House endorses school district educational equity advisory committees
Monday, June 14, 2021
Educational equity advisory committees for all school districts took a significant step Monday, June 14, toward becoming reality.
The House passed Senate Bill 732B after some committee work. The bill requires school districts to set up committees that would advise school boards and superintendents on how decisions affect student equity. The committees would be a resource when events negatively impact historically underrepresented students.
The original bill’s mandates worried school leaders, including OSBA, but Senate amendments that removed public meeting and reporting requirements eased concerns. The House further amended the bill to share appointment power between the school board and superintendent.
The bill will return to the Senate for a concurrence vote.
The boards must be composed of parents, staff, students and community members. At least one committee member must also be on the district’s budget committee. Most school districts have until September 2022. Recognizing that smaller districts might have a harder time setting up committees, districts with fewer than 10,000 students will have until September 2025 to comply.
The bill grew out of Lake Oswego’s positive experience with an equity advisory committee to help it respond to hate incidents in its schools. Sen. Rob Wagner, former Lake Oswego School Board chair, was one of the bill’s chief proponents.
