Two Saratoga Springs school board members push back on being 'anti-racist'

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Two city school district board members are questioning the need for anti-racism language in school policy - with their comments already creating division in the community.

For example, one local Facebook page created a survey after a board meeting last week, that in part asks if it’s appropriate to “include teaching white elementary school children that they are inherently racists.”

In the meeting on Thursday, member Dean Kolligian said the word “anti-racism” is harsh and needs further explanation; while Erika Borman found it “quite concerning.” 

Related: For Saratoga Springs, a difficult reckoning with racial justice

“For someone who wants to completely understand what we are putting their name next to and signing off on, I hate to have to even hear the word racist or anti-racists,” Kolligian said. “It bothers me, it pains me that we still live in a society that we have to discuss those terms for people who are minorities and again, challenging, to discuss for an individual that is not one. I just ask for an opportunity to understand the true definition of anti-racist language and actions.”

Borman wanted to know “what exactly are we doing” if they agree to “anti-racist language and action” -  one of 11 actions that district will take to “disrupt and eliminate systemic inequalities.”

In the 30-minute discussion, board member Natalya Lakhtakia who is working with the district’s 44-member Equity and Inclusion Committee’s policy arm, explained that anti-racism is not a state of being, but “a series of conscious, deliberate actions” against racism and systemic racism.

“Anti-racism is actively fighting to make things better for our kids, our students, our staff, our teachers, our administrators and we will do what it takes within our school system to end systems of oppression,” said Lakhtakia, who added that the district is using the New York State School Boards Association’s template to create the policy.

Kolligian, who like Borman is aligned with Saratoga Parents for Safer Schools which aims at rearm school monitors, said he preferred the New York State School Boards' version to “model racial and ethnic equity, inclusion, and diversity in business and operational practices” because the district’s proposed language is abrupt and harsh.

Lakhtakia retorted, “Racism is harsh."

Board President Anjeanette Emeka did not respond to a Times Union request for comment Monday. School district officials pointed to a comment that is posted on its website.

“For the past several years, our district has strived to become a more culturally competent school community by engaging our students, staff, parents, and community members in conversations that will help create a school environment that fosters academic and personal growth with respect for all,” the statement read, also noting that the district serves a diverse population.

“Our goal is to help address access, opportunity, and achievement gaps at every level of our district through a review of policies, procedures, and practices to ensure success for every student," the statement read. “We are constantly reflecting on how and what we teach, and how to best support all students to overcome barriers to equity and provide the support they need to grow intellectually, creatively and socially in our school community.”

In creating the policy, the school district is following guidance from the state Board of Regents, which itself plans to adopt a policy on “diversity, equity and inclusion” in schools. The Regents has called on all districts across the state to do the same.

Meanwhile, the debate has inspired a survey, circulating from the Facebook page Moving Saratoga Forward. The survey asks if it’s appropriate to “include teaching white elementary school children that they are inherently racists” or “to include teaching children that discrimination is acceptable so long as it leads to ‘equity,’” which the survey contends is a result of anti-racist policies. 

The Facebook page also pushes back on “model anti-racist language and action” that would, the administrator of the page contends, teach “students that they are born racist, colonizing oppressors" and advocating "this part of the policy should be eliminated or severely restricted."

This has prompted Saratoga Educational Equity Network (SEEN) to respond with a mass email that pushes back the Moving Saratoga Forward's statements. In their email, they cautioned about the spread of “misleading information in regards to the Equity, Inclusivity and Diversity in Education policy.” It encouraged its members to read the policy before judging it.

Rebecca Lynch, a Division Street Elementary School parent, said there seems to be a misunderstanding that she hopes will be cleared up before the next board meeting.

“Anti-racism literally means being against racism,” said Lynch, who is also a member the school’s Equity and Inclusion Committee but said she speaks as a parent only. “There is some sort of confusion about what anti-racism might mean or entail. What the district is working toward, advocating for is  anti-racism. It shouldn’t be a controversy.”