultural or racial groupings. In general, almost all of the speakers were supportive of respect for diversity and efforts to address racism, antisemitism, bullying, poor behavior, and lack of respect among others. They also believe we should work to help all students achieve at the highest levels and feel part of our community. For the Amity District DEI is not a program that has specific activities or curriculum, it is a part of our Core Values System which guides us in addressing some of the issues mentioned above among many others:

Board statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

All current 8th grade students were able to see the play as part of their first visit and high school transition activity and performances were given to the community on December 8th, 9th, and 10th.

At this time of the year the board begins work on the 2023-24 budget. The first step was a special late November meeting for presentation by the various departments of their estimated needs for next year. These are submitted to the Superintendent so that she may prepare her budget which will be presented to the full Board for its review. The Superintendent will then explain her budget to the Boards of Finance of each of the towns. The Amity Board of Finance, Superintendent, and full Board will work on and refine the budget until the Board feels it can be sent to the voters for their approval at the beginning of May. The Board also discussed the difficulties in developing a budget due to the many areas where income and expenses vary greatly from year to year and wanted the public to know that strong efforts will be put in to controlling costs while continuing to provide an outstanding education for our students.

The Board also once again tabled a motion on how to apply the unexpended funds from the 2021-2022 budget. Since July, the Board has received clarification, directions, and information on how to comply with C.G.S. 10-51c. When presented with a motion for a process different from that suggested by the and Board’s auditor, members of the Board felt it would be prudent to take more time to consider the options. The motion that was tabled read as follows: Direct the Superintendent of Schools and the Director of Finance to apply the audited surplus to the end of the current fiscal year to reduce the expense of the District for the current fiscal year. The Board will revisit this issue and motion at the regular January meeting.

The Board of Education approved a new policy on the Use and Disclosure of Employee Medical Information at its December meeting. First reads were presented on Tuition Fees, Alternative Education Program, Adult/Continuing Education, and Vandalism. The Board also recommended the removal of the policy on Steroid Use, as that is addressed in the policy on Drugs, Tobacco, and Alcohol.

There is virtually no class offered at Amity that uses a single resource for instruction. While a textbook, whole class novel, or anthology may be the foundational resource for a course, we also use supplemental resources such as videos, poetry, lyrics, images, primary source documents, websites, or online instructional materials. Amity has always supported teachers to draw on their own expertise and class interests to select the resources that lead to the best instruction for students. However, a student’s experience in a course – the resources used and activities they engage in – should not be solely dependent on what each individual teacher selects. All our students should experience universal, foundational content including the use of some common resources. The work of the curriculum equity audit is to identify those common resources that will be used by all teachers for a particular class and to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the common resources with respect to perspective, bias, stereotyping, generalizations, narrative, and history. By auditing those common resources, we can identify the degree to which they might present a singular perspective, bias, or stereotype, etc. The goal is not to “weed out” items, but to balance items that present a singular perspective with those that represents histories and narratives from multiple perspectives, avoiding stereotypes and generalizations. Additionally, once those common resources are identified, all students should be able to access those resources and the learning expectations and activities that go along with those resources – regardless of the level of the class they are in. This accessibility may be provided through annotations, excerpts, graphic novels, videos, or audiobooks. We would also provide differentiated support so that all students can complete complex, cognitively demanding tasks and activities.

Implemented for the first time this fall, the Connecticut Automatic Admissions Program (CAAP) offers eligible students automatic admission to participating Connecticut Colleges and Universities based on high school grade point average (CAAP GPA) and/or percentile class ranking. Out of 339 Amity seniors, 97 received the letter that they qualified for all 8 private and public schools (including the 4 CT State Universities), 166 qualified for all 4 of the participating CT private schools (Mitchell College and the Universities of Bridgeport, New Haven, and St. Joseph), 18 for admission to Mitchell, UB and UNH, 9 for Mitchell and UB, and 10 for UB.

The ARHS Counseling department has been hosting On-Site College Interview and Acceptance Days in which college admissions officers review applications, interview seniors, and offer immediate acceptance to qualified candidates during the school day. So far this fall the interest in the program has been very positive with 21 students accepted to Southern CT State University and 22 students accepted to Quinnipiac University. Additional events for 62 seniors will include Eastern, Western, and Central CT State Universities, Sacred Heart, Albertus Magnus, University of New Haven, and SUNY Stony Brook.

On November 19th, the Student Government hosted the annual Amity Regional High School Homecoming Dance. With a sold-out crowd of 950 students and guests, this was the largest Homecoming in Amity’s recent history.

Website: https://www.amityregion5.org
Location: 25 Newton Road, Woodbridge, CT, USA
Phone: 203-397-4811
Facebook: facebook.com/amityreg5