PS 230

May 28, 2020

Dear District 15 Community,

     As a District that proudly supports a Diversity Initiative, I believe that it would be disrespectful not to call out the racism that is such a pervasive driving force in our nation today, and that was once again overtly evidenced this week in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and the call to police by Amy Cooper in our own city.  The videos of these events have horrified us all not just because of the blatant lack of value for life accorded individuals because of the color of their skin, but because of the cavalier public display of this attitude.  For too long this has been the reality for members of our community, our neighbors, our colleagues, our children’s teachers, and the parents at our PTA meetings.  This reality has resulted in a culture that causes mothers to prepare their precious sons and daughters to feel a very necessary fear in simply going out into the world to do the mundane things that we, as privileged individuals, never have to imagine.  This embedded racism and fear has created a belief system that divides our society into strata with preconceived stereotypes, thus limiting our capacity as a city, a state and a nation.  We do not want our children to grow up in a world where every life is not equally valued.  We have to be better than that!

     There may be some people who ask what right do I have to put this out on our website.  It is not school related.  Perhaps it seems political.  However, I have always considered District 15 as a family and this is constantly reinforced by the behaviors I have seen during this crisis.  The levels of support financial, emotional and academic across the district have been nothing short of remarkable and have made a huge positive difference in the lives of so many people.  But I know that in District 15 we care with more than our pocketbooks.  We care with our hearts.  It is for this reason that I felt compelled to share the piece below.

     It is a Talmudic belief that each person is a universe. What happens to one impacts the world because of those they would impact.  We all stand together.  Together we can make these horrors stop…. Together we can impact the world……

Sincerely,

Anita Skop
Community Superintendent - District 15