Washington, DC—The DC State Board of Education (SBOE) will hold its monthly public meeting on Wednesday, December 16, 2020, at 5:30 pm. As the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak continues to spread globally, the State Board is taking the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our members, staff, and public. Therefore, this meeting will be held as a video web conference. Materials for the State Board meetings can be found on our meeting website. For the most up-to-date information on the District’s COVID-19 response, please visit coronavirus.dc.gov.
The State Board will hear from a panel to discuss partnerships they have built with schools and the community in providing equitable outdoor learning options and other programming to District families looking for an alternative means of in-person instruction. Panelists will draw from their experience pre-pandemic as well as during the past eight months. The State Board looks forward to inquiring about any recommendations that can be garnered for schools across the District as they look towards the third quarter of the school year and beyond.
The State Board will consider a resolution that would adopt the Social Studies Standards Advisory Committee’s (SSSAC) Guiding Principles. The Guiding Principles focus on ensuring that revised D.C. Social Studies Standards will include fewer, higher, clearer rigorous standards that will be coherent, developmentally appropriate and vertically aligned across grades Pre-K–12. The principles also push for revised standards that expand on the types of skills and knowledge to which all District students should be guaranteed access (e.g., digital literacy, student agency, democratic citizenship, power & bias), as well as recognize that the world our students are growing up in is—more than ever before—globally interconnected and culturally and racially diverse. The work of the SSSAC will transition to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) in 2021 with their Technical Writing Committee.
The State Board will also be voting to approve its 2020 Annual Report. In 2020, the State Board continued its commitment to amplifying community voice, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted life as we know it. The State Board, in partnership with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), has kicked off the revision of D.C.'s social studies standards. Building off of its previous work, the State Board has also continued its research on teacher attrition, releasing survey findings on the issues contributing to teacher departures from public schools in the District and a baseline of data across both education sectors. Throughout its work, the State Board has used its platform to bring community voice to the forefront of the policymaking process.
Finally, the State Board will recognize four of its members who are departing at the end of the year. Jack Jacobson, Ward 2, Karen Williams, Ward 7, Ashley MacLeay, At-Large, and Markus Batchelor, Ward 8, will be attending their final meeting as members of the State Board.
Public Meeting Agenda
Please note that the agenda may be altered, modified, or updated without notice.
I. Call to Order
II. Announcement of a Quorum
III. Approval of the Agenda & Minutes
IV. Comments from the President of the D.C. State Board of Education
V. Comments from the Interim State Superintendent of Education
VI. Ceremonial Resolutions
VII. Partnership in District Schools
i. Abby Krolik, Executive Assistant for the Professional Development Collaborative (DCPZ), Washington International School
ii. Elena Mintz, Founder and Executive Director, Urban Adventure Squad/ Urban Learning and Teaching Center
iii. Christopher Stewart, Library Media Specialist, Columbia Heights Educational Campus
iv. Christie McKay, Executive Director, Briya Public Charter School
v. Brenda Richardson, Friends of Oxen Run
VIII. Administrative Items (VOTE)
i. Attendance Regulations
ii. Social Studies Guiding Principles
iii. SBOE Annual Report
iv. Research Committee Report on STAR Framework
IX. Member Statements and Ceremonial Resolutions
X. New Business
XI. Adjournment
About the SBOE
The DC State Board of Education is an independent agency within the Government of the District of Columbia that advises the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), the District’s state education agency. The State Board is comprised of nine elected representatives, each representing their respective wards, with one member representing DC at large, and two appointed student representatives. The State Board approves statewide education policies and sets academic standards, while OSSE oversees education within the District and manages federal education funding. More information about the SBOE can be found at sboe.dc.gov.
For the latest information on the District Government’s response to COVID-19, please visit coronavirus.dc.gov.
Contact: Milayo Olufemi
202-710-4641