MARSHALL — The Marshall School Board members gathered Monday evening to discuss last year’s diversity results and a new focus plan for this year to continue improving diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) among the entire student body.

“One District, Many Voices” is the theme this school year for DEI improvement. As there will be ongoing discussions, meetings and workshops taking place throughout the year for Marshall Public School staff, Director of Teaching and Learning Beth Ritter spoke on the difference between equality and equity, and diversity results from this past school year.

“(Equality) is treating every person the same, and you provide equal resources,” Ritter said. “If you treat them (students) equitably, you are considering their individual circumstances.”

Equality is treating everyone the same and providing equal resources, regardless of individual needs. Whereas equity is using the resources according to individual circumstances to achieve fairness and justice.

“We think of our students, they might need a little bit more help in a specific area and provide them with those resources and the things they need to be successful in school,” Ritter said. “We are very specific as to how we allocate those resources; the teachers we use and the services that we provide for our students.”

Ritter shared student diversity statistics from last school year across the Marshall Public School District:

• There are 31 languages spoken,

• 13.9% English learners

• 17.7% Special education

• 54.9% White

• 19.4% Hispanic or Latino

• 12.2% Asian

• 6.8% Black or African American

• 2% American Indian

• 4.4% Classify two or more races

• 0.1% Respectively Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander and other Indigenous Peoples.

The board discussed the current intervention programs and initiatives they have that operate outside of the classroom, which are to help ensure that every student will have accessibility to proper learning and resources at each grade level, but that more is needed.

Discussed as an example of needing to be adaptable to the district’s student body, was bringing in social emotional learning (SEL) teachers.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students needed assistance with mental health, which the district hired a handful of SEL teachers to assist in.

Superintendent Jeremy Williams spoke on the fact that the district’s mission is preparing their students for success, and that the board and staff must continue to address all the topics that fall under DEI to continue improving.

Ritter said all district staff will participate in a workshop week at the end of the month to begin the in-depth focus on improving DEI. There will be ongoing workshops already scheduled throughout the 2024-25 year.

The Pillsbury House Theatre out of Minneapolis will begin the workshop week.

“Their presentation is unique to wherever they go. They’ve interviewed us, different groups of teachers, different groups of people,” Ritter said. “They are customized to things going on in Marshall Public Schools and thinking about DEI work.”

Other workshops staff will attend is a multilingual learner student panel, community partner’s panel and an American Indian presentation.

The board also commented that “One District, Many Voices” portrays that the community continues to play a strong role in district operations and they will continue to listen to feedback in effort to work toward improved learning experiences.

“At Marshall Public School, we are one district, but there are so many voices that are within our schools that play into it, and a lot of it is with our diversity and how we look at diversity in numerous ways, not just one,” Ritter said. “No matter their (students) background, what language they speak, their home environment, no matter what it is, making sure they have equitable access to all of their learning.”