Equity Advisory Council Bylaws
At least every other year, the EAC shall review and suggest warranted modifications to these Bylaws.
Article I
Organization
Section 1.
The name of this organization is the Douglas County School District (DCSD) Equity Advisory Council (EAC). The EAC is a DCSD appointed advisory committee that is in alignment with the DCSD Board of Education Policy ADB: Educational Equity. The EAC serves as an advisory board for the administrative offices of the DCSD. The committee serves to support and advise the Superintendent (or Superintendent’s designee) and the School Board on issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Article II
Purpose Statement
Section 1.
The Equity Advisory Council is a committee that will coordinate with School District Leadership to support and advise the full and systemic implementation of the DCSD Educational Equity Policy. The DCSD, and this council, commit to establishing and nurturing an inclusive culture to ensure all students, staff, and community members feel safe and valued by increasing and embedding authentic and relevant learning opportunities and experiences involving inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility.
Article III
Roles & Responsibilities
Section 1.
In our role of advising the DCSD Board of Education, and in compliance with state and federal laws, including applicable civil rights laws and constitutional rights, the EAC will:
● Recruit and retain Equity Advisory Council membership which includes School District leadership, teachers, staff, students, parents, and community members;
● Advise in the development of processes to recruit, hire, and retain employees of diverse backgrounds and identities, including a periodic review and analysis of the recruiting, hiring, and retention practices of the District;
● Advise in developing and implementing systems and structures to support the critical evaluation of and, if necessary, in restructuring of current curricular and instructional resources and student programming opportunities to ensure representation, accessibility, diversity, equity, and inclusion within all Douglas County School District approved curriculum. This includes providing diverse perspectives regarding the processes that exist within the District and ensuring support of DCSD’s most vulnerable learners;
● Advise the Douglas County School District Superintendent in implementation of relevant and equity focused legislation aligned with Colorado Academic Standards, curriculum, and assessments for students;
● Advise the District in engaging the community regarding implementation of the ADB: Educational Equity policy; and
● Attend and participate in all EAC meetings unless an absence is excused.
Article IV
Foundational Beliefs
Section 1.
The foundational beliefs of the council, as aligned with policy ADB: Educational Equity, are:
1. Every student, family, and staff member in the DCSD must be afforded equitable access to education in an inclusive culture to ensure an environment in which all those in the learning community feel safe and valued.
2. It is our charge to provide educational and working environments that foster systemically aligned practices, opportunities, and experiences which promote the acceptance of all stakeholders, remove and avoid implementing barriers limiting stakeholders’ potential and success, and implement unbiased, culturally relevant, responsive, and sustaining learning environments.
3. The DCSD will NOT condone, by its staff, students, leadership, or any other community member representing School District interests:
● Biased, inequitable, racist, or exclusive practices;
● Discriminatory behaviors that disproportionately impact any particular group or groups of individuals based on aspect of their collective identity;
● Practices that promote inequality or inequity;
● Deficit-focused instructional or operational implementation frameworks;
● Perpetuation of racism or discrimination;
● Policies and resolutions that support exclusion or intolerance.
Article V
Membership
Section 1. Membership
1. Voting members (*who are not the community-at-large members) of the council must be one or more of the following:
a. the parent/guardian of a child enrolled in the DCSD grades PreK-12 or DCSD Bridge Program
b. a school level staff member currently working in the DCSD.
c. *community-at-large members must live within the boundaries of the DCSD.
2. The composition of this organization shall consist of not less than eleven (11) and no more than thirty-four (34) voting members.
3. The DCSD will appoint a cabinet member or cabinet designee to serve as a staff liaison of the council. This person will serve as a non-voting member and liaison between the DCSD and the EAC.
4. Council membership should strive to reflect the ethnic, racial, geographic, socioeconomic, gender, and perspective diversity of the entire DCSD to the extent possible and as aligned with the foundational beliefs of the Council.
5. The council will be a District based council, not a Board of Education committee.
6. In choosing additional members and replacement members, the council’s key focus will be to ensure key population constituencies are well represented in the membership.
7. Council members must demonstrate a commitment to the foundational beliefs of the council, a passion for and vested interest in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.
8. Types of Membership: The council will consist of the following types of members:
a. Stakeholder Group Members: Parent/guardians, school level staff, secondary students and community-at-large members selected through an application and election process.
b. Appointed Members: Appointed members from DCSD committees and councils, chosen to ensure representation of specific community groups and/or to provide expertise in relevant areas. Listed below under “Specific Voting Members and Groups.”
c. DCSD Staff Liaisons: Non-Voting members appointed by District Leadership
d. Ex-Officio Member: This is an optional position that can be enacted as desired by a majority vote of the Council for a term-limited member to ensure retention of expertise and knowledge, especially in years where member turnover may be great. It is a 1-year term.
The council's bylaws will further detail the selection process, term limits, and responsibilities for each type of membership.
Section 2. Specific Voting Members & Groups
1. District Board of Education and formalized permanent committees may appoint 1 voting member per committee to the EAC, including: (up to 10 voting members). Appointees will indicate their status as the appointed DCSD committee member in the membership application. Membership is limited to one person from each committee and may not be shared. The EAC will honor the committee choice for appointed members and does not put constraints on appointed members with regards to children in the district, residency, term limits, etc.
a. Student Advisory Group
b. Counselor / Mental Health Diversity
c. Conexìon/Connection Committee
d. District Accountability Committee
e. DC Gifted Education Advisory Council
f. DC Special Education Advisory Council
g. Employee Council
h. Fiscal Oversight Committee
i. Long Range Planning Committee
j. Mill Bond Oversight Committee
2. The Council will accept a maximum of 8 DCSD school level staff members.
a. If many applicants are interested: 6 neighborhood and 2 charter school level staff members.
3. The Council will accept a maximum of 2 community-at-large members.
4. The Council will accept a maximum of 8 DCSD parents/guardians (at least one child must be enrolled in a DCSD neighborhood school, charter school, preschool, or Bridge program)
a. If many applicants are interested, the composition shall be: 6 from neighborhood schools (2 from each: Parker, Castle Rock, Highlands Ranch), 2 from charter schools and/or from alternative education schools.
5. The Council will accept a maximum of five secondary students.
a. If many applicants are interested, the composition shall be: One student attending a school per region in the DCSD (Highlands Ranch, Parker, Castle Rock), one student in a charter school, and one student in an alternative education school shall be selected.
6. Membership application will commence in March and be finalized in May before the summer break. New members will be onboarded in August. If members leave during the year, every attempt will be made to fill the vacancy within 30 days.
Article VI
Officers
Section 1. Officers
1. The officers of the EAC shall be the following: Chairperson or Co-Chairs, Vice Chairperson, Student Chairperson, Secretary, and Communications.
2. The officers of the EAC shall be elected annually at the first or second meeting by a majority of the voting members of the EAC. The vote shall be recorded for public record in the minutes for the meeting in which voting occurred. During the inaugural year, officers will be elected in the first quarter of school upon approval of the bylaws.
3. Officers of the EAC shall be elected for a term of one (1) year.
4. An officer may be re-elected to office for an additional term.
Section 2. Officer Roles
1. Chairperson or Two Co-Chairs
a. shall not be a DCSD appointed staff member or student representative
b. Will set the agenda with the district appointed liaison, the Vice Chairperson, and the Student Chairperson (if student’s schedule allows).
c. Presides over Council meetings.
d. Ensures EAC complies with the Bylaws.
2. Vice Chairperson or Two Co-Vice Chairpersons
a. Shall not be a DCSD appointed staff member or student representative
b. Will meet with the Chairperson prior to the Council meeting to set the agenda.
c. Presides over meetings if the Chairperson is unable to attend.
3. Student Chairperson
a. Shall be a student representative.
b. Will meet with the Chairperson prior to the Council meeting to set the agenda.
4. Secretary
a. Takes minutes during the meeting, including votes and voting results.
b. Keeps time during the meeting.
c. Works with DCSD staff to ensure minutes are posted on the EAC’s public-facing pages, in full compliance with all rules and processes.
5. Communications
a. Will manage communications for the EAC.
Section 3. Officer Term Limits
EAC Officers will be elected for a one-year term, may be elected for additional one year terms, for up to three years total service as an officer.
Article VII
Meetings
Section 1.
1. The EAC will meet regularly at least once a month. The meeting schedule will be set annually in March for the following academic year, with preference of the first or second Wednesday of the month.
2. No regular meetings of the council shall take place in June or July of each calendar year. Any meetings in June or July shall be called for by Council officers as necessary.
3. A simple quorum consisting of half plus one of the council membership is needed to conduct official business. A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the EAC that must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid (Oxford Languages, 2021). If a quorum is not present, no voting action shall take place at the meeting. Members of the council may continue to meet without a quorum present for the purposes of information sharing or gathering.
4. An officer will provide proper notice for all meetings under the Open Meetings Act. Meeting notices will be published via calendar invitation and posted on the DCSD Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, & Accessibility webpage. Included in the notice will be the: agenda, minutes from the last meeting, and any formal communication sent to the DCSD.
5. The previous meeting’s minutes will be approved during the following meeting.
6. Meetings will be held in-person at a DCSD location (preferred) and/or virtually (if necessary or determined by the council). If hybrid, virtual access will be non-participatory, and virtual attendees will be counted as present, but not counted as part of the quorum.
7. Meetings will be conducted using a formal protocol determined by the council (e.g. Robert’s Rules, Fist of Five, other formal protocol).
8. Any member missing three (3) meetings unexcused or five (5) meetings total during a single year of a term must reapply for membership. All extenuating circumstances will be reviewed by the Council’s officer board.
9. Members will provide formal recommendations and advice to the DCSD a minimum of one time per year during the fourth quarter of the school year. Exigent formal communication will be conducted as necessary.
10. Meetings will be open to the general public for viewing and transparency purposes.
11. The general public does not have voting privileges, and may participate as coded in the agenda for each meeting.
Article VIII
Terms of Membership
Section 1.
1. Membership is limited to individuals who live within the DCSD boundaries, are employed by DCSD, or attend or serve as guardians for someone who attends DCSD.
2. In March of each calendar year, all written applications for membership, along with recommendations, shall be submitted to the District Staff liaison for eligibility review. The District Staff liaison will send eligible applications to the EAC Officers and the Membership subcommittee by the first Friday in April, with interviews conducted and finalists advanced for consideration and vote by the May EAC meeting. Approved candidates should be notified within a week of the council vote and invited to the August meeting.
3. The EAC Officers and Membership subcommittee will review eligible applications and make recommendations for interviews. The Membership subcommittee will conduct the membership interviews.
4. The EAC will vote to approve membership in May of each calendar year.
5. Membership shall commence on June 1 of the year in which membership is approved, and the first meeting for new members shall occur in August of that year.
6. Terms shall be three (3) years in length. Council members may reapply for membership to serve for another term not to exceed a total of six (6) years. Council members who have served for 6 years may serve an additional year as the Ex-Officio member at the decision of the full council by a majority vote.
Student representatives shall serve for one (1) year.
7. Those appointed to serve on the EAC to fill a vacancy, shall complete the term of said member and have the option of serving another term.
8. A committee member can be dismissed for persistent, pervasive, or severe violations of the EAC bylaws or school board policies by a majority vote of the council.
Article IX
Subcommittees
Section 1.
1. Members are expected to participate in subcommittees. Subcommittees may include, and are not limited to:
a. Membership
b. Listening Sessions
c. Community Engagement
d. Policy Advocacy and Advisement
e. Hiring and Retention Practices and Advocacy for DCSD Staff
f. Bylaw Revision
g. Onboarding, Training, and Learning